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Grasshoppers get jump on U14s Maidenhead
U14s 18 v Grasshoppers U14s 26 |
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The Under 14s toughed it out against a hard-tackling Grasshoppers side, eventually losing by four tries to three in this friendly fixture. Although 13.7 ahead at the turnaround, the visitors exploited gaps in Maids’ defence to win a closely contested match. For once, Maids were awake and focused from the kick off and dominated the first half. The early pressure led to a penalty in front of the posts that Paul Sayers tucked away for a 3.0 lead to provide a timely confidence boost. Matt Beal, James Brooks and Olly Evans put in strong performances. Chris Withers and Matt Morgan made good runs. The workrate from Josh Turvey, Connor Murphy and Matt Quinn was high. Pacey, intelligent moves by Maids were held up well by Grasshoppers, particularly their aggressive pack in the rucks and scrums. It was from one of the visitor’s rare first half attacks that Maids launched an excellent counter-offensive. The ball was booted upfield to secure a line-out 10 metres out. From a move rehearsed on the training ground Ben Pritchard caught the line-out, popped the ball to Charlie Wickham-Smith who darted through the inside gap to score. Grasshoppers upped their game and pulled back with a converted try after a lapse in tackling by Maids. A superb try just before half-time then restored Maids’ advantage. The move was started by Paul, with quick hands by Josh, James Parrott, Ben and Morgan Davies, who flew over in the right corner to make it 13.7. Grasshoppers enjoyed greater possession in the second period, scoring twice to move 13.21 ahead. Another fine team try was finished off by Mitch Burns to put Maids just two points behind. Just when they needed a boost, Maids upped the tempo with two fantastic driving mauls, with Michael James in the thick of things – one of them pushed Grasshoppers back almost half the length of the pitch. The boys were playing great rugby now, despite a taking a battering and suffering a number of injuries. Paul Sweeney and Rory Creffield showed great nerve in their tackling; Ridjal Ralhan and Thomas Simpson used their speed on the wings to disrupt the opposition. Despite Maids regaining territory, Grasshoppers were always dangerous on the break and scored their fourth try just before the final whistle. It was a sterling performance and good preparation for next week’s league match against reigning Berkshire champions, Newbury. Tries: Penalties: Squad: |
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