Shipston U15s
Matches
Sun 19 Mar 2017
Cheltenham Saracens
22
29
Shipston on Stour RFC
Shipston U15s
Shipston win the race at Cheltenham

Shipston win the race at Cheltenham

Ruth Todd19 Mar 2017 - 21:17
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Cheltenham Saracens beaten 22-29 in a very evenly matched game

It was a bright and sunny spring morning as we all headed south for the game against Cheltenham Saracens. The forwards were feeling in fine fettle after a great training session with Pete Dean's brother John last week. In fact, just as Sizing John showed great stamina to win the Gold Cup on Friday, so did our boys to win the day against Sarries. John Deans had definitely got the size of them and the scrum operated effectively throughout to win the day.

Shipston U14s were uncharacteristically fast out of the starting blocks and after a superb drive from the ruck Joe Painter was swiftly over in the corner. The boys were quickly on the attack again and the ball moved through many hands. Sarries gained possession and counter-attacked, however not well enough for George Hendy who showed great rugby thinking to intercept the ball and score under the posts. He was determined to give himself the chance of a conversion on a day when the wind blew cold and strong across the pitch! And convert he did to set the score to 0-12.

The boys were on the attack again and the rucking and mauling were excellent. The ball was distributed at pace and across the back line out to Alistair who scored despite a high tackle. The ref agreed and awarded a penalty try, which George H again converted. 0-19

It's rare for the U14s to get going so quickly and it almost became their downfall. They made a series of errors and let Sarries in for two tries, with some lightening running from Sarries no.13. Adding a conversion the score was 12-19

The two teams were tremendously evenly matched and the play seemed to stick in one place for ages. It took a mistake for either side to break through. Maybe Shipston became a little complacent, maybe Sarries woke up but they applied some great pressure and then scored again. The score was tight at 17-19. Shipston defended well, but couldn't maintain possession or make much headway.

Finally Shipston got back into the game. George Verinder picked up a nice ball and shipped it out to Joe Painter who couldn't quite make the try line. The ball was cleared and a penalty gave Shipston the opportunity to kick for a lineout on the 5m line. Text book stuff from the forwards with Harry scoring a lovely try to end a nice passage of teamwork. 17-24

Sarries fought back and the play seemed to go from one end of the pitch to the other. With only two subs Shipston should have been tired, but if they were they were not showing it. After some super play with Henry ripping the ball, Harry relentlessly defending they eventually conceded. 22-24

The game wasn't done yet! With, what I think is the best team play I have seen of the season so far, we watched Shipston work the ball up the field with two rucks. The ball then passed to Sam who flew forward, making good ground. He passed it in to Henry who drove through the middle before off loading to George V who at 10 yards out was unstoppable. Great teamwork and so many players involved in scoring an excellent try for the final score of the day. 22-29

Match details

Match date

Sun 19 Mar 2017

Kickoff

10:00

Instructions

meet 10am @
The King George V Playing Fields, Cheltenham. GL51 8DT.
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Coaches Sponsor - Fosseway Hire
Club Sponsor - Gisbournes
Mini & Junior Rugby Sponsor - Andrew Whiting Wealth Consultancy LLP