U12s' triangular with Beaconsfield & London Irish

Sunday 11th January 2004
       
The U12s travelled to Beaconsfield on Sunday 11th Jan for a triangular fixture with Beaconsfield and London Irish. What started as a promising day weatherwise soon degenerated into a wash out and mudbath. However, the blustery storms were not enough to dampen the teams spirits or ambitions. First game of day was Maids A vs Beaconsfield A. Maids played downhill against the wind to start and did their best to open the game up with handling moves. However, the first try came from a Townsend charge, boshing through 4 defenders to reach the line allowing Maids to turn round 5-0 up at half time. In the second half, Beaconsfield sought to keep the ball in the forwards kicking most of their possession for their heavier pack to chase up. The Maids line stood firm against this battering with some superb tackling marshalled by Thomson and Harte in midfield halting the Beaconsfield charges in their tracks. However, a few minutes from half time, Beaconsfield won a line out near the try line and fell over it to score.

At this stage Beaconsfield were gaining momentum and another score looked inevitable as their forwards drive down hill time and again. But this Maids side showed real character and through a combination of clever kicking and adept running managed to get within striking distance of the Beaconsfield line. The forwards worked hard to disrupt the Beaconsfield possession and the centres put their opposite numbers under intense pressure, causing the Beaconsfield backs to spill the ball over the line, allowing Thomson to pounce to seal a well deserved victory, 10-5.

The Maids B team took to the field next against London Irish. The conditions had worsened and the pitch was now covered in an inch of wet mud. The forwards battled well and secured a good supply of ball to the backs, who couldn't quite create the openings they needed to secure a score. Tsujiyama made some good breaks, but frequently found himself without support and so the ball was turned over. The backs tackled like demons throughout the match, but the Irish had the edge for pace and size and eventually ran out winners by three tries to nil.

The B's next game was against Beaconsfield, and the Irish story was again repeated, with the forwards competitive, the backs defending well - in particular Matthew Taylor's chase back and try saving tackle on player twice his size . But they were not quite able to create the score they so much deserved. Again the score was 15-0.

Maids final game of the day was against London Irish. Maids again started off down hill into the wind and got off to a blistering start with a well worked try for Harte from a chip and chase quickly followed up a second for 'Burglar Bill' William Cadden. The forwards were going well in the scrums and lineouts but were hesitant at the breakdown which ensured that the larger Irish pack had a reasonable supply of ball. The second half was all Irish as they, like Beaconsfield trundled down the slope, making the most of the muddy conditions. They eventually crossed the line to register their only score of the day. The last few minutes saw frantic Maidenhead defence, which was just about good enough to keep Irish out.

Well it would be difficult to draw too much from these results, there were encouraging signs from both sides in attack and defence. Our next fixture is against Redingensians on 25th Jan, which should be an intriguing local derby.