U16s - The Curtain Raiser

A fantastic setting for rugby, the largest capacity club stadium in the country, and another opportunity for the boys to shine in front of 25000 (seats). Bouyed by bacon butties and the hot drink of choice served from the relatively plush surroundings of the arena, as opposed to Judy's gazebo, the new season was upon us and after a solid pre-season under the guidance of Junior and Vee there was eager anticipation from players and supporters alike. The visitors on this occasion being West Hartlepool.

The referees whistle brought a visiting team kick off that was well fielded by Matty and with the first tackle of the game he was dropped on his shoulder and departed shortly afterwards, next stop the Memorial. Undeterred the boys rolled up their sleeves and carried on, and for the subsequent 10 minutes the game was fairly even, MP bossing the forwards and WH doing their best work in the backs and it was from here that they conjured up the first score. Their fly-half received the ball on halfway and made a straight run under the posts.The game was played out in similar fashion to games from last season, with the opening exchanges played deep in Mowden territory. However, the boys were defending well and there was some superb forward play on show, the work done in training around the breakdown was definitely paying dividends, as were the line-outs which were also bossed by MP. The visitors were good at splitting their line and were certainly adept at changing the point of their attack with some fluidity, which meant that our boys had to be focused on the runners in the opposing back line. Unfortunately the boys could not withstand the pressure and the extra guile shown by their opponents and with fifteen minutes on the clock a further try was registered. The remainder of the half was played out in a similar vein with the whistle for the temporary cease of hostilities seeing the score at 17-0 to the visitors.

The pack was shuffled throughout the second half which gave the opportunity of game time and the chance to stake a claim for a starting berth to the boys who had completed the 22. The boys were still putting a shift in, against opponents who were edging the physical side of the game with some robust tackling and an awareness of opportunities which demonstrated that they were used to playing in a settled team. After succumbing to further scores our boys summoned up one last effort to put some points on the board and a surging run from Josh M, followed by a good offload to Ross saw the latter go in at the corner. Just reward for the teams efforts.

Thanks to our visitors for a good game of rugby and lets hope those of our players who suffered from injuries make a speedy recovery.

MotM - Toby