This past Saturday, the Clayton Bootleggers traveled to Durham to face longtime rivals Tobacco Road. The match also served as a special occasion, as the hosts were christening their new home pitch at Holt Athletic Association. Their facility is a testament to the hard work and dedication of their members and volunteers. Clayton RFC congratulates Tobacco Road on this accomplishment, which further strengthens rugby in the Triangle and benefits the entire community.
The Bootleggers’ coaching and leadership team sought a tough opponent to close out the pre-season, and Tobacco Road delivered. Coming off a playoff run last season, they proved once again to be a formidable side.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the hosts wasted no time, capitalizing on a dropped kickoff to march into Clayton territory and score the opening try. With the conversion, Tobacco Road led 7–0 inside the first minutes. They doubled their lead soon after, stretching the score to 14–0 just five minutes into the match.
The Bootleggers settled down and began to find their rhythm. A penalty outside the 22 in the 16th minute allowed Captain Ben Roach to slot three points and cut the deficit to 14–3. Clayton then regained possession from the restart and slick ball movement in the backs put Luis Padua into space. Padua did the rest touching down in the 22nd minute. Roach added the extras to narrow the gap to 14–10.
Tobacco Road responded quickly with a try off shortly after the restart to push their lead out to 21–10. The rest of the half was a defensive stalemate until the home side crossed once more in stoppage time, taking a 26–10 advantage into the break.
The second half mirrored the first in intensity, with both sides trading territory and putting in hard tackles. Clayton created several scoring chances, breaking the line multiple times, but handling errors and the Tobacco Road defense left them empty-handed.
As the match wore on, injuries began to test the Bootleggers’ depth. Tobacco Road added two late tries, including an interception that ended a promising Clayton attack, to seal the result.
Final Score: Tobacco Road 40 Clayton 10
Despite the result, a highlight for the Bootleggers was the number of new players making their club debuts, reflecting the squad’s growth over the past six months. Congratulations to Eric Hunter, Matt Whittle, Andreas Chauffey, Camden Pendergraph, Tron Newsome, and Franklin Duruoboasa on pulling on the Clayton jersey for the first time.
“Tobacco Road is a solid side, which is what we were looking for in a warm up match,” said Captain Ben Roach. “They put us under pressure all day. Our effort was good, but we wasted a few scoring opportunities that could have made it much closer. We now have a week and a half to sharpen up before our league opener against Greenwood.”
Head Coach Walter Webster added, “I’m really proud of our guys. We are light years ahead of where we were at this time last year, and much better than where we finished last spring. The hard work at practice is starting to show.”
Starters:
Subs:
Clayton RFC now turns its attention to the Carolinas D4 league opener on September 13th, when the Bootleggers host the Greenwood Geese from South Carolina. The club looks forward to a full day of rugby, camaraderie, family, and fellowship at the Johnston County Rugby Park.
Founded in 2013, the Clayton Rugby Football Club is a community-focused, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to growing the sport of rugby in Johnston County and the surrounding area. The club fields men’s teams, a youth flag rugby program, and is committed to fostering a culture of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and competitive spirit both on and off the pitch.
To learn more about the club or if you’d like to join, please contact us at info@claytonrfc.com
