Trojans U16's Chiefs v Bournemouth 11th March 2018

Bournemouth 14 Trojans Chiefs 31

Another late kick-off, but this time the boys were up for the match and looked the better team from the start with some flowing rugby which nearly resulted in a try. However, it was Bournemouth who opened the scoring following a mistake by Waldo, filling in at full-back. A minor set-back and he responded well by fielding a high kick and making a great run into the Bournemouth half. It wasn't long before the Chiefs gained parity when Phil latched onto a kick from Matt to score with Josh converting. An excellent break from Matt led to the award of a penalty which Josh converted to put Trojans 10-7 in front. Another passage of passing created an opportunity for centre Fin W. to make a penetrating run and he forced the ball over the line to finish an excellent team try. Josh again converted to make the score 17-7 at half-time. The only negative was the tendancy to lose the ball in contact or lose it from poor decision making.

Replacements Sam Page, Ben McCormack and Adam Stockley were brought on. Jenson took himself off with a shoulder injury. The Chiefs struck first when Oscar received the ball out wide and made a trademark run over half the length of the field to score under the posts. Josh converted to extend the lead to 24-7. He then showed his ability to kick to touch with two consecutive kicks putting Trojans in a good attacking position. Michael was back winning the line-outs and the boys were edging the scrums. The breakdown was better contested but still not as organised as it should be, resulting in one or two mistakes, but with ball in hand the Chiefs were impressive and another passage of passing resulted in Man of the Match Phil crossing for his second try. Bournemouth weren't finished and were a better side than the one we played at home. Trojans made the mistake of giving penalties away in their own 22 and at the second attempt, a Bournemouth forward crashed over to score a deserved try. The intensity dropped off in the remainder of the match, although Ash came close. Josh was taken off after a disagreement with the referee and Waldo completed the game at scrum-half.

It was a good performance from the boys and a much needed boost ahead of next week's Hampshire Plate Semi-Final against Havant.