U15s undone at Abbey

Reading Abbey U15s 26 v Maidenhead U15s 19
2nd March 2008

The Under 15s came unstuck against faster and more determined opponents, who were good value for their 26.19 win. The match was tense and evenly matched for long periods but Abbey made the most of their possession and provided better support play.

Although Maids came out better in many of the line-outs, Abbey's scrum was dominant throughout the match. Looking for their first ever League victory over Maidenhead, Abbey came into the game with the right mindset.

Maids started brightly and put the hosts under pressure with a series of line-outs and scrums. But Abbey defended solidly. Disaster struck as Maids built up a promising move wide on the left. With the tryline only metres away, Abbey intercepted a pass and their winger took off impressively to run the length of the pitch to score under the posts for the only try of the first half.

The home side delivered another blow five minutes into the second period as one of their backs dummied to create a gap and score. Maids hit straight back though. Winning a line-out inside Abbey's 22-metre line, Connor Murphy ripped the ball excellently to set up a run by Elliott Reid to score. Paul Sayers added the extras.

One of Maids' biggest problems was missed tackles and Abbey duly made the visitors pay with a forwards move that evaded flailing arms to restore the home side's 14-point cushion. From the re-start Maids again countered. TJ Hudson harried Abbey's backs as the ball bounced awkwardly and for once Maids' forwards rucked over effectively. Elliot broke free with Charlie Wickham-Smith in support to take the pass and score. Paul added the conversion.

As the match reached its crucial final 10 minutes, Maids almost pulled back an equalising try as Paul Sayers and Elliott combined but knocked on. Poor tackling was again to blame as Abbey's well-organised forwards added a fourth try. But Maids never looking like giving up, they just didn’t gel as a unit today and couldn't make the most of things when they gained territory. As the clock wound down Elliot powered through again to give hope with the score narrowed to 26.19, but Abbey held on for a deserved win.