Beccs 60 - Old Elthamians 19

What a start to the 15 aside season, as the U14’s clock up another resounding victory.

On Sunday the 7th November on a dry but chilly morning Becc’s welcomed Old Elthamians to “ The Den” . Coming off the back of 2 wins there was a certain air of confidence surrounding the team, unfortunately this was very shortly dispelled by our visitors in the opening minutes of the 1st half. We were certainly caught by surprise and all credit to OE’s who came at us from the word go.

To great effect using their weightier set of forwards they smashed us off the ball at nearly every ruck and maul. They also made life very uncomfortable for us in the pack meaning any ball that we had, tended always to be on the back foot making it impossible for us to launch any sort of attack. The pressure also meant that our error count crept up preventing us putting any sort of pressure on the opposition. With OE’s managing to secure good ball they were happy to attack us with confidence and utilised their strong running outside centre to great effect. With some poor defence by Becc’s the opposition 13 was able to run in a 3 tries before half time and thanks to 2 fine solo tries by Harry we were able to contain the half time score to 19 – 12. It might well have been 19 – 12 however “ Nanny McPhee” was keen to see Jack’s kicking tested and demanded that “Hat Trick” Harry touched the ball down in the corner rather than running round behind the posts for an easier shot. Just as well we like a challenge.

Yet again with a great turnout from the team we were able to continue our aim of player rotation and made a host of changes. It is a real sign of a well bonded team that all the changes were accepted graciously and in the spirit we wish to see continued. It was great to see both of our outside halves looking as comfortable in the 15 jersey as they did in the 10.

In addition there were some stern words from the coaching panel about what was required to secure victory (I think the threat of what Tim would do with his crutches certainly woke everyone up). From the early exchanges in the 2nd half it was clear that Becc’s were not going to relinquish their winning streak without a fight, and it certainly turned out to be a game of two halves.

The contrast to the first half was massive, it was our turn to start getting the ball going forward, this enabled us to launch attack after attack in the secure knowledge that we would retain possession and once we got in behind OE’s the tries started to flow. All credit to OE’s they did not give up the fight. However, with the tackle count increasing significantly and our pack really starting to dominate allowing Joe to pick and go, it was always going to take its toll. In the 2nd half Becc’s ran in a further 8 tries to no reply, resulting in Becc’s finishing up with a well deserved 60 – 17 victory.

There was some great sniping by Ollie, Army showed some real strength in the scrum and dished out some lovely “pie” to the oppo. There was some great linking work by Josh and Richard K was a real pest at the breakdown. The backs certainly had it easier in the 2nd half though they did run some great lines with Mayson showing that there is no substitute for some straight hard running in to space to get across the gain line. It makes a world of difference to get the ball in front of the forwards.

If we can carry on like this it will make it a very memorable season and it was good to welcome Tim back with a victory.

We still have a lot of hard work to do as we need to develop our patterns of play for when we come up against much stronger opposition.

We should also thank Steve for reffing for us, he has just started reffing and did a great job. It is a thankless much undervalued role and he was very complimentary about the team. He will certainly learn not to stand so close to the scrum especially when Alby is in the vicinity.

Great support from the mums and dads again, it really makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. I am also working on a nickname for Jo Lopes who seems to be doing his best to avoid playing rugby, though good to see him down on the touchline.

Doug