U10s' injury crisis gives Henley the edge

Sunday 27th February 2005

Maidenhead’s Under 10’s A & B teams were in action away at Henley last weekend. Weather conditions were severe and this had an impact on injuries. Five members of the A team squad were sidelined for this clash and this had a definite impact on the squad’s ability to put some good set pieces together.

Nevertheless they put some gutsy performances together and came away with a draw and a narrow loss.

The first game was frustrating for the Maids forwards as twice in the first half Maids got over the Henley line only to have their tries disallowed for being held up.

Henley got onto the score sheet twice in the first half with two breakaway tries from set pieces. Maids scrum half Keiran Egan managed to secure a try before the break but was almost immediately "nailed" by the Henley forwards who put him out of the game for the rest of the day. The second half saw Maids fight back hard with some hard fought scrums from the forwards. This allowed them to get a good ball out to wing Jonny Garius who secured a great individual try to even the score.

Unfortunately Henley managed to force through the Maids defence in the dying seconds to secure their narrow win.

Maidenhead A 10– 15 Henley A

Maids second game was a far more bruising encounter. Both teams took injuries to their forwards and the rucking in the freezing conditions was occasionally brutal.

Possession in this game was mainly in Maids favour and when wing Matt Balmer got the ball on the Maids 15 yard line he managed to weave through the full Henley pack to secure a superb individual try to take them into the lead at half time.

Second half was an equally dominant performance by Maids and the new members of the squad were beginning to settle into their new positions. Again Maids dominated possession and produced some great flowing rugby. A silly passing error again allowed the Henley scrum half to turn over possession and break away to secure a game equalising try in the dying seconds.

Maidenhead A 5 – 5 Henley A

Maids A team: Oliver Saunders, Cameron Foster, Andrew MacGregor, Kieran Egan, , Christian Horn, George Chetwood, Angus Hickey, Matt Balmer, Lewis Kiddell, Jonathon Garius.

Maids B Team were also badly affected by injuries and also by having to strengthen the injury depleted A team. Regardless they faced their opposition with determination to battle through.

The first game was a very even game with both sides defending well. Maids forwards were dominant in the scrum and this allowed several good balls out to wing Dylon Cadegon who was unlucky not to score in the first half.

After the break Maids got onto the ball straight away and fed it beautifully out to wing Cadegon who was on blistering form and on this occasion he got the much deserved try. Maids continued to dominate the second half and should have taken more advantage of the superior pack. However they were caught napping in the dying seconds to allow Henley a breakaway try to level the game.

Maidenhead B 5 – 5 Henley B

Maids B second game was a much faster flowing game and both wings were on the scoring sheet early in the first half. Josh Dillon and Dylon Cadegon securing three tries for Maids to give them a solid lead. Unfortunately Henley came out into the second half with a mission and ran rampant over the Maids defence.

Although there was some valiant defending by prop Sam Hollow Maids could not hold on to their lead and went down 30 – 15.

Maids B team : Spencer Komen, Ruiari Evans, Dylon Cadegon, Jim Bunn, , Spencer Bechtel, Sam Hollow, Pranav Pillai, Josh Dillon, John Lilley, Ciaron Warner, Josh Dillon.