Whitley Bay Barbarians U13’s vs Peterlee Pumas U13’s - Sat 9th June 2012

Result: 12 - 22


Due to excessive rain the pitch at Rockcliff RFC was deemed unsuitable to play and at short notice Peterlee agreed to reverse the fixture and Barbarians travelled to Peterlee for the second time this season.


The first encounter resulted in a resouding victory to Pumas 40 – 12 and Barbarians were confident that this game would have a much closer result.


Barbarians kicked off into a strong breeze but Pumas knocked on and Barbarians had the first phase of attacking play in the game. Pumas defended this well with strong early tackles and soon were on the charge, however Barbarians were also putting in the tackles, with Adam Sams leading by example but through a series of plays Pumas swung the ball wide to the left wing Dan Yews to cross in the corner for the first try. The goal attempt fell short for Pumas to lead 4 – 0.


From the restart Pumas again pressured the Barbarian line which resulted in a try from Alex Coxon, with a goal from Lewis Cartridge. Score 10-0


Barbarians were playing with a loaned player Owen Gill at Full Back who relished the role and put in some big tackles and ran the ball well out of defence, but once again the Pumas moved the ball through the hands, this time to the right for Lewis Cartridge to touch down and kick the goal. Score 16-0.


Inspired by the efforts of their loaned player the Barbarians began to up the tempo and drove upfield through strong runs from their forwards lead by Max Ackerman, Ethan Ogunfowora and Brandon Bell and for the last 10 minutes of the half were pressurising the Pumas try line, which began to unnerve the Pumas and induce a series of infringements. However there was no way through the stout defence although both Brandon Bell and Max Ackerman were stopped just inches short. Half-time score 16-0.


With the wind at their backs and encouraged by the way they finished the first half and with a sense of having missed opportunities the Barbarians started the second period with real determination to take the game to the Pumas. Connor Drinkwater replaced Owen Gill to give the Barbarians addition forward power.


However over enthusiasm to chase down a long kick forward left no defensive line and Pumas exploited the space given them and Ross Brown ran in a try from their own 20 metre line to under the posts. Lewis Cartridge slotted the goal. Score 22-0.


The last 20 minutes of the 2nd Half were then dominated by the Barbarians with Pumas not getting out of their half. Wave after wave of Barbarian attacks were raining in on the Pumas try line and eventually the deadlock was broken when Connor Drinkwater crashed over to give the Barbarians a well deserved try. Joe Oldham kicked the Goal. Score 22-6.


From the restart the pressure on the Pumas line was unrelenting with forward drives from the Barbarian pack, but the Pumas defence held strong by closely marking the big forwards. However the ball was popped up to Andrew D’Arcy and from 2 metres out he found a gap in the defence and touched down for his first try in a Barbarian’s shirt. Joe Oldham then kicked the goal. Score 22-12.


Barbarians were commended on their play and a spirited fight back that on the day was just not enough. However a couple of obvious improvements could have made a significant difference in this match namely:

* A slow and sleepy start. If we had played with the same concentration and tempo as we did in the second half, in the first 10 minutes of the match, would we have conceded three tries?

* When faced with such resolute defence in the centre of the pitch we must consider moving the ball with pace to the space on either flank.