U16s win tournament (and come 2nd too!)

Sunday 11th October 2009

Maidenhead U16s 55pts, Rest of the World 10pts

Last year, Maids' two mixed U15 teams finished undefeated in first and second places in this competition. This year the U16 result was the same but one of the Maidenhead sides lost a game. To the other Maidenhead side. The Stags won three out of three, The Bulls beat both their visiting opponents but had to concede second best to their clubmates. Visitors Bracknell and Reading Abbey fought out a draw between themselves and were always in their games with the home sides, in a tight tournament played in excellent spirit amongst players and in front of an enthusiastic grandstand of spectators.

The full table of results:

Stags squad:
Tolan, N Jones, Avery (capt), Baxter, Cronbach, Sanders, Sullivan-Paul, Scolari, Whiteford (1 try), Dow, Basson (2 tries), Hibberdine, Khindria, D Jones, Bart, McSwan (2 tries), Andrews-Jones, McHugh (1 try), Anderson, Surya, McCarthy

Bulls squad:
Edney, O’Flaherty, Hine, Hull, Nicol, Evans, Allen, Dolan, Kaye (1 try), Winter, Coric, Carn, Thomas, Thompson, Smith (capt) (1 try), Brooks (2 tries), Olivier (1 try), Eckles, Gillan, Collins.

Maidenhead Stags 10pts vs Bracknell 5pts
The first game of the day started in sunshine with both sides obviously a little shocked to be up so early on a Sunday. Maidenhead woke up first, forcing a five yard lineout from a midfield penalty and calling the catch and drive. The third pick and go saw Iain Whiteford barrel over for an opener. Bracknell players got in front of their kicker at the restart and that set the tone as they were driven back time and again by aggressive running and clearouts by Cronbach, Tolan and Whiteford with McHugh and McSwan also catching the eye. Sure enough, McSwan reaped the benefit of all the pressure with a typically strong finish on the right.
The second half (15 minutes a side the order of the day) started scrappily with both teams dropping ball and giving the referee no choice but to whistle. Dhruv Surya almost cleared the cover with a couple of runs and then made a try-saving tackle in return. A speedy Bracknell breakaway was chased down on the other wing by even speedier Michael Anderson. Eventually Bracknell did score a deserved consolation try right at the end of the game. Special mention should be made of Sam McCarthy, who maybe had his best ever game for the club. Strong in the tackle, steady with the boot, and prominent in the attacking line, just what you want from your fullback.

Maidenhead Bulls 10pts Vs Reading Abbey 5pts
Abbey may have finished only 5th in last year’s Berkshire League but they looked better value than that here. For one thing they are going to win a lot of lineout ball, having a steeple in the team (do Abbeys have steeples or towers? Or cloisters? Whatever). It’s not enough just to be tall, of course; the lifters have to do their job, and the thrower, and the big guy has to catch and distribute. Abbey got all this right and it makes a huge difference if a team can rely on clean possession from the lineout set piece. Their scrummage is strong too, they drive with organisation, and their forwards generally get around the pitch and ruck and maul to good effect. Abbey number 9 looks a good shirt to be in.
The Bulls forwards struggled to win any ball at all in the first half. The Maids backs defended stoutly however, with the closest to an attacking chance being an interception by Scott Gillan which did not quite stick, but Abbey never looked like turning their possession into points.
Nil all at half time was fair, with Maids certainly the happier side. Chemical analysis should probably be called for on the interval oranges however, as Maids came out at typhoon strength. O’Flaherty caught the Maids kickoff and pinballed down to the Abbey 22. Maids piled in and on and won penalties for holding on, offside at the ruck and a high tackle in quick succession. Their frantic attacks repulsed by heroic defending, they then gave up two quick penalties themselves but Abbey chose poor options and were unable to clear. After penetrating darts by Olivier and Brooks, quick ruck ball gave Leo Smith space to wave an extravagant dummy and charge over from 15m.
Abbey came right back, driving rolling mauls many metres only to spin out quality ball to static backs and have to do it all again. Then Abbey put in a good tactical penalty kick to touch at 20m, a barging penalty and backchat cost Maidenhead 10 more and the driving maul cost them 5 points and a hard won lead.
Clearly furious at this, the Bulls raced downfield from the restart and battered the Abbey line for the last two minutes of the game. Tom Allen crashed over but was adjudged held up but then Ed Kaye was irresistible with the winning try. In the end the superior organisation of the Abbey pack was no match for the passion of the home side.

Bracknell 10pts vs. Reading Abbey 10pts
Your reporter was in the queue for roast pork and stuffing with apple sauce in a bap. Apparently one team scored two tries and so did the other. Delicious.

Maidenhead Stags 10pts vs. Maidenhead Bulls 5pts
The corresponding match last year, also between mixed sides, ended honours even. This time there was to be a decisive result. The Bulls started stronger in conditions getting greasier in a fine drizzle. Leo Smith almost chased down a kick ahead and Mike Winter seemed to be everywhere, scragging McSwan on a hospital pass and banging in fierce tackles on Stags runners. Then Stag Jamie Tolan smashed a ruck clearout, Daniel Andrews-Jones made 15m at a run and another 10 in a maul before the Bulls cleared to touch at halfway. Quick ball off the top and simple 9, 10, 12, 13 passes saw DAJ fix the inside cover and release Greg McHugh to spin through the last tackle and score a fine try for the Stags.
The second half saw the Stags turn the screw, winning the forward battle and wearing down the wide defence. Nothing the Bulls could do about it. Eventually the pressure told and Louis Basson crowned a fine performance with a big sidestep inside to touch down.
Just before the close, Markus Olivier replied defiantly for the Bulls with a trademark brute force finish, beating five defenders from 15m out after a smart change of direction by Will Thompson but it was to be too little too late.

Maidenhead Bulls 10pts vs. Bracknell 0pts
This was a game dominated by the Bulls but decided by an interception try and a fly hack and footrace.
Just after lunchtime and with the rain setting in for keeps, condition were greasy both literally and metaphorically. Both sides started as if the burgers were sitting heavily. The referee had a word with the two captains, maybe to calm things down, or perhaps trying to wake them up.
Bracknell won a routine scrum on their 10m line and 9 passed to 10 in regulation. 10 looked up to find Mike Winter all over him like a rash, stepped smartly inside (good) but then made the mistake of flinging his pass without looking (bad). Fraser Brooks ghosted into the gap, received gratefully and sprinted off to the line and then followed this with another score after fly hacking and chasing loose ball.

Maidenhead Stags 10pts vs. Reading Abbey 0pts
The last game of the day saw The Stags sure to win the tournament even with a losing point but Abbey needing at least a draw to avoid sharing the Wooden Spoon.
Most of the first half was played in the middle third, Abbey’s pack continuing their good form and producing good ball, only for Maidenhead’s strong defence around the fringes and wider out to nullify any attacking threat. The Stags had only one good chance early on, a Bart kick ahead bouncing agonisingly out of the hands of the racing chasers with Abbey defenders nowhere. Then back to the Abbey rumble, Maids' aggressive defence routine. Just before half time, great pressure at a maul on halfway from Dhruv Surya and Daniel Andrews-Jones saw the ball emerge suddenly to Lawrence McSwan who sped away untouched to score the opening try.
The second half saw Maidenhead at last start to press up front in the loose, Jamie Tolan and Nic Jones each going close to scoring in narrow channels. Abbey defended desperately and gave away penalty after penalty but eventually won one themselves as tempers frayed. The attempted kick to touch was caught short by Alex Avery who ran back and fed Basson who charged over to make the game safe.
There was just time for a fantastic last-ditch tackle by Surya and a lightning run by the same player only stopped by similar heroics before the final whistle of a long and exhausting day.