Another sunny Sunday morning and our boys travelled to Bredon. Last time they played at Bredon, Shipston were triumphant despite the mud bath conditions on the pitch. Thankfully conditions were much better today.
First half kicked off with Shipston in control from the outset, pushing hard into Bredon's half.
Bredon win the first scrum but at three minutes into play a great catch and kick from Tom Hatch led to some classy work from Adam and George V, unstoppable together and leading to the first try by George V.
After the restart Bredon again win the ball from the scrum and a breakaway run leads to Bredon levelling the score. A controversial breakaway follows soon after, leading to another Bredon try.
Shipston start to push back, a trio of Georges proving powerful opposition, George McG gets the ball to George H and on to George V who makes great progress until dragged into touch ten metres out.
The ball went back into Shipston territory but Alastair then blasted forward only to be halted just before Bredon's try line.
A long passage of play followed with Shipston consistently making progress, with George V again finding a hole in the defence and scoring again.
Bredon respond with yet another breakaway, avoiding all the valiant Shipston attempts to tackle from one end of the pitch to the other. Bredon score and were in the lead again.
Shipston secure the ball from the fifth scrum with Matt blasting up the pitch with great support, setting up a superb pass to George McG who scores the third try for Shipston.
The home team came back with a solid push into Shipstons half, pushed into touch just metres from our line when the whistle blows for half time.

Shipston kick off the second half. Within seconds Alastair has a great run deep into Bredon's half, Matt holds on to the ball despite a mauling by Bredon players, setting up and securing a great try behind the posts by George H.
Restart, and Joe bulldozes twenty metres with Bredon players hanging on all the way, what a sight! Bredon are very strong though and keep turning over the ball but Adam gets it back into Shipston's control. George H and Tom defend well until the ref halts the game for a talk with the forwards. Play resumes and despite a break by George H, Bredon keep up the pressure resulting in some frantic play with lots of movement up and down the pitch.
A breakaway by George V looks promising until an unlucky trip deep in Bredon's half, the scrum at ten metres leads to another at five metres....and another back at ten metres. The ball goes to George H who passes wide to Alastair for a perfect piece of teamwork with Alastair scoring.
Another couple of minutes and Tom powers to George H to Joe, who breaks away for a ballistic run to another score.
Bredon respond with a hard drive into Shipston territory. They look close to scoring until Adam gets the ball clear. Strong play by Alex keeps Bredon at bay until George H kick wins fifty metres for Shipston. Bredon push back again, looking strong at our ten metre line until the final whistle blows.

This was a great game for all the vocal spectators, both sides being fully commited and with all the Shipston boys showing great play, lots of passion and, most importantly, the boys had energy from start to finish.

What a wonderful lead up to the tour next weekend. More of the same please!