U15s outpace London Welsh

Maidenhead U15s 41 v London Welsh U15s 12
24th February 2008

The U15s showed composure, commitment and an impressive turn of pace in all departments to win this friendly, fought over three 20-minute periods at an almost sunny Braywick. With a significant number of Maidenhead players absent through holiday, injury and County duty, London Welsh magnanimously loaned two of their own squad on a rotating basis for the match. But from the kick-off it was clear that Maids were fired up for this game and the result was never really in doubt.

Ironically, it was the borrowed scrum half who opened the scoring for the home side, finishing off a slick passing move after two minutes. The visitors came straight back at Maids and only an excellent tackle by Michael Habgood stopped them scoring. An immediate counter-attack saw Josh Turvey and Elliot Reid combine clinically to send Elliot in at the corner for the second try. London Welsh enjoyed periods of possession but final passes let them down and Maids’ defensive organisation was excellent.

Good scrummaging by Connor Murphy, Alex Jones, Rory Creffield and Paul Sweeney prevented turnover ball at the breakdowns. David Walker stood up well to his larger opposite number. Decisive play by the forwards from a penalty close to the Welsh line put the borrowed winger through for the third. From here on in, all the scoring was homegrown. London Welsh were guilty of several crucial missed tackles that allowed Maids to show their pace in both the backs and forwards. Michael James almost bulldozed his way through and from a scrum just metres from the line, Maids drove over brilliantly for Josh to add a fourth try. Matt Morgan landed the conversion with a tricky kick into the wind.

The second period was a more even affair. London Welsh provided better ball to their backs and began to look more dangerous. But Maids soaked up the pressure and hardly missed a tackle. Michael Habgood was everywhere today. One moment blazing up the pitch to almost score, the next making a try-saving tackle close to his own line.

Another Maids counter-attack saw the ball ping all over the place from feet and hands, eventually Matt Morgan’s intelligent kick into space on the right caused pandemonium in the Welsh defence. TJ Hudson was first to the ball to bravely touch down and ease Maids into a 27.0 lead.

Maids upped the tempo for the final period but London Welsh fought hard and enjoyed their best period of play, scoring twice. From a penalty five metres out they crashed over. But Maids’ response was immediate. Scrum half Paul Sayers took the ball into contact, popped it to Charlie Wickham-Smith who strode through two tackles to score under the posts. Matt Morgan made no mistake with the conversion.

The visitors scored again as their backs finally found space out wide. London Welsh didn’t give up and kept looking for a way back into the game. But the final word went to Maids, with Paul Sayers hopping round a static defence to score and Josh smacking the conversion between the posts.

All credit to London Welsh for their sportsmanship and loan of players. Maids’ coaches were pleased with the work-rate and commitment from the whole team that kept the visitors on the backfoot for most of the match.