U14's win the Met Cup Final

Congratulations to the U14's for a hard fought victory in the inaugural Metropolitan Cup Final at Beccs today. We knew we'd be in for a tough match against a very competitive Becc's side and so it proved to be. Were we greeted to a hard frost covered pitch and a cold wind but by kick off the pitch was in a reasonable condition and the sun was shining.

We talked beforehand about starting fast and being competitive at the breakdown where Becc's are traditionally strong. Whilst we began brightly enough we were unable to secure sufficient ball to go through our phases. Becc's were excellent in the scrum and,, particularly in the first half, bossed us at the breakdown. When we did win good ball our handling wasn't as slick as usual, and whilst we were creating space and overlap opportunities we cut back and took contact far to often. Finally after three or four phases of play we moved the ball well and created space for George to score a good try in the corner which was converted well by Oscar 7-0 to OE's.

Into the second half and Becc's really brought their game to us with wave after wave of attack battering our line. Superb defence and last ditch tackling kept Becc's at bay before a relieving kick took play into Becc's half and after a ruck turnover James picked up and sprinted 40 yards to score under the posts 14-0 to OE's. Becc's can back strongly again and after an excellent chip through and an unkind bounce for us, they re-gathered and scored out wide 14-5 to OE's with 9 mins remaining.

At this point we finally started to dominate possession and created another couple of try scoring opportunities, with Henry finally finishing one off to seal a 19-5 victory.

After last weeks highs at London Irish this week our standards slipped, but much of that must go to Becc's when harried and hurried us throughout. Congratulations to all the boys for a excellent game fitting of the final.