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U15s heroic against Marlow Marlow U15s 14 v Maidenhead U15s 19 |
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The Under 15s won an epic battle against Marlow with a blood and guts performance that saw high skills, a few mistakes and breathtaking never-say-die defending. By carving out victory in such circumstances, the squad found a new confidence and grit, which they should carry with them for the rest of what promises to be an enthralling season. This friendly fixture was divided into three periods of 20 minutes. With only 15 players available, Maids realised they would all need to perform with unrelenting commitment right to the final whistle, which they did in bucketloads. They began with a strong attack, but quickly lost ball in the rucks and started a worrying trend of giving away penalties. To compound things, the boys turned their backs as they walked back 10 metres at penalties and Marlow needed no further encouragement for quick restarts and two easy tries. The second period saw improvements in all areas with plenty of passion and more precision. At 14.0 down, Maids faced an uphill challenge though, but they took the game to Marlow. Big driving mauls, with Michael James at the heart put the pressure back on the hosts. Connor Murphy, Elliot Reid and Morgan Davies, playing in the Forwards for this match, were all strong. Josh Turvey was tenacious. Ollie Evans, TJ Hudson, Paul Sayers and Matt Bill linked well. Marlow countered and play flowed each way. The Maids Forwards were still a little too slow to the breakdown and not clearing out well enough. Michael Habgood spotted a gap in the middle of the Marlow's defence and sped through at lightening pace only for a top-drawer tackle to prevent a certain try. Maids were the building pressure relentlessly and pushing Marlow back. Accurate kicking from Paul gained territory and from a line-out the ball was worked wide to the ever-reliable Thomas Simpson to speed down the wing and score. Jack Bowyers showed strength in his tackles and Rory Creffield passed effectively even with Marlow's large Forwards bearing down. Although Marlow kept feeding ball to their Backs, they couldn't batter a way through. Maids were clicking smoothly through the gears now, with better link-up between Forwards and Backs, moving up as a line much better and making fewer mistakes. From another line-out man of the match Elliott Reid bulldozed his way through several tackles, found space and put on the afterburners. He made a well-timed offload to Charlie Wickham-Smith in support who scored under the posts. The conversion from Paul made it 12.14. Michael Habgood and Paul produced another scintillating move only for another last-ditch tackle preventing Maids from extending the score further. James Parrott was highly effective in the mauls, winning turnover and bravely diving on the ball in the loose. Good kicking kept the screw turned tight on Marlow, who began to make unforced errors. A penalty to Maids fell agonisingly short. By now the boys had got their mauls from line-outs worked out. From about 10 metres out they set up the drive and just kept going. The try line edged slowly closer, metre-by-metre. Still they kept the drive on until Charlie applied the coup de grace for the third try. From a difficult angle Thomas hammered the ball between the posts. At 19.14, Marlow were still not out of it and some serious defending was needed. A number of penalty decisions unfortunately went against Maids, but Marlow couldn't capitalise on the advantage these presented. A lengthy delay for an injury to Morgan, saw the team reduced to 14 players for remaining nail-biting final seven minutes. Marlow launched waves of all out attack, battering Maids but the boys held strong. Two penalties, a scrum and several line-outs all around Maids' five-metre line still couldn't crack open the defensive wall. Michael Habgood tackled excellently as Marlow tried to out wide in the right channel. Then as play switched to the left, Jack Bowyers made a brilliant try-saving tackle, taking two Marlow players out into touch. It was clear that Maids had decided they were not going to lose this match. Everyone tackled and held their ground, there were no weak spots. Finally, the referee blew time on a well-deserved, morale-boosting victory. Squad: |