U14s fight back to earn well deserved draw against top Surrey opposition.

Having lost heavily to Beccehamians a few weeks previously this was the first opportunity that the A Squad had had to restore a little confidence and pride to a somewhat delicate disposition and battered reputation.
With Battersea Ironsides carrying a formidable reputation and finishing second in Surrey 1 last season, we knew that this would be a tough encounter having received such a mauling at the hands of Beccs on our last trip out.
Things started poorly for Old Elthamians with the boys slow to get going, being repeatedly beaten to the break down and constantly forced onto the back foot. This slow start and lack of commitment at second and third phase allowed Battersea to dominate the opening exchanges and it was only five minutes into the game when Battersea, having sucked in the OEs defence, moved the ball left for the winger to stroll in unopposed under the posts for the opening try of the game. With the Conversion added Battersea took an early and well deserved 0-7 lead
With Parents and Coaches fearing the worst, it was good to see the boys raise their game and take the fight back to Battersea. As the first half progressed Old Elthamians grew in stature and started to play as we knew they could. Having sustained a ten minute period of pressure on a well drilled and determined Battersea defence, it looked as if it would only be a matter of time before the Battersea line was breached.
With Battersea struggling to clear their lines and too many defenders committed to the ruck, Old Elthamians moved the ball wide to Bonner on the left. With a clear overlap and the ball in his hands Bonner set of to level the score. Unfortunately, with the line in sight and the crowd already celebrating the score, the ball was dropped and an opportunity missed. To rub salt into the wounds, Battersea were the first to react and having picked up the loose ball cleared long and high. Unfortunately, a lack of communication between a retreating Nico and advancing Cameron resulted in a collision and the ball going to ground. With the Elthamians boys standing and watching, Battersea seized on the opportunity to hack the loose ball through. With only Haydn cahsing back the foot race was lost and Battersea scored their second try against the run of play. Again, the conversion was added and Battersea took a 0-14 lead.
As half time approached Old Elthamians again picked up the pace and started to exert pressure on the Battersea defence with Ed, Joe and Jordan carrying regularly and Lewis frustrating the Battersea forwards. Battersea suddenly looked to be struggling with the pace of the game and with half time nearly upon us Battersea, in their efforts to slow the ball down, conceded a penalty on half way. With Brendan always alert and looking for an opening the penalty was taken quickly and the ball was moved wide through Cameron, Brendan and finally to Bonner. With the Battersea defence stretched and slow to react to the quickly taken penalty Bonner outpaced the covering defence to touch down under the posts. Conversion added by Cameron to make it 7-14 as we went into half time.
The second half was a repeat of the first with Battersea starting strongly and putting Old Elthamians under pressure from the restart. With Old Elthamians taking to many wrong options within their own twenty two it was only a matter of time before they faced the consequences of their poor decision making. Having had more than enough opportunities to clear their lines Old Elthamians tried to run the ball out of their own twenty two with disastrous results. Having moved the ball right Old Ethamians were tied up in the midfield and subsequently stripped of the ball. From the resulting turnover and with half of the Old Elthamians back line committed to the ruck, it was a simple task for Battersea to move the ball wide to the right and take advantage of the overlap to score under the posts. Conversion added to give Battersea a 7-19 lead with 15 minutes remaining on the clock.
Once again Old Elthamians rallied and came back strongly, spending much of the remaining time in the Battersea half. After a particular period of sustained Old Elthamians pressure, Battersea again conceded a penalty on their 5m line. Once again, and realising that the Battersea defence was in disarray, the penalty was taken quickly and the ball moved quickly right through the hands of Nico, Brendan, Joe W and finally to Nick D who outpaced the covering defence to score in the corner. With Cameron adding the conversion with an excellent kick from the touch line the score was now 19-14 to Battersea with 5 minutes left on the clock.
As the clock ticked down Battersea played a clever game, slowing things down and keeping the ball tight amongst their forwards. Unfortunately for Battersea a barely noticeable knock on by a Battersea Forward at the ruck was picked up by the referee, giving Old Elthamians a scrum ten metres inside their own half. The ball was initially won and moved right with Josh punching through the middle and setting up a ruck on halfway. From the ruck the ball was again moved right pulling the Battersea forwards across the park. Quick ball from the resulting ruck went left through the complete back line leaving Bonner a one on one with his opposite number. Like the true finisher that he is, Bonner stood his opposite number up and then stepped on the gas to round the Battersea wing on the outside. With the Battersea Full Back desperately covering, Bonner was unable to get under the posts and forced wide, touching down to the left of the posts to level the score at 19-19. With only moments left on the clock Cameron was left with the conversion to win the match. Unfortunately, the kick went wide and both sides got what they probably deserved, a hard fought draw.

Summary
A tightly contested game between two well drilled sides of similar abilities. Old Elthamians are to often slow of the mark and this was more than apparent at the start of both first and second halves. Without a strong will and determination this game could have been lost as soon as it had begun. If Old Elthamians are to move forward they need to maintain the intensity of their game for the full fifty minutes and learn to take what they practise on the training ground with them into the game. Too often the discipline of pattern play was lost, resulting in isolated and unsupported ball carriers which in turn led to slow or turned over ball. On many crucial occasions the wrong decision or option was taken and this needs to be addressed.
On a positive note, the defensive changes in the back line seem to have worked well giving defenders more confidence in the man standing next to them.
Good vision and awareness of the options available was shown by Nico, Brendan and Cameron resulting in two tries from quick penalties.
Overall, a huge improvement over our last outing which hopefully leads to an continued improvement for the rest of the season.
Well done.
TG