Another commanding victory and clean sheet

The U13’s were finally back home at Fromehall after a number of away fixtures, weather cancellations or Maidenhill training and matches at Archway. It was a re-match against the Old Richian boys from the land of the ice creams who they had beaten 40-5 back in November. Fortunately I had run out of puns in the last report so it would be a vanilla report that would not earn a (raspberry) ripple of applause.

Half term had given the kids a bonus weekend off so would they come back firing on all cylinders after the superb 50-5 performance against Longlevens and 65-25 vs Stow or would it be a stuttering performance while they re-warmed the high performance engine? Plenty of subs for Mark and Phil to manage would keep their brains warm.

Forwards: Lucas, Orgy, Sauce, Stoner, Laurie, Keyan
Backs: Flash, Will, Dave, Arthur, Finn, Archie, Alex
Subs: Liam, Mr T, Jedd, Callum, Darion, Edgar, Hilly, Joe, Nibbles

Old Richians (OR) kicked off and Alex ran it back. A pass to Arthur kept the move going but he was bundled out of play. OR took the line-in and passed the ball through a few players but with their looping passes Will saw his chance and intercepted the ball and ran half the length of the pitch but was tackled just short of the line. The ball was knocked on when it was recycled. OR had a scrum but a great push from the forwards and a clean hook from Orgy gave the ball to Flash who darted left and passed to Finn who dived into the corner for a 5-0 lead.

Stroud kicked off and OR ran left and were awarded a penalty for breakdown infringement. They gave the ball to their big guy and he rumbled forward but was met with a Dave tackle that knocked him back a few yards. Sauce and Laurie cleared out well and Lucas picked up the ball and went on his own punishing run. He was eventually slowed up but a quick pass out to Keyan gave him a chance to run for the right corner. Somehow he was chased down by a defiant tackler who managed to bravely drag him down – much to the surprise of Keyan. Good support play by Dave though allowed him to collect the ball and dive over for a 10-0 lead.

OR kicked off nice and high and Laurie showed great concentration to catch it cleanly and run it back well. Stroud lost the ball though in next phase of attack and the OR big guy went on a powerful run. He ran over a few tackles and was threatening to score a long try at pace but Sauce was not put off. He showed great tackling technique to bring him down on the Stroud 22 and force the ball loose. Keyan was alert and picked up the ball and ran the length of the pitch to score the 3rd try and 15-0 lead. He was awarded with a rest and Mr T came on.

Stroud kicked off and Laurie put in a great tackle. OR ran left and right and good tackles from Finn and Orgy kept them at bay. Eventually Stroud kicked long but it went out the back of try area. OR had a drop-out 22 kick that Arthur ran back well. The teams traded attacking moves until OR were awarded a scrum. They remembered the strong shove from the first scrum, they then looked up and saw the size of Jedd and the other replacement forwards pacing the sideline and realised they were in for a long afternoon so asked for uncontested scrums. OR kicked from their scrum and Alex ran it back. Then onto Arthur and Finn who was tackled out of play. OR took the line-in and kicked again and Will was waiting to run it back and a dummy pass opened a gap that he then exploited with a free run to the try line and 20-0 lead.

Stroud started to use the rest of their strong sub bench to give players a rest. OR kicked off and Will ran it back. At the perfect time he passed to Dave who closed in on the line but he was tackled short and OR managed to snaffle the ball and kick long. Joe at full back caught it well and kept the pressure on the OR defense. A few alternating attacking phases from both teams ended with another OR scrum and kick that Joe again fielded well and ran back to the left and scored to extend lead to 25-0.

Will improvised the kick off with a short gruber one that Jedd picked up and kept the run going until he was hauled down by 2 tacklers. The ball came out through the backs and Edgar showed great poise to take the ball on and as the tackler closed in pass out to Archie who kept the attacking move going. Eventually Stroud knocked on and OR had a scrum and good attacking run. A Callum tackle stopped them mid-flow. Then a Mr T tackle halted them again. Good competition at the breakdown from Liam and Stoner won the ball and Lucas picked it up well and attacked left. As he eventually was slowed up Dave received a deft pass and sprinted to the line for a 30-0 scoreline.

OR kicked off low and hard but Jedd’s big hands caught the ball well and he ran it back strongly but the attack eventually ran out of steam and ref Jo blew for half time.

Half time: Stroud 30 - 0 Old Richians

Stroud kicked off and OR ran it back well but Sauce put in another good tackle. Stroud forced a turnover and Hilly on at scrum half quickly got the ball out to the backs who attacked again. Nibbles made some good yardage and Stroud competed well at the breakdown with Callum and Jedd clearing out well. Ball was recycled and Edgar went on a run, followed by a Hilly sniping move. OR got a turnover but Nibbles put in a good tackle and OR were penalised at the breakdown. Unfortunately Callum had to go off with an injury.

At the penalty restart Stoner took the ball on at pace and left a trail of bodies behind him. The ball was kept alive and Will took a looping move to the right but ran out of space. There had been a penalty though so at the restart Darion took the ball into contact. Hilly went on a sniping run and won another penalty that was quickly passed out to the left but possession was lost. Will came off for a well-earnt rest and a re-organised Stroud now had Alex playing #10.

OR lost the ball in contact and Sauce bravely dived on it to win possession. Stoner took the ball on but it was lost at the breakdown. OR attacked back but Alex managed to firstly tackle and then jump up and steal the ball and pass out to Arthur. Play slowed up though and OR were awarded a scrum that they then kicked from and Joe again ran back. Liam won the ruck on his own and the ball came out to the backs. Quick hands from Alex and Keyan got the ball out to Nibbles who made a good attacking move. Play slowed up though and OR won a scrum that they kicked away but Joe was unlucky to knock on. OR had another scrum restart (still uncontested) that gave them another attacking option but Laurie managed to win the ball and ran half the length of the pitch to score in the right corner and 35-0 lead.

Dave took over kick off duties and OR settled into a number of attacking moves, each expertly stopped by text book tackles from Arthur, Dave, Alex, Keyan and Nibbles. OR were close to scoring a try but they lost the ball at the breakdown with the black arts of Orgy and Liam helping win the ball. Darion got the ball and in a spectacular run managed to weave his way up the left wing and out run the OR tacklers to score a great try and 40-0 lead. He limped off injured – no energy left in those legs of his.

OR kicked short but Lucas was ready to catch and run back. More quick hands from Alex, and Keyan under pressure from the tacklers got the ball to Dave and he had a free run to the line for the 9th try.

Stroud kicked off and Keyan put in a good tackle and got rewarded with a cut to the head and a blood bin replacement. OR had kept their composure throughout the game though and kept attacking, determined to cross the whitewash once. They got past half way but Jedd managed to tackle and knock the ball lose. Stroud took the line-in and attacked right. Will now at full back joined the move to keep ball alive. The backs ran out of space but expertly then Will passed back inside and the move came back to the left and Dave scored to make it to the half century for the 3rd match in a row. 50-0 to Stroud.

OR did another low hard kick off and Mr T showed great technique to catch it at ankle height. He ran it back well and Hilly was straight there to lead the clear out. Edgar was very alert to step in at scrum half and get the ball to Jedd who made some hard yards. The ball came out to Lucas who went on a marauding run down the left wing but was eventually forced out of play to the noise of the full time whistle.

Full time: Stroud 50 - 0 Old Richians

Players formed tunnels and applauded each other off the pitch. Most of the players then went to munch their post match grub but ref Jo and 3 of our players still had some energy to burn so the cones were removed and the full pitch prepared for U14’s vs Stow.

Match report #2 Stroud U14’s vs Stow…..

Only kidding – they didn’t pay me enough to do a report - unless Dave, Keyan and Will want to club together! But suffice to say Dave, Keyan and Will imposed themselves on the game to score 2 tries between them and help win a thrilling encounter 30-29. A shy retiring Dave even volunteered to take some of the try conversion kicks from out wide and only just missed converting them. All good practice for next season......

Now after two thrilling morning games it was time to watch England demolish Italy by a massive score line. Ooopps that didn't happen! Lucky escape for England so Stroud should get the rave reviews in the national press instead to save England's blushes......