Upton got back to winning ways in this North Midlands Shield second round game. After two disappointing results in the previous weeks Upton were determined to try and get back to their winning style of keeping the ball alive and attacking straight down the field.
However playing against the big Shropshire side, who play their league rugby in the Lancashire and Cheshire league, they gave away too many early penalties as their enthusiasm at the ruck area was not to the ref's liking. This allowed the away side to score two kicks to take the score to 0-6 as the game approached half time. The home side did pull one penalty back through Mike Dodge and they became more of a threat as the half went on offloading the ball continuously in the tackle. From a scrum on the Oswestry 22 Skipper and full Back Chris O'Neil ran a scissors move and as he stormed to the line popped up to prop Price who fed left winger Carr for his second try in two games. Mike Dodge missed the conversion to leave the half time score at 8-6.
Upton started the second half as brightly as they finished the first really taking the game to the visitors who at times couldn't live with their aggressive rucking and quick ball around the contact area. After a period of pressure on the Oswestry line Russell Price again found himself in a two on one situation and again fed left winger Carr for his second try. Again the conversion was missed. 13-6.
Oswestry then started to pile the pressure on Upton and but for superb defense around the fringes would have scored a try. In the end, with 5 minutes remaining they took a strange decision and opted for a penalty lick 5 metres in front of the posts rather than a move. This made the scores 13-9 but gave Upton the chance to pin Oswestry in their own half as the game drew to a close. As they tried to spin the around they were penalised for not releasing at the ruck and Dodge stroked over the penalty to make the final score 16-9.
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