Drybrook pulled off a good win at Old Boy’s Horton Road Ground where a much-changed team played some good open rugby to claim victory.  Drybrook used the chance of a rare friendly fixture to hand a debut to 17 year old stand off Aaron Ryder and the youngster duly obliged with a commanding performance before leaving the field with an head injury in the last quarter.  Ryder opened Drybrook’s account with 2 well struck penalties inside the first 6 minutes as Drybrook made good use of the slope advantage.  Old Boys hit back hard and a series of catch and drives from the line out eventually created a space for the winger to sneak over in the corner.  The home side kept up the pressure and when Drybrook failed to clear a kick through a simple try was scored to give them the lead.  Ryder reduced the arrears with his third successful penalty on 30 minutes and then Drybrook regained the lead with a corner try from winger Dave Payne after some excellent handling by the backs.

Old Boys started the second half strongly and soon regained the initiative when their centre carved through for a try to put them 15pts –14pts ahead.  Despite playing up the considerable slope Drybrook started to get on top and tried to move the ball as often as possible.  With 10 minutes remaining their enterprise was rewarded when Julian Horrobin put second row James Hillcoat through the gap and under the posts for a try that Chris Thomas easily converted.  Old Boys refused to die and with 5 minutes to go they seized on a midfield fumble to score their 4th try but missed the conversion that would have given them the lead  Drybrook’s response was immediate and impressive when a line out deep in Old Boy’s territory led to No 8 Neil Morgan squeezing through the narrowest of gaps down the short side for a try  There was just enough time for the home side to respond but Drybrook held firm to seal victory.

Drybrook team: Steve Skelton, Chris White, Julian Horrobin, Jamie Roberts, Dave Payne, Aaron Ryder, Carl Moore, Tom Reed (capt), Chris Thomas, Scott Phelps, James Hillcoat, Simon Ballinger, Craig Moore, Mark Castree, Neil Morgan.
Replacements: Dean Large, Andy Jones.