Yarnbury v Sandal U15s

Yarnbury (12)20 Leos (0) 12 Tries:Maxwell Lee, Joe Pilling, Darwin King Cons: Darwin King Pens: Darwin King

After Yarnbury’s draw with Leos last week, they were out to go one better against today’s opposition, Sandal. With noticeable absentees and only a 3 man bench consisting of no forwards they knew that a big effort would be required to overhaul the visitors.
Yarnbury started well, dominating early territory. They embedded themselves within the opposition half after gaining and winning a scrum before kicking a penalty for a lineout due to the opposition not releasing at the tackle. A driving maul was set up but Sandal were able to complete a turn over, however Yarnbury won the ball back in the next contact and sent the ball wide but a poor final pass stopped Ruairi Daly from scoring in the corner. Yarnbury’s dominance at the break down was shown again when they successfully completed another turn over, which resulted in a couple of phases of play before Maxwell Lee could score a solo try, sniping round the side of the breakdown and scoring near the corner flag. The difficult conversion was missed but after 5 minutes Yarnbury led by 5.
Sandal kicked the ball directly into touch from the kick off with play resuming on the centre line with a scrum. The home side continued to be on top with successive penalties allowing them to make good metres up the pitch. However they were eventually penalised themselves for not throwing in straight at the lineout. Sandal opted to retake the lineout themselves but they lost possession in an ensuing maul. In the 15th minute Sandal had the opportunity to clear their lines but good line speedresulted in the ball being blocked by Alex Koppany, and Joe Pilling could follow up to collect it and score near the posts. The conversion was kicked by Darwin King: Yarnbury 12-0 Sandal.
Yarnbury knocked-on at the kick off but recovered possession by winning the scrum against the head. Sandal were gaining more possession and territory but strong tackling from Joe Pilling, Jamie Mcdonnell and Ruauri Daly kept them at bay. Play then had to be delayed for 5 minutes for an injury to a Sandal player but after it resumed Sandal created two chances to score. The first chance followed a turnover in the Yarnbury 22 and with a huge overlap they threw a miss pass that missed everyone and went straight out of play. The second was a clean break through the middle by their centre but a back tracking Jamie Baker was able to superbly tackle and force a knock on right on the try line. The half ended Yarnbury 12-0 Sandal.
Yarnbury made all their substitutions at half time but Sandal continued in a similar vein to how they had ended the first half with greater possession and territory. Play was very scrappy with both sides making mistakes and being penalised. Sandal were warned for early engagement at the scrum and Yarnbury were warned for persistant penalties including high tackles. However, it was Yarnbury who increased their lead from aquickly taken penalty in their own half that was advanced up the pitch through a good attack by Edward Green, aided by quick clear-outs by Joe Pilling and Dan Mitchell to keep Yarnbury o the front foot. With Sandal retreating,Jamie Mcdonnell ran horizontally along the Sandal 22 line handing off 2 players then attacking down the touch line before being stopped just short of the try line. Darwin Kingwas first to the breakdown and scored a pick and drive from close range with the weight of the forwards behind him. The conversion was missed but Yarnbury lead had increased to 17 in the 13th minute of the second half.
Sandal continued to make constant breaks all over the pitch as tackles were missed. One attack saw their winger burst through close to the line but he was stopped by a high tackle. This resulted in a yellow card for Jack Land, as a whole team warning had been issued previously. Sandal were unable to capitalise and knocked on but further back chat resulted in a Yarnbury penalty. The kick didn’t reach touch, Sandal regathered and took the ball into contact before their winger attacked from the base of the ruck and ran 40 metres along the touchline to score. The difficult conversion was completed: Yarnbury 17-7 Sandal. The restart was allowed to bounce and then bobbled out for a Sandal line out deep in the 22. However, Yarnbury forced a turnover and Sandal were penalised for going in at the side of the ruck in front of the posts. The penalty kick was successfully completed by Darwin King, increasing the lead to 13 points: Yarnbury 20-7 Sandal.
Sandal continued to attack and in the final few minutes were awarded a penalty for side entry at the ruck in Yarnbury’s 22. After a couple of phases of play they found the overlap to score. The conversion was missed meaning that Sandal required two scores to turn around defeat. No final flourish could be offered and the game finished Yarnbury 20-12 Sandal.
The good performance in the first 20 minutes of this game laid the platform for the win. However, as the game wore on missed tackles, poor decision making and the penalty count began to take its toll. Special praise must be given to the forward pack with no forward replacements on the bench.
Yarnbury: Dan Mitchell,James Longhawn, Harvey Goodall, Alex Koppany, Carter Proctor ,Danny Goodall, Sam Brown, Joe Pilling, Maxwell Lee, Oscar Andrews, Jamie Baker, Edward Green,Jamie Mcdonnell, Ruairi Daly,Darwin King (capt).
Substitutes: Ethan Dawrant, Jack Land, Leo Mercer
Man of the Match –Joe Pilling.Fantastic work rate, strong tackling and a very consistent performance earned him the man of the match medal. The usual trophy has been located and is being regularly polished by Carter Proctor for presentation in future weeks.
Sporting Result of the Week – Edinburgh 17-20Benetton Treviso. Benetton prior to this game had lost their last 41 games outside of Italy. Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill said that Edinburgh “played like a Sunday team”. The BBC website said that “he kept a lid on his fury, but you had to wonder how long that lasted.” This evokes memories of our own Michael Dawrant goading Mr Cockerill at a tour match in Leicester where, instead of requesting “cheese” at the team photo, he requested “touchline ban”.
Honourable mentions to Lewis Hamilton for winning the Singapore Grand Prix starting from 5th place on the grid and Paris St Germain for beating Celtic 5-0 despite Celtic trying to field an extra player to nullify the talents of 18 year old Kylian Mbappe.