Upton were on the road again this weekend and they seem to be getting a liking for the Warwickshire countryside and certainly with the fine sunny day and a good firm ground it was just what Upton like. Upton welcomed back several players from injury including the two Dans at half back.

Upton played into the sun in the first half and came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders with both the forwards and backs putting good moves together and making big inroads into the Pinley half. The opening score came after 9mins when speedster Alex Pimlow gathered a clearance kick from Pinley on the Upton 10 metre line and he was off leaving a trail of empty hands behind him with a series of changes of direction, outside bursts, sidesteps but with 5metres to go he was slowed by Pinley's covering fullback. Pimlow stayed on his feet just long enough for supporting flanker Adam Heath to receive the ball and score the opening try which Chris O'Neil converted

Upton then had to sustain a lengthy time of pressure from the opposition who started to put together a string of attacks. Upton have learnt how to soak up such pressure and not to panic. However there were times when a simple clearance kick would have left their supporters with fewer grey hairs and slower heart rates! Upton paid the price on 35mins when Pinley scored a converted try through their pack driving flanker Foster over the line and Wilks converted

No more points were added before half time but Pinley's two wingers showed that they needed watching with a fair turn of speed.

Upton restarted the second half and the ever 'lowering' sun into Pinley's eyes was evidently going to cause them a few problems. Upton recycled the ball from the left and made vast ground down the middle. More recycling and movement out to right saw hooker Rob Heeley steaming towards his third try in as many weeks. With cover tackles looming, Heeley shipped the ball onto winger Matt Jeffreys who ran on to score in the corner

Pinley were hoping to come straight back at Upton but from the restart big Nigel A caught the ball and proceeded to carry it for 10 metres knocking all comers out of the way. The ball was spun out to the backs and when O'Neil passed on to Pimlow on Upton's 22 there were gaps appearing but there was still a long way to go. The after burners were ignited and with a curving route Pimlow was in under the posts and Pinley's hopes had been severely dented. O'Neil converted

Upton put on replacements and kept Pinley pinned back especially with some long booming kicks from the returning Dan Keyte after a two months rest through injury. Gradually Pinley changed tactics and used their wingers make ground and from one dash, Upton infringed 35 metres out and Wilks converted the penalty

Upton played a sound game with strong rolling mauls, solid set scrums, dominating the line outs and working the touches to gain ground. With 15 minutes left, Upton won a lineout on the Pinley 5 metre line through Lorcan Lynch who was leaping like a young Severn salmon. A quick pass to replacement scrum half Brad Raymond saw Raymond 'throw' or shout a perfect dummy by using his command of the English language. The dummy was so perfect that it even deceived his own players but Raymond was through for a try under the posts and Keyte converted

Upton knew the game was won and eased up but credit to Pinley who kept up the pressure and left winger Jones just beat the covering defence to touch down wide out following a chip and chase

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