Morley vs Yarnbury U15s

Having not played since the Dinnington Yorkshire Cup semi-final win on 25/02/18, this fixture was hastily arranged to give the boys some game time.Numbers were slightly depleted being school holidays and Jack Briggs unable to play due to injury. Underfoot conditions were difficult with all the recent wet weather.
Yarnbury kick off but Morley make easy territory through their forwards with continual pick and drives moving play into the Yarnbury 22. Yarnbury regain possession and kick clear but are penalised for offside giving Morley first chance for points with a penalty kick just outside the 22 but in front of the posts. The kick hits the upright, bouncing behind the try line where it is touched down for a 22 yard dropout.
Yarnbury start to get more possession but are having little success through the backs and rely on the forwards driving the ball forward through Carter Proctor and Sam Brown. Kicks are well chased by Jacob Rawson to put some pressure on the Morley defenders and on one occasion Morley are penalised for not releasing the ball when tackled. Yarnbury kick for touch and from the ensuing lineout inside the Morley half the driving maul is set up and Sam Brown makes a great break into the Morley 22 when peeling off. Morley are then penalised for hands in the ruck and Yarnbury elect to kick for touch again. From this lineout the driving maul is stalled and when the ball is released to the backs Morley are able to regain possession at the ruck and kick downfield. Darwin King catches the kick and restarts the attack, passing to Jamie McDonnell who breaks back into the Morley 22. Alex Koppany drives play forward before Maxwell Lee runs an arc, drawing in the defenders, before releasing Darwin King and then Jacob Rawson to score in the corner. There is some dispute as to whether the ball had been grounded before the Morley linesman intervenes to confirm the try. The difficult conversion is missedgiving Yarnbury a 5 point lead after 23 minutes.
Play is littered with mistakes after the re-start with possession continually swapping between the teams. A Morley penalty is kicked dead and Yarnbury elect to take the scrum from where the ball was originally kicked. The solid scrum allows Maxwell Lee to attack down the blindside, releasing Edward Green. With Jack Brownridge in support, he is able to dummy the first defender and run into the Morley 22where he is tackled by the fullback. However, he is able to pop pass the ball to the supporting Maxwell Lee who is felled by a high tackle 7m out when the a try looked inevitable. Surprisingly, the referee only awards a penalty and Yarnbury kick for the lineout. The driving maul is set up and stalls on the line where it collapses with Yarnbury players complaining that it has been deliberately collapsed. Play continues but the slow ball puts the Yarnbury backs under pressure and a final pass to Jacob Rawson is too high, goes to ground and Morley eventually recover the ball. Morley try to create a quick attack and Yarnbury are penalised for killing the ball. They are then penalised a further 10m for complaining about the collapsed maul and Morley are able to kick to touch just outside the Yarnbury 22. Nothing is gained from this territory. Yarnbury make a good break by Jamie McDonnell into the Morley 22, followed by multiple pick and drives by the forwards. Carter Proctor takes the ball at pace and is stopped just short, before the ball is turned over and Morley kick the ball out to end the half. Half time Morley 0-5Yarnbury.
Yarnbury bring on all their subs for the start of the second half. In the 2 minute a good break by Maxwell Lee takes play into the Morley half. He offloads in the tackle to Alex Koppany and possession is maintained by a good clear out by Dan Mitchell. Quick ball releases Darwin King in centre field who takes play up to the Morley 22 but the scrambling defence is able to slow play up and eventually they win turnover ball. Morley kick clear but the ball goes straight out of play when the fly half has stepped just outside the 22. Play continues with a Yarnbury lineout on the Morley 22 from where a strong driving maul gets to within 5m of the try line. The ball is released to centre Edward Green who crashes just short of the line but quick ball is then moved wide to Jacob Rawson to score his second try in the corner. The difficult conversion hits the post and bounces wideto increase the Yarnbury lead to 10 after 10 minutes.
Morley regather their kick off when it bounces short of the 10m line but rolls forward and Yarnbury are then penalised at the ruck. Morley kick to touch but a poor lineout throw allows Yarnbury to steal possession and clear their lines. The kick doesn’t make touch and is gathered by the Morley winger who attacks, chip kicks over the defensive line and is first to the ball to flyhack it up to the try line.Fullback Darwin Kingwins the race to recover the ball and grounds it behind the try line for a 5m Morley scrum. The ball is moved down the line to their winger who looks certain to score but a last ditch tackle stops the try and Morley knock on in the next phase of play. Words are exchanged between the packs at the ensuing scrum and the referee talks to Carter Proctor and the opposing prop. Yarnbury are then able to clear their lines.
Later in the half Yarnbury win possession when the Yarnbury defenders hold up the ball carrier and a maul is called. The scrum is in centre field so the backs are split to attack either side. The ball is passed to Jamie McDonnell who beats the first defender but is tackled by the fullback in the Morley 22. Sam Brown is in support to take the pop pass and makes further ground. Quick ball allows it to be passed to Jacob Rawson for a possible hat-trick try but the ball is knocked on (possibly through fear of having to buy a round of drinks). From the scrum, Morley try to clear their lines but quick line speed buts the flyhalf under pressure and he is tackled and Yarnbury win a penalty for the ball not being released. Yarnbury kick to touch for a 5m lineout. The driving maul is set up but is stalled and after a couple of pick and drives the ball is released to the backs and Maxwell Lee easily breaks through the defensive line to run through and score under the posts. In the ensuing celebrations Carter Proctor is asked to leave the pitch. Darwin King kicks the conversion. With 7 minutes to go Yarnbury’s lead is extended to 17 points. Yarnbury regather the kick-off and maintain possession until the final whistle without creating any clear cut chances. Full time Morley 0-17 Yarnbury.
Yarnbury:Carter Proctor, Sam Brown,Luke Woodend, Ruairi Daly, Lex Galloway,Joe Birchall,Nathan Snee, Alex Koppany, James Longhawn, Maxwell Lee, Jack Brownridge,Edward Green(capt), Jamie McDonnell,Jacob Rawson,Darwin King.
Substitutes:Harvey Goodall,Dan Mitchell,Joe Pilling, Leo Mercer
Man of the Match –Maxwell Lee –playing at fly half rather than his usual position of scrum half, he controlled the game and should have had even more points to his name. Honourable mentions to Jacob Rawson and Sam Brown.
Sporting Result of the Week(so far) Scotland’s Alex Marshall becomes his country’s most successful Commonwealth Games athlete by winning his 5th gold medal in bowls. Honourable mentions to Roma for turning around a 3 goal deficit against Barcelona to get to the Champions League semi-finals where they will play Liverpool, and England’s netball team who reach a Commonwealth final for the first time with a dramatic last second 56-55 win against Jamaica.