MRFC U15s v Ealing 29/9/02

U15s wings take flight against Ealing Maidenhead U15s 71 Ealing U15s 0 Sunday 29th September 2002


Maids' forwards on the attack
Maidenhead gave a blistering performance against a sizeable but outgunned Ealing at Braywick. The feature of this massive victory was that all four players who appeared on the wing - Alex Cannon, Chris Richardson, Anthony Lewis and Andrew Foot, all scored tries as part of the 11-try blitz which Maids delivered. Some of the scores came from breathtaking rugby. Maids made their normal explosive start and had registered three tries inside the first 10 minutes of play as backs and forwards combined. Some phases of play - notably the line-out and the re-start - did not work well. Also, too many players decided to hold on to the ball into contact when they should have moved it to a supporting player.


Maids' pack put the pressure on

But Maids defence and their energy in supporting the ball carrier was remarkable. As usual, the scrum was dominant and Luke Knowles made a great success of his switch to the openside flank. His running angles were those of an experienced No 7. David Hodgson was a tower of strength in midfield and yet all the Maids backs who saw action played well.


Maids defend an Ealing scrum

There was also some clever tactical thinking. The first try came from a tap penalty but with the big forwards all lined up, a dummy move was called and with Ealing covering the centre of the field, some electric handing sent Richardson over in the corner. The other try scorers were Tom Kay (2), Alex Cannon (2), Chris Adam, Joe Thomas, Pat McSweeney, Andrew Foot and Chris Parrott. Hodgson kicked superbly, putting over six conversions of the second first-half tries. Chris Adam added two conversions in the second half.


Ealing take an advantage

The Maidenhead team was: Sam Stefan, Andrew Hogan, Andrew Foot, Alex Cannon, Ryan Christian, David Hodgson, Chris Richardson, Anthony Lewis, Alasdair Bruce, Tom Lewis, Chris Adam; Jack Robinson, Pat McSweeney, Ben Tucker, Tom Morgan, Chris Parrott, Tom Plumer, Joe Thomas, Mitch Batten, Andrew Jones, Luke Knowles, Tom Kay.