Upton were forced to move from their traditional home opposite the church to Hanley Castle School pitch due to the floods on the sports field. Manor Park from Nuneaton were the visitors and following Upton's losing visit there in November, Manor Park had been on a winning streak with five wins and playing with confidence.

Manor Park kicked off down the slope and put the pressure on Upton to defend their line with a series of forward drives and touch kicks but after 9mins Upton could hold out no longer and Williams converted a penalty from 20 metres to give Manor Park the lead

Upton got to terms with their new 'home' pitch and gradually moved more into Manor territory but the Park's bigger forwards were a stubborn bunch and didn't take lightly to being pushed back towards their line. Upton's forwards were fighting (not literally) hard to overcome the slope and slippery conditions as were the backs who despite finding the ball like a soap bar still tried to pass the ball out but both teams found that one dropped pass and all the gained territory was lost with a big fly hack. After 30mins Upton's work was rewarded when Manor Park were caught entering the ruck from the side yet again and Mike Dodge converted the penalty

Manor Park realised that they had to make better use of the slope advantage in the remaining 10mins but they ended the first half with a missed penalty kick and the scores were still level.

With the slope in their favour for the second half introduced Luke Mathie into the frame which must have been quite a shock to the system for him as he had only just landed from the warmer and drier temperatures of Oz. Upton's lighter forwards held sway as the heavier Park forwards tired in the ever increasingly muddier conditions and Manor Park rarely got up the slope into Upton territory.

Manor Park were relying more on illegal defensive measures and were penalised accordingly. On 60mins Mike Dodge found his footing was not secure as he missed a penalty from 40 metres out but Dodgy is a quick learner and when another penalty chance came along five minutes later he made sure he had a firm base and kicked the winning points from 30 metres out

The last 15mins saw Upton on the attack but Manor Park held out to prevent any further score. Both teams should be congratulated on keeping the crowd entertained and the supporters must be thanked for venturing out on such a 'murky' day. It's hard to pick out individual players for praise as they all played well but Nigel A 'worked his socks off' in the second row and around the field to help keep Upton in the ascendancy. Weather permitting, Upton move on to play away at our friends from Keresley next Saturday 26th January when two more points would be very welcomed and help consolidate second place.

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