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U16s ensure they're not caught by the Cobs!
Maidenhead U16s 20 v Cobham U16s 7 Sunday 25th October 2009 |
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Missing our usual scribe, readers will forgive the efforts of this cub reporter to describe the match. Half term, injuries and the need for some players to rest ahead of a county match, meant more headaches for the selectors in trying to name a team capable of holding their own against a team who finished in the top three of Surrey's Division 1 last year. The game opened in fine but very gusty conditions. Cobham looked big and physical and didn't disappoint. Maids set off like rockets and for 10 minutes were camped in their opponents half. Quicker to the breakdowns and rucks, the backs got lashings of ball but the Cobham defensive line held firm. Fifteen minutes in, Alex Avery stole a line out ball, drove it on and surrounded by Hine, Balfour and Mike "electric ferret" Winter, LD Basson whipped a quick ball out to Duncan Jones, slick passing to Fraser Brooks, to Laurence MacSwan who cut a great line to burst through the defence and cross the try line to score. Duncan just missed the conversion: (5 - Nil) The game now picked up in intensity and the hits (some of them literally) were going in thick and fast! The referee was unsighted when Iain Whiteford suffered a couple of blows which required him to be taken off with a badly cut eye. Replaced by Ed Kaye the game continued but not before the referee called both captains together for 'a chat'. Maids suffered further injuries after Fred Reid stormed down the right wing to be brought down heavily. Despite treatment he had to leave the field and was replaced by Tim Cronbach. All this and only 20 minutes gone! Cobham still hadn't crossed our half way line when LD Basson took a tap penalty on the left wing. He threw a long pass to fly half Duncan Jones who popped the ball to 2nd Row Tom Allen. After 10 yards sideways, Tom cut through a gap and stormed toward the right corner. Cobham got to him but he displayed determination similar to our coaches when trying to get to the bar and scored Maids' second try. Duncan failed with a difficult conversion attempt:(10 - Nil) The readers might by now be wondering how Cobham found it so difficult to get out of their half. The answer was Maidenhead's determined tackling and defensive techniques. All the boys showed commitment, none more so than Fraser Brooks, who put in tackles that had the touchline grumpies cooing with appreciation. More good work by the pack resulted in quick ball along the backs to Fraser who side stepped three Cobs to score a great try which Duncan duly converted:(17 -Nil) Just before half time some repeated verbal abuse resulted in the Referee sending a Cobham forward to the sin bin. Half time and Maids no doubt looked forward to 10 minutes playing 14 men. Maids made a few half time changes, the wind picked up and any thoughts of cruising to a win were soon dispelled. Cobham were made of sterner stuff and their accomplished backs started to fire as they ran the ball out at every opportunity. They still struggled to get out of their own half however and LD Basson, now at full back and Will Thompson, kept Cobham pinned back with some great kicks to touch. Short lived for Will however after he too left the field with an aggravated shoulder injury. Our changes were taking their toll and Cobham started to get more confident at the scrums and breakdowns. Following a rare sortie into Maids' half, Cobham caught Maids napping with a quick tap which found its way to their outside centre who scored under the posts. Duly converted the score now 17-7. Cobham continued to press but were met by ferocious tackling and cover. Nic Jones, who didn't lose a scrum all day, allowed nobody through. Sam Balfour and Mike Winter seemed joined at the hip as they tracked Cobham's attackers and brought them down like shot rhinos! Our 'wing men' Matt Becksmith and Marcus Olivier made sure nobody got through those corridors. A blistering run by Danny Shipton ended as he was blatantly shoulder charged, which left no impact on Danny, but resulted in a penalty for Maids. Cobham's line outs were solid all day until the 'leaping salmon' that was Ed Kaye started to pluck balls out of the air, sent there as he was by Avery and Hine, who performed their front row duties admirably all day. Cal Hull also hooked really well when Nic Jones went off. One such catch led to scrum half Luke Thomas whipping the ball out to Fraser (our 3rd fly half of the day) to LD Basson then eventually into a ruck where we got another penalty for infringement. Five minutes to go, 22 metres out, penalty in front of the posts the team now began to show how they are maturing. A quick chat between them resulted in captain Alex Avery pointing at the posts, handing the ball to Duncan Jones who didn't disappoint as the ball sailed through the posts to make it 20-7 which realistically put the game beyond Cob's reach. This decision knocked the stuffing out of Cobham who had had the best of the second half. The game concluded and left Maidenhead with just what they needed - a win and a hard uncompromising game where all their talents were tested. Performances by a number of the players will leave the coaches with even more headaches when then have to select their league 22. A sound and solid performance by Maids who will feel that they let things slip a bit in the second half. Players up for contention today were LD Basson who never disappoints, Mike Winter who just gets everywhere, but for sheer tenacity in attack and defence, together with a try worthy of the best of Welsh backs (no apologies!) this reporter's Man of the Match is Fraser Brooks. Team: |
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