5 star Under 13s

Playing into a strong breeze in the first half, the players started very strongly, pressurizing their opponents with good line speed, and re-loading well in defence.

Their recent training session with Declan Coombes seemed to be playing dividends with the lads playing a little deeper and moving the ball through the hands to find space out wide. This tactic paid dividends as the team worked to find space for the back 3. First Cian C (thanks to some strong running and hand-offs) and then Harry scored for Ratoath - with both making their ground on the wings.

We continued to defend well and our rucking was strong, with players getting quickly to the breakdown in numbers to secure the ball. Ben led the way with some big hits, and Ross pressured very well in defence. Gavin showed some good footwork with the ball, and Mint and Emmet both carried strongly. Laurie worked hard to move the ball into space from the base of the ruck, Cian B and Adam both made some really good yardage up the flanks. Matthew and Charlie were always busy in the tight and disrupted and supported well.

However Suttonian's were not for lying down, and applied some pressure of their own to work the back up through the middle. A certain try for them was averted thanks to great team defence and a great hold-up over the line by Brian. Ryan L soon followed up with his own try - again exploiting space down the wing, and converting for a 19-0 half-time lead.

The second half continued in the same vein. We secured the ball well at the ruck, and worked it wide well, standing a little deeper than we have been recently. The good work was rewarded with strong running tries from Brian and Robbie.

In fairness to Suttonians, the scoreline was not a reflection of their contribution to the game. They had a lot of ball themselves and only some fast reloading and strong tackling was keeping them out.They got over towards the end for a richly deserved consolation try.

All the players deserve credit for this performance, so well done to Ben, Matthew, Charlie, Gavin, Mint, Ross, Robbie, Luke F, Emmet Laurie, Ryan L, Brian, Ryan C, Cian B, Cian C, Adam, Luke M, Harry.

Tackler of the match was Harry, who had a tremendous game in defense at fullback.
Man of the Match was Luke F who carried very well from the back row.
(and a shout for Ryan Lacey and Ryan Coroner who were awarded tackler-of-the-match and man-of-the-match for last week's game against North Meath).

Our monthly awards were also awarded:
- Most Improved Player: Luke M - who is really growing into the wing role
- Player of the Month: Robbie - who is a hard man to stop with the ball.