Maidenhead U11 Bravehearts vs Ealing and Teddington

A depleted squad of developing Maidenhead Under 11s did themselves and the club proud on Sunday. The magnificent 11 travelled to Teddington to play against development squads from Ealing and Teddington (though the Ealing side consisted of a mix of B and C team players). They had a highly successful morning, battling the elements, a series of injuries and a ref with an interesting view of the laws…

In the first game against Ealing, Teddington kindly provided a player to make the side up to full strength, but a series of incidents against a large Ealing pack saw numbers cut back down to 10 by the end of the first half as Matthew Smith and Blake Nicol were off the pitch recovering from injuries. The side slipped behind to a penalty try awarded under puzzling circumstances after a cover tackle from Iain Whiteford had stopped an attack.

In the 2nd half Matthew made it back on to the field but Blake was still receiving treatment for a cut eye, so numbers remained 11 vs 12. Maids levelled the score with a try from George Thomas which Iain Whiteford converted. Despite tremendous defence, notably from Darren Chouls who was busily tackling all comers, whatever their size advantage, Maids couldn’t quite keep out the superior numbers and Ealing grabbed their only actual try of the game to steal the victory 14 – 7.

By the time of the 2nd game all Maids players had recovered and Ealing kindly donated a “12th man” to complete the side to play Teddington. Once again Maids were the physically smaller side – one Teddington player reaching 5 foot 4 – but once again Darren Chouls was completely unbothered, tackling all and sundry! Adam Callaway survived some eccentric ‘round the throat’ mauling but sadly Teddington took the lead with an unconverted try.

Back came Maids! George Thomas got his second of the day, and Iain Whiteford his 2nd conversion to go ahead for the first time. Alice McLeod came close after great team pressure, and then sealed the victory with a great solo effort, her determination driving her over the line despite the two tacklers trying to hold her back. Alice converted her own try to make the final scoreline 14 – 5.

The whole squad played very well together and had a great morning. Singled out for praise were Alice for outstanding effort and commitment; Blake for strong forward play and recovering from his eye injury; and Darren “Daz” Chouls for his dazzling tackling display (for a player new to the squad this season, he sets a fine example of bravery and technique for others to follow!).

The magnificent 11 were:

Adam Callaway - Bruised legs and lost voice –“but other than that I’m fine”
Alister Eaton – A satisfied smile after combative performance
Blake “one eye” Nicol – “I’ve got another one!”
Rupert Owen – A busy morning
Matthew Smith – Brave bounce back from butt on head
Ian Whiteford – “So what was wrong with that cover tackle?”
Daniel Williams – A new side of Daniel, running with ball in hand – great progress!
Darren Chouls (Daz) - Crunch tackler – “Bring ‘em on / The bigger they are, the harder they fall”
Alice McLeod - Sheer Determination – “I WILL score a try!”
Jacob Saunders – “I want that ball”
George Thomas – “I want that ball too! / Get off me I have scored a try!”