Six of the best for Arnold as Development side Operate on Medicals

The West Nautical Development team took centre stage this week in a match against Medicals at Harton School.

The team dedicated the match to good friend and player Glen Douglas, who sadly passed recently. Glen started playing for Westoe aged eleven under the tutorage of Deka Walker. He proved a promising player, however progression was limited due to work commitments that saw him travel all over the country. He played soccer with Measham, Leicester, but always returned to rugby when back home. Glen was a sociable and well-liked member of the club and will be missed by the players and supporters alike.

The game was watched by members of his family and Westoe’s thoughts are with them at this time.

Westoe started the half with a well-placed kick. A strong chase put pressure on the Medicals side instantly. Meds cleared their lines and Westoe backs attacked from depth, linking with the forwards who made several strong carries.

The first try came from a scrum within the Medicals 22, where Westoe’s domination in the scrum allowed for fast ball to be distributed to flyer Jake Arnold, who ghosted his way through the medicals defence. 7-0

After a clean take from the kick off and several strong carries by Connor Palmer, Adam Sneller and Liam Jackson, Westoe were back in the opposition 22. After a series of drives by the forwards, fast ball along the line found Jake Arnold who scored his second try in the corner. 12-0

The 3rd try came from the centre of the medicals half where Jake Arnold switched the play and Paul Evans found him sliding through a gap to score his hatrick under the post. 19-0

Number four came from a handling error which followed another dominate Westoe scrum in the Medicals’ 22, Daniel Irving cleaning up and powering through to score. 26-0

The final try of the half involved Jake Arnold who once again switched the play blind in the medicals 22 and received a missed pass to score in the left corner. 31-0

Although down, Meds were not out and their persistent hard work and determination would pay off. Westoe defended in their own 22 for 15 minutes with crunching hits being made by Connor Palmer and David Wilson. However the Medicals side managed to break the Westoe defence, finding a gap and scoring near the posts. HT: 31-5

Following the fast paced first half, Westoe were wanting to keep their foot on the gas. The first 20 minutes involved two back to back tries from both sides, with Medicals putting in a precise kick behind the Westoe backline and recovering it to score in the corner. Their second try was a brilliant line which was followed by an offload to put the medical player clean through. 31-15

Westoe’s first try started from a scrum (Which has been consistently strong all game) just outside the medicals 22. Jon “Hand of God” Gregg picked up from a driving scrum and drove up the field, which was followed by a quick pick and go from Liam Jackson who dove over to score Westoe’s 6th of the day. 38-15

The 7th was from Connor Palmer who received the ball deep from Jake Arnold and trucked his way over several defenders to score in the corner. From the kick off medicals put pressure on the Westoe attack, resulting in a turnover ball and was followed by a number of medical carries, with a medical player finding and offload to score their final try of the day. 45-20

With 10 minutes left, Jake Arnold managed to increase his tally from 4 to 6 tries with both involving quick ball from Sean Ramsay and lightning speed to get round the outside.

FT: 59-20

Match Report – Mikel Tate