Southmead RFC U15s v Stroud RFC U15s

With competing demands from the Sunday DPP match, upcoming school fixtures, and Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets, it was a happy few of only 16 Stroud players that set off on the trip down to Southmead on Sunday.

The continued success of the U15 team over the last couple of years, along with the growing reputation of coaches Messrs Marklove and Pollard as inspirational leaders of these young men, has meant that the Stroud squad had swelled into the mid-20s in recent weeks, so it would be a test for this streamlined band of brothers in the windswept conditions in Bristol.

With Isaac having been kind enough to spend the first half with the Southmead team, the youthful referee blew on his whistle to start that game, which began with a substandard bacon sandwich for the writer, and a similarly undercooked kick off from midfield lynchpin Myles and a scrum on the half way line for the boys from Bristol. Southmead attacked down the left hand side but Stroud’s hard tackling led to a knock on and a scrum to Stroud. The ball went through the hands of the Stroud backs and a couple of passages of play led to a well-judged kick from Myles, gathered by Southmead. Southmead’s counter attack was swiftly cut short by a crunching stop from a young gentleman whose surname is Pollard, and Stroud camped out for a while early in the match in the Southmead 22.

The usually dominant Stroud scrum struggled a bit for momentum during these early exchanges but the new formation gradually found a bit of stability and after some promising early forays up to the Southmead line by Brook especially, the Stroud back line came alive as Myles set off down the left hand side of the field, drawing a couple of players before drifting the ball out to Archie, who took about 3 Southmeaders with him as he powered over the line for Stroud’s first try. On a windy day though, the 2 points bonus were hard to come by – 0-5.

Southmead sent their kick off from the restart Myles’ way and he booted the ball a huge distance back down to Southmead’s line, and after Southmead returned the ball via boot, Harvey gathered and set off on a jinking run through half a dozen Southmead players, a sign of things to come later in the match.

A Southmead infringement then led to a penalty not too far from the Southmead posts. Fly half Myles deftly popped the ball over from the kicking tee – 0-8.

Stroud looked to attack straight from the restart and Callum’s catch and run started a move where the ball went through a few pairs of hands down the left hand side of the field but the move broke down towards the touchline. Southmead’s attempts to attack through their backline from the subsequent scrum were snuffed out by more strong tackling from the Stroud team. Stroud regained the ball, attacked through Myles and Brook, and very nearly sneaked in on the right hand side of the field.

After a few hangbags were thrown between the teams,the referee made it clear to the teams that they were playing a gentleman’s sport and, as such, hangbags or more would not be tolerated, but these scuffles, along with some messy scrummages, made for a forgettable five minutes or so mid-way through the first half. This turgid spell was quickly lit up however, by an electric moment from Stroud’s snake-hipped No.15. Following a ropey clearance from Southmead, Harvey collected, then, like a young Christian Cullen, glid forward, then left, then right, and in under the posts, to score a great try, beating about 5 Southmead defenders in the process – 0-13.

Stroud continued to press Southmead hard, and whenever the Bristolians threatened to make it out of their own half they were met by the tough tackles of the Stroud back row in particular, until they finally slipped away towards the end of the first half and ended up camping on the Stroud line for the last five minutes or so of the half. All to no avail though, as Stroud dug in to defend again and Evan walloped the ball out on the right hand side to bring the half to an end.

Isaac’s spell for the opposition ended and Callum replaced him, and Southmead began the second half by making the bad decision to kick to the in-form Freddy P, who set off on a bulldozing run of about 40 yards upfield, through a load of Southmead players. After a number of phases where the Stroud forwards made sure the ball was kept with their team, and Lewis continued to wrestle the ball out from rucks to whip it out to the Stroud backs, the ball ended up again with precision finisher Archie, who scooted over for his second try, celebrated by all but Myles, who faced another near impossible conversion in nasty winds – 0-18.

Southmead’s bad luck from the restarts continued as they kicked off long, only for Myles to collect over his head and set off on a fluid journey past the Southmead defence, leading to a Stroud lineout back in the Southmead half. Ben continued his metronomically precise throw ins to the Stroud lineout and Freddy P leapt salmon like again to secure Stroud ball, but after a few phases and typically powerful running from Joe, the ball ended up back in Southmead hands, resulting in an ill-judged vertical kick from hand from the Southmead 10, a messy passage of play and a Stroud scrum. As new No.8 Joe eyed a pick and go, the oddly shaped ball had other ideas, and when the ball squirted out on the open side, Freddy P needed no second invitation. Freddy thundered over from 20 yards or so and Myles added the extra two via the inside of the left hand post – 0-25.

Despite a restart from Southmead kicked dead, the ball ended up in Southmead hands again, and, after being repelled a few times, the Southmead team finally managed to breach the Stroud defence to sneak in for a try – 7-25.

The Stroud restart went straight into the arms of Callum and the Stroud players gave him a characteristically sympathetic treatment of one of their brethren by warmly tackling him to the ground. A subsequent penalty to Stroud led to a kick deep into touch in the Southmead 22 and more handbags, with one of the Southmead players attempting to join the melee as if jumping into a swimming pool, and, with Callum good-heartedly confused about exactly who he was supposed to be punching, his place on the Southmead side was taken by Jordan.

The Stroud team continued to press the Southmead line hard and, with the smooth Stroud lineout function again producing clean ball, Evan muscled his way through for another Stroud try – 7-30.

As the game drew to a close, the spirited Southmead side tried to attack, but Stroud’s strong defensive display continued to frustrate them, and, despite some over ambitious passes from the Stroud back line late in the game, Stroud dug deep to keep the scores unchanged as the final whistle blew, and the teams chaperoned each other from the pitch in time honoured fashion.

A good match – to watch and hopefully to have played in. Southmead were worthy opponents, and had definitely improved, having been beaten by Stroud pretty convincingly in the recent past. However, a Stroud team, even without a number of the players in their burgeoning squad, were too strong and too well drilled on the day. Special mention to Isaac, Callum and Jordan for good naturedly playing for the bad guys for a while.