The Morley boys are back in town!

When the 2019/20 season was brought to an abrupt end, last season's Junior Colts were about to contest the Yorkshire Cup semi-final having finished as runners-up in the league. I don't think anybody thought at that time that it would be 14 long months before the boys would play their next game.

So what was important about today's game, against our old friends Roundhegians, wasn't the result or even the performance, it was the mere fact that after 14 long months the boys were back playing. Once again having fun with their mates, that feeling of being a part of something bigger, working as a team to achieve the collective goal.

14 months is a long time for teenage lads to maintain an interest in something which they haven't had an opportunity to take part in, so it's a great credit to the group that we've managed to keep virtually all of last season's squad and attendance at training has never been so high, despite the fact that the vast majority of the training has been non-contact based.

Sadly, several of the squad were unable to make today's game which meant that Morley had just 15 players. However, Roundhegians arrived with only 14 players so it was agreed that the game would be 14 a side.

We've played Roundhegians numerous times over the years, with both sides having their fair share of victories. A typical game between the 2 is for Morley to have the upper hand in terms of territory and possession but struggle to contain Roundhegians backs in turnover situations. And today's game was exactly like that.

Morley kicked off and spent the opening minutes deep in Roundhegians half only for Roundhegians to collect a loose ball and go virtually the full length of the field before Morley full back Will Kinder pulled off the first of what would turn out to be several try saving tackles. Morley worked their way back up field and forced a line out on the Roundhegians 5m line. Roundhegians could only tap their own line out ball back into their in goal area and Morley captain Ben Yates was the first player to the ball. 5-0.

Morley spent the next few minutes in Roundhegians half before good play from Roundhegian's talented centre created a break from deep which finished with 'Hegians scoring under the posts. 5-7.

For the next 15 minutes Morley were camped on the Hegians try line. Twice the they were held up over the line and twice they had tries disallowed, once for an accidental offside and once for a debatable knock on as 2nd row Jack Kelly placed the ball over the line one handed. However, it was Roundhegians who scored next. Again a combination of good back play and poor tackling saw Hegians go the length of the field and score in the corner. 5-12.

In the next part of the game Morley lost a player to what looked like a potentially serious injury but subsequent reports have since confirmed that talented Morley back row Talin Gogna (who was having a strong game in an unfamilar centre role) will be back with us soon.

Following the injury break Morley once again spent time deep in their opponents half and after a period of sustained pressure, good play from fly half Nathan Boote, 2nd row Jack Gilmartin and hooker Matt Gilman combined to put back row Joseph Pyett into a gap and, after at least 3 seasons without a try, Joseph was not about to let this opportunity go. 10-12.

Roundhegians then had a period in the ascendancy which tested the mettle of the Morley back 3 ( Will Kinder, Ben Maddocks & James Amatt) fortunately they were up to the challenge and eventually Morley made there way back up field - mainly thanks to our big 3 ball carrying "units" prop Marcus Abbott and the two 2nd Row Jacks who between them dominated the gain line all day.

Again, after a period of sustained pressure, good hands from right to left ended up with skipper Ben Yates scoring his 2nd try of the game in the corner. 15-12.

Morley should then have seen out the half but as the ref called last play of the half Morley gifted possession to Hegians at a line out and then a combination of sustained pressure and poor tackling allowed Roundhegians to score in the corner. Half time 15-17.

Morley were on top from the restart with stand in scrum half James Binney continuously taking the right option in guiding the team forward. After sustained pressure by the Morley forwards in the right hand corner, the Morley backs went left and centre James Silkstone threw a dummy that allowed him to glide in untouched and score under the posts, 22-17.

Morley lost hard working prop Ethan Robertson but he will be pleased with the amount of work he got through in his first game back in over 2 years following a severe ankle injury. However, his loss meant that there was more space for Roundhegians backs to exploit and it was perhaps inevitable that they would start to dominate the game. Roundhegians created several opportunities that they didn't take, either due to excellent scrambling defence by Morley or, at times, a lack of composure. Finally they managed to bring the scores level at 22-22 with a try in the corner.

Following the restart Morley were able to create a turnover on the Morley 10m line and good hands from Boote, Maddocks, and Pyett allowed supporting centre James Silkstone to score his second try of the game in the corner. 27-22.

Morley then lost a third player to injury. In the spirit of Rugby, Roundhegians took one of their own players off to ensure a fair contest. However, 12 a side was always going to favour Roundhegians and they dominated the last 10 minutes of the game.

Will Kinder managed to drag the Roundhegians winger into touch when he looked to sure to score, Matt Gilman can consider himself lucky to not have received a card for a try saving"tackle" that probably wouldn't have survived a closer inspection from a video ref and then it was the tackling machine back row Archie Horsfield who, having tackled tremendously well all game, saved the best until last when he managed to shut down a 4 on 2 overlap with a great ball and all tackle on the Roundhegians centre.

There was still time for Morley to put themselves under pressure with poor decision making in our own 22 and a comical confusion of last play being incorrectly called by the Morley coaches (Bowen & Bowen) but Morley held on for a deserved win - although in fairness it was a result that could have gone either way.

As I said at the start, today wasn't about the result. It was about 29 lads being back on the rugby field and having a great time in what was a very entertaining game, with plenty of skills on show despite the 14 month layoff.

Thanks to the ref for stepping in at short notice and for Roundhegians for making the trip over and for being such enjoyable opponents over the years. We wish each of their players great success as they take their rugby careers forward into adult rugby next season.

UTM!