Dursley run over by a Jeddernaught

It was a shame that lock Laurie was missing as he would have enjoyed playing against his school mates from Redknock. Instead Mr T driving his GMC Van and the rest of the 2nd row A-Team would put on a great all round display, but who out of Jedd, Jamie and Lucas would play the lead roles of Hannibal, Face and Murdoch?

With the Fromehall pitch looking great – with cones laid out to OCD measured perfection by yours truly – the players were out in force so it was going to be a traumatic time for Mark and Phil to rotate the multitude of subs and give them all a good run out. Even the OCD obsessed match reporter was in a sweat trying to work out how he would keep the famed accuracy of the match report with the revolving door of subs to contend with…… so here we go.

Starting Forwards: Strong One, Hooky King, Pushing Guy, Scrum Smasher, Mauling Marauder, Ruck Winner
Starting Backs: Little #9, Intercept King, Fast Kid, Rip Tackle Kid, Curly Haired Tackle Demon, Fast Finisher, Catch Boy

Dursley kicked off and Keyan produced a typically strong run back well supported by Joe. Then ruck, run right and Dave score in the corner for 5-0 lead.

Another Dursley kick and another Keyan run back. Turnovers and penalties slowed down the game until it burst into life with a Stroud scrum win, a quick pass out left to Dave, Alex on the inside crash ball from deep and then back to Dave who finished off the move with a great try that had its origins in the Friday night training session. These kids do listen occasionally……

Dursley kick off #3 and Liam run back. More ruck winning from the forwards followed by Dave and Keyan runs and finished off with a Mr T strong run to the right and as he ran out of milk, sorry energy, he offloaded to Joe who scored in the right corner for a 15-0 lead.

Dursley kicked off again and it was a near repeat with the end result being a quick Hilly pass from a ruck to Joe who scored again in the corner. Now the subs started and a raft of blue shirted kids came off to be replaced with more blue shirted adolescents.

No impact on the next play though as Dursley kicked off again and Keyan again caught cleanly and this time set off to the left at pace and squeezed down the touchline showing off his new hand-off skills to great effect and then a spectacular dive to score the 5th try – had he tripped, had he run out of energy, or was he swan diving in celebration like Chris Ashton ?

Jamie came on to replace Keyan and immediately came into action with a good kick return. Flash took on the ball but good Dursley tackling forced him out of play. Dursley took the line-in pass but Jamie was waiting with a strong tackle that forced a turnover that Liam picked up cleanly and took the ball to the right and with an expert pass found Arthur who sprinted down the wing and scored for a 30-0 lead.

Stoners turn to catch the kick off but the sun got in his eyes (said his Dad) and he knocked on. Dursley took advantage from the scrum and attacked right and pressured the Stroud line. Stout defending kept them out and in typical Stroud fashion Jamie forced a turnover on our own line and instead of kicking the confident backs ran it out – Hilly to Will to Dave and then as Dave ran out of gas (gas, gas, gas for those of you who saw him play footy on Sat) he passed to Arthur who ran the rest of the pitch for another score and 35-0 lead.

This time Dursley opted for a Stroud kick off but the ball bounced around and Archie was quick to the ball and won possession. A sequence of back runs, breakdowns, rucks and penalties ended with a Dursley back move from their own 22 that was expertly pick pocketed by Will who intercepted the ball and scored a try under the posts. To celebrate his score he was rewarded with a subs vest and another rejigging of the team line-up. Stroud kicked off but the end of the half came upon us and the players huddled to be given more expert advice.

Half Time: Stroud 40-0 Dursley

Dave taking the coveted #10 role kicked off and play settled down with exchange of attacks and turnovers. Harry and Callum were heavily involved at the breakdown to snaffle the ball away and allow Flash to give good ball to the backs to exploit that Archie and Riley used to good effect. To their credit Dursley were coming back strong and were putting together their own moves using both forwards and backs to good effect. Defensively Stroud were quick to the tackle, the highlight been a joint Dave and Alex grab and push back 5 yards. Stroud were infringing at the breakdown though and Dursley took the resulting penalty and ran right and poor tackling enabled the strong Dursley forward to score in the corner for the potential start of their comeback. Would Stroud have a dodgy 2nd half or come back and re-assert themselves again?

Dave kicked off and Dursley kept the ball alive through a few phases. The waves parted and Dursley exploited the gap but Orgy somehow twisted his body round and did a text book tackle to snuff out a dangerous move. Defence was turned to attack with both Callum and Eddie making strong runs up with the middle. Good support at the breakdown by Harry and Jamie enabled the ball to come out to the Jeddernaught and he went on a bulldozing run to the left and just as we thought he was going to be felled he lifted the knees higher and shrugged off the tackles and closed on the line. He ran out of diesel though but it didn’t matter as Jedd had the alertness to look inside and find a well supporting Dave who finished off the move. Dave scored but Jedd did all the heavy lifting……

Dursley kicked off and Archie did a good run back. More breakdowns and scrums were shared between the teams. The difference this time being Fin who was tackling like a banshee, and running like a gazelle – changing direction on a sixpence and avoiding the Dursley Cheetahs. Play edged towards the Dursley try line but they did well to turn the ball over, but before they had chance to exploit it Harry did another turnover tackle and Keyan was on hand to pick up and score from close range for a 50-5 lead.

Another re-jig of the team and Alex took kick off duties and kicked deep. Dursley let it bounce which gave Fin the chance to win the ball and pass to Edgar who went on a great run. Dursley defended well though but an alert Liam took advantage from the ruck and barrelled over for a try.

This time it was a Hilly kick off and a good Dursley run back. Not to worry though because Will was now playing full back and put in a great try denying tackle. Quick recycling of the ball gave Fin the platform to attack from and he swerved up the left wing. Eventually he ran out of space but Mr T was supporting well and kept the attack going with a strong run to the right. Edgar then took the ball back to the left and as the coaching staff were willing him over the try line he unselfishly passed to Fin who was denied by a great tackle. Dursley were awarded a scrum but Stroud were not to be denied and forced a win against the head. Quick ball to the right gave Archie, Edgar and Riley to combine with a great move that Riley was unlucky to not convert. It didn’t matter though because Keyan scooped up the loose ball and scored another try for a 60-5 lead.

The last kick off of the game was a Fin catch and Archie run back. Breakdown penalty against Stroud gave Dursley a penalty that their big kid took at pace. Keyan was waiting though and put in a gigantic tackle (again its foundations laid by the Friday night coaching and comedy laced tackle shadowing drill that Keyan embraced fully). From the ruck Liam was again exploiting the space, then a crisp pass onto Fin, as space expired Stoner was on the shoulder to take the ball deep into Dursley territory. Next Mr T went on another strong run. As the space opened up an unfortunate Stroud knock-on stopped the play-of-the-day from being rewarded. Dursley were still intent on playing running rugby and won their scrum and attacked from deep but an unfortunate long pass went to ground and the full-back playing Will saw his chance and sprinted up the pitch to pick up the loose ball and score the last try of the game as the final whistle went.

Final score: Stroud 65-5 Dursley

Players formed tunnels and applauded each other off the pitch. Well played Dursley for plugging away to the end and never letting your heads drop. I’m sure Laurie won’t remind you of the result next week at school……

Player debrief was held and Dave was modest enough to tell everyone that the Dursley coach called him fast. Coaches debrief was held and special mention was made of the good passing and off-loads that kept the ball alive and this was shown with the tries being shared around the pitch. Improvement for next week needs to focus on tackling.

Off to the clubhouse and sporting their new blue shirts they tucked into steak slice and chips. Both teams looked very smart decked in shirt and ties. Special thanks to Sam for organising the “steal-of-the-century” with the best value embroidered shirts we’ve ever seen.