|
U13s at local rivals Redingensians Redingensians U13As 19 v Maidenhead
U13As 15 |
|||
 |
|||
| Maids’ third
Berkshire league game of the season was against local rivals Redingensians.
These two squads are evenly matched and always seem to have tightly fought games in squally and wet conditions. Playing on a semi waterlogged ground and into a strong wind the Maids squad were caught napping when the Reading winger picked up a loose ball and had put them on the score sheet within 2 minutes of kick off. Despite Maids domination of the line out and scrum within another few minutes they had given away a scrappy ball which made its way out to the prolific Reading winger who was unstoppable with ball in hand from the half way line. Maids were 14-0 down within 5 minutes and the shock was enough to wake them from their shoddy start into action. The forwards began to take control of possession and started to work the ball out to the backs who made some great penetrating runs at the Reading defence. Scrum half Keiron Egan managed to wrong foot the opposition and slip the ball back to wing Emi Repetto who fought his way over the line to get Maids onto the score sheet at last. This was a game of hard hits and the forwards from both teams were taking a real battering. One bruising maul took out three of the hard men including No 8 Marcus Bateson, Hooker Andrew McGregor and Lock Christian Horn. To their credit the guys battled through and kept bulldozing their way through the Reading defence and some clever footwork from Martin Harris allowed Centre Colin Kerins to get a ball out wide to allow him to score one of his trade mark individual tries. Unfortunately Maids weren’t able to convert their two tries due to the strong winds being against them.
Half Time - Redingensians 14 – Maids 10
Confidence was now riding high and Maids were controlling most of the play and dominating the breakdown. However one small Maids passing error allowed their scrum half to get hold of a loose ball and he cleverly managed to get through the Maids defence to take Reading into a 19 – 10 lead. With passions running high and the squad playing their hearts out, the injury list for Maids was getting bigger. Full back Oliver Saunders took a nasty rib injury as he bravely took out the Reading wing to stop a certain try. Maids captain and man of the match Matt Balmer took a high ball but got taken out on the way down. However the position he gained for Maids was a good one and Centre Colin Kerins took full advantage and with a wall of Maids forwards supporting him he powered over the Reading line to score Maids third and final try. Despite wave after wave of Maids pressure the Reading defence managed to hold out and despite spending what seemed like an age on their 5 yard line we failed to make the breakthrough and the final whistle came too soon thus denying Maids a 4th try which they thoroughly deserved. Despite the loss this was probably Maids best league performance of the season so far. They played passionately as a team and the score line didn’t do justice to their hard fought efforts.
Final Score - Redingensians 19 – Maids 15
Maids A Squad:
|