Depleted U15s turn tide at Hertford

Hertford U15s 12 Maidenhead U15s 15
Sunday 17th November 2002

However, no-one of the Maids team on the field appeared pessimistic. After allowing the two early Hertford tries, the injury-ravaged pack reacted with power and hunger. After a slow start, they absolutely dominated all phases of play - scrums, line-out, rucks and mauls. The front row of Pat McSweeney, Jack Robinson and Shah inspired a dominant scrum; in the second row, Joe Thomas and Chris Parrott began to apply themselves to the forward effort taking two-handed catches and making determined ground in the loose. The back row of Andrew Jones, Tom Kay and Luke Knowles fought like tigers to first snuff out the opposition threat and then to initiate Maids attacks.

Gradually, the tide turned. Maids allowed only one set of attacks from the home side in the rest of the match. They trailed still at 12-5 at half-time despite creating a stream of half-chances and also struggling with the wet ball. But eventually, after dynamic rucking, Ollie Styles, whose courage and industry had done as much as anyone to reverse the trend, crashed over for the try. Ali Bruce, Andrew Hogan and Chris Richardson also played with guts in the first half, helping to peg Hertford pack in preparation for a second half assault.

Maids kept in improving. Tom Lewis had his sharpest match of the season at fly-half, Sam Stefan was coolness personified at full-back and Anthony Lewis, Andrew Foot and Elliott Hawkes, returning from injury, battled memorably in the mud. Eventually, skipper Joe Thomas crashed over for a try after sensational combined play and Thomas put Maids in the lead in the final quarter, again from a concerted attack. Dave Hodgson, who held the midfield together along with Ryan Christian, missed the conversions but conditions for kicking were very poor.

Maids coaches were thrilled by the attitude of their players and are grateful for a three-week gap before the next game which should allow the injured masses to recover.