Yarnbury RFC v Old Brodleians

Today the under 10s were the only team at home so we had free choice of whichever pitch we wanted. So we selected the under 11's pitch as this one was the least boggy of the lot!

It is fair to say it was going to be a slow game today due to the bogginess of the pitch and we were no wrong. We had three games of 10 minutes each. With 15 players to choose from it was going to be a selection nightmare for Mark and myself. However after a brief discussion and much kicking of the grass we decided that everyone would get a full game and a half game. Sorted.

The first game started with Some tough tackling from both sides with high turnovers in the tackle. Yarnbury didn't help themselves with poor clearing and lost possession all too easily. It was tight game with very little scoring opportunities for both sides. The dead lock was finally broken with the all-too-familiar strong straigh running from Kaiss Hussain. Old Brods levelled the score with a turnover at the breakdown. Yarnbury were just too slow and lumbered about ball watching instead of securing the ball for the next phase. This was Yarnbury's weakest part of the game. The second half played out much the same as the first with both sides cancelling each other out. The winning try was scored by Yarnbury with a typical mazy run from the mercurial Mason Baker. The final score; 10-5 to Yarnbury.

The second game played out much the same as the first. Again the game was very tight with hardly any open play. Insufficient passing from both sides meant it was played through the middle every time and, as with the first game, both sides lost possession all too easily at the breakdown. Old Brods took a deserved win in this game in a reversal of the first. Alex Lee was Yarnbury's only points score with a well worked try which actually involved some passing of the ball! The final score; 5-10 to Old Brods.

The third and final game actually opened up a bit with some free passing on show. In fact Yarnbury's opening try came from some excellent passing for the backs where the ball was zipped to the winger, in the case Charley Popely. Classic champagne rugby on show. Yarnbury showed much more determination in this game and turned the ball over very easily with some excellent stripping of the ball from Max Fletcher, which is becoming a strong feature of his game. Yarnbury used the slope of the pitch to their advantage in this game and took the win with a well deserved try by Sam Yewdall who seems to improve with every game with excellent straight line running. The final score; 10-0 Yarnbury.