U16Bs go down to Tadley

Tadley U16s 15 v Maidenhead U16Bs 10

Sunday 1st November 2009

"SPRAY, SLOW DOWN", said the Motorway signs on the way down to Tadley.  Sadly the torrential rain and blustery wind did not let up and the rugby was just what you would expect in such conditions.  No chance of spraying passes, slow and slippery ball, passes and kicks down left right and centre.  Right up Tadley's street, in fact.

Maids started with the wind and rain at their back and they started well, kicking deep to the corners and pressing Tadley back into their 22.  The conditions were truly appalling and neither side seemed able to make two passes in a row without error.  Scott Gillan pounced on a poor into-wind clearance, kicked ahead and just lost the sprint to the dead ball line.  Again and again Tadley cleared into the wind to a short touch, Tim Cronbach secured the lineout ball, Maids drove forward but could not spread the ball wide and escape the home side's narrow channel defences.  Despite all the pressure, it was nearly 15 minutes before Maidenhead scored, captain Ed Kaye spinning a quick tap penalty to Dan Keir lurking on the left wing.  The swirling wind made the conversion attempt all but pointless.

Tadley now began to make their greater size and strength count up front and started to carry the ball forward in the loose.  Even when Maids' forwards did get the ball, they were driven back by their heavier opponents and started to give up territory and turnover possession.  Both sides continued to drop the ball, knock on and waste passes, but Tadley tended to come out on top in the messy exchanges that resulted.  Sure enough, their reward came with a penalty kick bravely struck through the posts into the teeth of the gale.  That the score was held to 3-5 at half time was down to heroic midfield tackles by Greg McHugh and Dhruv Surya when Tadley were the first to get some ball spread wide.   A two point lead after a half with such advantage of the conditions was never going to be enough.

Tadley kicked down the wind at the start of the second half and camped on the Maidenhead line for several minutes.  Pick and drive and bash and rumble with good technique and discipline brought an almost inevitable try for Tadley's huge tighthead prop, who had a fine all round game, along with most of his forward mates.  The tough conversion made it 10-5.

The rain eased a little and Shiv Khindria was at last able to launch a couple of attacks out wide, McHugh, Surya and McCarthy making 30 and 40 metre gains and showing the potential of the side with quality dry ball.  Then back swept the downpour and Tadley's pack took over again.  They turned over ruck after ruck, won their own and spoiled Maids' lineout ball, pressed and wheeled the scrum, tackled, held and drove back runner after runner, rumbled forward and offloaded amongst each other with great energy.  Ironically after all this low-number power play, the score when it came was a six pass fullback overlap on the left wing, Maidenhead's defenders blowing hard and unable to get across.

Maids came back furiously in the last ten minutes.  The weather eased a little once more and the drier ball flew out first right then to the left.  Greg McHugh finished wide left for 15-10 and the visitors came again and again to test Tadley's defences.  Time ran out before the equalising score could be achieved.

This was a deserved victory for Tadley, their first over a Maidenhead side in the age group.  They made the most of their forward strength and played the right game for the conditions.  Maids Bs could not match the home pack for technique and teamwork and certainly not for Berkshire beef.  The hints of promise in the backline were never really going to survive the drenching weather.

Tadley will play in the U16 Berkshire Youth League Divison 1 this year.  Asked why they chose that hard road rather than the option of joining Maids U16Bs in Division 2, Tadley's Head Coach replied that the final decision had been the players’, who recognised they might struggle but wanted to test themselves against the best opposition available.  Good for them.  Let's hope they have just narrowly beaten the Division 2 champions.

Squad:  Edney, Keir, Nicol, Orchard, Cronbach, Evans, Dolan, Scolari, Kaye (capt), Lewis, McCulloch, Hibberdine, Carn, Khindria (vice capt), Collins, McHugh, Brooks, Whiteford, Surya, Gillan, McCarthy