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U15s beat Horsham Maidenhead U15s 29 v Horsham U15s 12 |
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Another solid performance, particularly from the Forwards, saw the Under 15s take this game by the scruff of the neck in the first half to shut out Sussex visitors Horsham. On a very cold morning, Elliott Reid kept the shivering crowd cheering with a dazzling display of unstoppable running and hand-offs to score four of Maids' five tries. Thomas Simpson set the tempo of the match in the opening minutes, finding a gap in Horsham's defence to score and then convert after the visitors were dispossessed in the ruck. The score doubled as Elliott powered through for his first try, following good work by Michael James in the ruck. Josh Turvey and Connor Murphy soon had the measure of the visitor's pack and Maids won turnover ball regularly. It wasn't all the home side by any means - Horsham scrapped hard and got the better of the set pieces - line-outs and scrums in particular - throughout the game. Another concerted counter-attack, with Maids quickest to the breakdown and driving over strongly, set up Elliot to make it 15.0. James Parrott and George Martin were highly effective gaining ground when Maids won possession. Matt Bill and Paul Sayers passed intelligently, taking account of the weather conditions. In the Backs, TJ Hudson, David Walker and Michael Habgood soon created another excellent attacking move. Horsham were also quick on the counter-offensive but couldn't finish off in the final third of the pitch. Yet another driving run from Elliott to score with a well-struck conversion by James eased Maids to a 24.0 half-time lead. The weather, with a biting cross-field wind, influenced the game significantly and Maids were kicking against the elements in the second half. Not surprisingly, Horsham were quickest out of the blocks, keen to get points on the scoreboard. Their persistence paid off and, with Maids on the backfoot the visitors capitalised on poor passing to pull back a converted try. Horsham were the sharper now as Maids seemed to go off the boil. Good play came in bursts - TJ, Thomas and George Kirk thundered down the left flank with some neat passing to win a line-out around the five-metre line. This was quickly followed by a Maids scrum almost under the posts. But the boys lost momentum when it was needed and Horsham averted danger. But not for long. As play switched back to Maids' half, Connor regained possession in the ruck and Charlie Wickham-Smith emerged to find himself in acres of space to run. He offloaded to Elliott in support to score a simple try and restore the points advantage. In the closing stages Horsham again showed the greater tenacity, forcing errors from Maids and gaining territory. They deservedly pulled back another try and might have scored a third but for a brave try-saving tackle by TJ. There was plenty for the team to be pleased about from this performance but also plenty of room for further improvement as they set ever higher standards in their play. |