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MOST TRIES NO. 6 - CRAIG CLEMENTS

MOST TRIES NO. 6 - CRAIG CLEMENTS

Rich Ashton26 Jan 2021 - 16:45

Speedster crossed 16 times in 2005/06 championship-winning season!

Name: Craig Clements

Position: Wing

Total Tries: 55

First Try: Frome (a) – October 5, 2002.

Last Try: Barnstaple (h) – April 9, 2011.

Most tries in a game: (3) – Buckingham (h) – (April 22, 2006) and Windsor (October 7, 2006).

Most tries in a season: 16 in 2005/06.

Most tries against: (4) - Buckingham and Cleve.

Summary:

Craig’s first try arrived in disappointing fashion for the team as they were blitzed 59-16 at Frome in October 2002, and it was a similar story the following week when he crossed again in a 42-13 home reverse to Oakmedians.

His first score in a winning performance came in the 22-12 success at home to Calne, and further tries against Wootton Bassett (15-11) and Ivel Barbarians (16-35) gave him an encouraging five in his maiden campaign.

Three more followed in the next season, home (70-16) and away (21-25) against Bournemouth and a consolation at Tadley (5-25), while he crossed four times in 2004/05 thanks to a first brace at Tadley (31-15) and efforts at Bradford-on-Avon (18-20) and against visitors Trowbridge (29-7) seven days later.

It was in the Southern Counties North title-winning season of 2005/06 that Craig really hit his straps, running in a magnificent 16 tries.

He dotted down in the 2015 away win at Grove before following up against Beaconsfield (31-11) the next week, going on to make it four in three games with a brace at home to Swindon (39-13).

After a barren week, he scored four weeks in a row against Amersham & Chiltern (45-0), Buckingham (19-24), Chipping Norton (41-3) and Amersham again (15-7) before two more tries at Swindon (22-17) and at home to Grove (25-24) in a thriller gave him 10 in 12 matches.

And he upped his game even further with a stunning finish to the season, crossing in the 17-3 win at home to Olney, bagging a brace at Chipping Norton (20-12) and finishing with a marvellous hat-trick in the finale against Buckingham (55-15).

Another title win arrived the following year, with Craig’s seven South West Two East tries playing a key role.

He scored in the opening two games against Henley Wanderers (39-15) and Frome (29-17), and two weeks later he crossed against Swanage & Wareham (39-21) before he scorched in for a terrific treble in the 64-0 win against Windsor.

After some time out, he returned to the scoresheet in the last game of the season at Aylesbury (26-15), and he added a trio of tries the following year as Rams played in South West One for the first time – crossing against St Ives (21-11), Reading (14-18) and Bracknell (27-32).

Three more scores arrived in 2009/10 at home to Taunton (17-50), Reading (32-14) and Cleve (10-20), before Craig signed off with a stunning 14 tries the year after.

His first came at home to Cleve (46-17) and he added a double at Coney Hill (25-11) the following week.

Craig’s next try came in the narrow 24-22 success against Oxford Harlequins, with another coming against Weston-super-Mare (19-7) the next week.

Numbers six and seven came at Cleve (42-15) before a hot streak of five tries in four games started against Newton Abbot (36-40), continued at Barnstaple (25-8), included a double at home to Old Patesians (56-15) and concluded at Quins (42-17).

And after two try-less, weeks, Craig’s 55th and final effort arrived at the start of April in a highly entertaining 48-34 win against Barnstaple.

Tries by season:

2002/03 (5) – Frome (a), Oakmedians (h), Calne (h), Wootton Bassett (a), Ivel Barbarians (a).

03/04 (3) – Bournemouth (a), Bournemouth (h), Tadley (a).

04/05 (4) – Tadley x2 (a), Bradford-on-Avon (a), Trowbridge (h).

05/06 (16) – Grove (a), Beaconsfield (a), Swindon x2 (h), Amersham & Chiltern (h), Buckingham (a), Chipping Norton (h), Amersham & Chiltern (a), Swindon (a), Grove (h), Olney (h), Chipping Norton x2 (a), Buckingham x3 (h).

06/07 (7) – Henley Wanderers (h), Frome (a), Swanage & Wareham (a), Windsor x3 (h), Aylesbury (a).

07/08 (3) – St Ives (h), Reading (a), Bracknell (h).

09/10 (3) – Taunton (h), Reading (h), Cleve (a).

10/11 (14) – Cleve (h), Coney Hill x2 (a), Oxford Harlequins (h), Weston-super-Mare (h), Cleve x2 (a), Coney Hill (h), Newton Abbot (a), Barnstaple (a), Old Patesians x2 (h), Oxford Harlequins (a), Barnstaple (h).

The list:

7 - Jak Rossiter
8 - Joe Duffelen
9 - Ben Henderson
10 - Conor Corrigan
11 - James Baker
12 - Tom Vooght
13 - Jamie Guttridge
14 - Joao Costa
15 - Jevon Marsh
16 - Stevie Bryant
17 - Matt Reed
18 - Rob Castell
19 - Micky Bell
20 - Rodney Hutson
21 - Azza Hopkins
22 - Spike Chandler
23 - JJ Bell
24 - Olly Poole
25 - Olly Foxley
26 - Greg Illingworth
27 - Andy Fairweather
28 - Josh Smith
29 - Ollie Randall
30 - Greg Way

Further reading