Downhill all the way for U14s on Saracens' slope Saracens U14s 21 v
Maidenhead U14s 24 |
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| Maids pass down the line | |||
| Maidenhead
under 14s continued their unbeaten start to the season
with a hard fought victory over Saracens at Southgate on
Sunday. The final score of 24-21 suggests a close game,
however the result was never really in doubt as Saracens
scored their third converted try on the final whistle. Having just come off last week's important league win against Redingensians the Maidenhead selectors decided to give those players that had missed out previously an extended run. This victory highlights the strength in depth at this age group with 23 players given a run out. There was a debut for Ben Bishop on the wing plus the welcome return of Andrew Foot from injury. |
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| Maids win scrum against Saracens | |||
| The Saracens pitch dictated the run of play – there was a slope down into one corner and once a player got up a head of steam it was very difficult to bring him down – 6 of the 7 tries were scored in this area. Maidenhead started where they had left off the previous week and within the first 10 minutes had scored 2 excellent tries, the first scored by Dave Hodgson from 50 metres after a searing inside break. The second from a charging break by Alex Cannon, which was taken on by no 8 Tom Kay for the touchdown. Kay scored a further try when he just managed to squeeze between the opposition tackler and the post. Hodgson converted 2 of these tries. The Maidenhead back row was disrupted by two injuries as Kay and blind side wing forward Tim Johnson both had to leave the field with injuries. A further try was prevented when following a many phase move Chris Parrott looked to have scored in the corner only to be pushed into touch by an illegal tackle. The referee decided to award a penalty rather than a penalty try. The half time score was 19-0 in favour of Maidenhead. | |||
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| Waiting for the ball | |||
| As predicted by the coaches at half time the slope came into play in Saracens favour in the 2nd half. Within a few minutes, Saracens scored their first converted try following a quickly taken tap against a disorganised Maidenhead defence. It was at this point that Maidenhead knew they had a game on their hands. The next passage of play decided the final result. For the first time in the match there was a sustained period of pressure by Maidenhead against the slope. Some excellent dynamic rucking lead by Mitchell Batten, Jack Robinson and Andrew Jones and strong scrummaging gave the mighty Joe Thomas a chance to lunge over for an unconverted try. Thomas who had come on at half time had already been denied once when he just failed to make the line. | |||
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| Waiting for the ball 2 | |||
| It was then Saracens chance to put on the pressure and they gained much ground with some astute kicking down the slope. It was in this period that Maids were thankful for the safe hands of Chris Richardson at full back that didn’t put a foot or hand wrong. He could not though prevent Saracens from scoring two further converted tries including the final try from the Saracens winger who beat five would be Maidenhead tacklers with pure pace. The final score was 24-21 to Maidenhead. | |||
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| Maids on the attack | |||
| Squad: Forwards: Ashley Hanks, Jack Robinson, Patrick McSweeney, Tom Morgan, Chris Parrott, Andrew Jones, Joe Thomas, Luke Knowles, Tom Kay, Mitchell Batten, Tim Johnson Backs: Ollie Styles, Chris Adams, Tom Lewis, Sam Stefan, Ryan Christian, Anthony Lewis, Elliott Hawkes, Alex Cannon, Dave Hodgson, Ben Bishop, Andrew Foot, Chris Richardson |
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