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U15s overcome physical Reading
Maidenhead U15s 30 v Reading U15s 0 Sunday 24th January 2010 |
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The Maidenhead U15 A team took on local rivals Reading on Sunday in the second game of their 2009-10 league campaign. There was only one change to the team that started against Redingensians, with Liam Besant making his debut at number 8, having joined the Club at the beginning of the season. This fixture last season was possibly the most physical match the boys played and so the home team were under no illusions that Reading would be equally strong and committed this year, which they were! In particular the Reading front row were very powerful and their whole pack worked effectively as a unit to counter ruck at every opportunity and steal a lot of Maidenhead possession. Despite this battle and pressure at the breakdown, Maidenhead scrum half, Jack Hill delivered quick and accurate ball all day to fly half Johnny Garius who stuck to the game plan of attacking the wide channels from depth. This resulted in Maidenhead's first try after 5 minutes when left wing Emi Repetto touched down in the corner after a deft kick over the defence from outside centre Colin Kerins. After 22 minutes, second row Marcus Bateson hit a fantastic inside line off a ruck and crashed over for Maidenhead's second try. Neither tries were converted which left the score 10 - 0 at half time. The second half opened with 10 minutes of extremely committed defence with both sides snuffing out each other's attacks. The only difference between the teams was that Maidenhead managed to keep play in the Reading half and eventually the Reading defence was breached by a trademark outside run from centre Colin Kerins who touched down in the corner for his only try of the match. 5 minutes later Maidenhead scored the best try of the match when Kerins delivered a precise 30m pass to release left wing EMI Repetto to score his second try in the corner. On the 50 minute mark, impact player Michael Matera scored an excellent individual try from a set piece move at the back of a 5m scrum. Debutant Liam Besant then rounded off the scoring with a try of his own to leave the final score 30 - 0 to Maidenhead. This was a superb match and all of the boys from both teams should be very proud of the spirit, skill and commitment they demonstrated on Sunday. It was a thrilling game to watch and in the context of the game, 30 - 0 does not reflect the contribution and performance of the Reading team. In such games small things count and the difference came down to Maidenhead controlling the territory and playing with greater width. The man of the match for Reading was their outstanding loose head prop, while votes for Maidenhead were tied between Skipper Bertie Kennedy and Liam Besant. Both had tremendous games with Bertie Kennedy winning the post match boat race (of squash) to secure the accolade - but well done to Liam and the rest of the Maidenhead team for a strong performance. We look forward to welcoming Newbury to Braywick Park next Sunday. Team:
John
Wanklyn |