U16s - Derby Day Defeat

On a gloriously sunny day at Blackwell Meadows the two sets of U16 Darlington based teams once again stole themselves for another local derby. Although the outcome would appear to be a one sided affair if the score line were to be believed, it was far from the case. In reality it was often small margins that made the difference, intercepted passes, wrong decisions in the 22 and also credit were it is due some excellent performances from the opposition. In a change from the usual reporting methodology it was suggested that a snapshot be taken of the final 25 minutes as this was the period when the boys in blue and white were more than a match for their opposing numbers. It was probably more a change in attitude as opposed to any technical revolution, two tablespoons of self belief administered by BIrch the senior seemed to unload the weight from the boys shoulders. All of a sudden there were rallying calls that had a ring of sincerity on the pitch and some of the laboured body language was exchanged for a spring in the step. It was as if the boys had to reach that point of feeling defeat to make them really believe in their ability. The forwards were first to the breakdown, strong in the scrum and also turning round the line out, probably in no small part to Josh Brown who was outstanding, but they all deserve credit. The backs were cutting out the handling errors and their decision making and interplay meant they were making inroads into opposition territory, so with five minutes remaining it was no surprise to see points on the board when Harry Evans scored to finish off a great team effort. The final minutes of the game provided a lesson to the boys in playing to the whistle, instead of watching Dom deal with the unwelcome attention of three of the opposition (he had it sorted)! A cheap try given away.

Congratulations to the boys and support team from Darlington they fully deserved their win over the course of the seventy minutes. Roll on Blaydon and our boys believing in themselves from the off.

MotM - Josh Brown - great play and great attitude.