Sunderland RFC U16's V DMPRFC U16’s.

With the cars packed, balls pumped, water bottles sort of filled and shower kits at the ready, the players of DMPRFC U16’s made the first journey away from the Northern Echo Arena since the start of the season to face Sunderland RFC U16’s. Having been fortunate to have played the first two games of the season at home, this away fixture to Sunderland RFC, is the first of many which sees the team traveling around the North East for the next four weeks before returning to the arena on the 23 Oct 16 for their next home game.

With both teams having suffered defeats in the previous week, which resulted in Sunderland being knocked out of the County Cup, anticipation that this game would be fiercely contested was rife as both teams were looking to secure a much needed win.
Having been granted access to the Sunderland RFC first team pitch, the team soon left the Sunderland Clubhouse and commenced some in-depth and focussed warm up sessions before the ‘Wolf Pack’ (Forwards) separated themselves from the ‘Stallions’ (Backs) where they both concentrated on their own individual sessions. After a quick change of kit and the team’s usual motivational speeches, the DMP team took to the pitch with determination etched on their faces.

From the kick off, DMP appeared to dominate the game and began applying various amounts of pressure on to the Sunderland team, testing their defences and their resilience. This initial domination resulted in a wonderful try, 4 minutes into the game scored by ‘Little Will’ tight into the bottom corner. Following the restart, DMP continued applying the pressure to Sunderland which forced a number of handling errors and an abundance of scrums soon followed. The DMP ‘Wolf Pack’ soon began dominating the scrum allowing the scrum half, ‘Chappie’ to cross the try line and secure additional points for the team.

Sunderland not to be outdone by the dominance of DMP, soon found themselves applying their own pressure deep into the DMP half and with a kick in the air, which was caught safely by the full back ‘Louis’, the chase was on from Sunderland to keep up with him, following a series of twists and turns, passes and support play, Louis soon found possession of the ball which saw him secure the third DMP try of the game inside the first 20 minutes.

Almost immediately following this restart, Sunderland soon decided to show DMP, why they are a formidable team and having applied their own pressure to the DMP players, it saw them run through the defensive line unscathed. It appeared that the DMP players were caught unawares failing to make any successful tackles, this saw Sunderland cross the try line and onto the score sheet. Following the restart, Sunderland soon found themselves free from any opposition players and mirroring their first try, they were soon back on the score sheet. This score by Sunderland appeared to be the kick up the backside that DMP needed, which saw ‘Jacob’, carry the ball across the line for a further try a few minutes later. As the half time whistle was blown, DMP were leading 24-12 but it could have been much closer.

During the half time break, following a refocusing team talk by the coach’s and a number of substitutions, the team soon realised that they needed to step up their game and not allow Sunderland further opportunities to score.

As the second half commenced, almost immediately, ‘Little Will’, was back over the try line securing his brace of try’s and this spark of energy was just what was needed by the DMP team. Immediately after the restart, the ball soon found its way being worked up the pitch by both the ‘Wolf Pack’ and the ‘Stallions’ and following some wonderful support play, ‘Louis’ soon crossed over the line and secured his brace of try’s.

Sunderland continued to pressure DMP and vice versa, resulting in a number of handling errors being forced by both teams. This game was soon turning into a forward’s game as scrums were now easily into double figures, however, with the ball in the safe hands of ‘Charles’, DMP were soon causing problems for Sunderland. Following a short but intensive period where both teams could not break the opponent’s defensive line, DMP soon started to edge it and began dominating at the breakdown, using the strength of ‘Brad’, ‘Liam’, ‘Jacob’ and Captain for the day ‘Ben’ to secure the ball.

This domination at the breakdown soon opened up the gaps needed for the team to go forward resulting in ‘George’ securing a try with a magnificent solo effort through the middle of pitch under the posts. Not to be outshone by this, a determined effort by Tom to keep hold of the ball having dropped in on numerous occasions from the earlier restarts saw him secure the 4th unanswered DMP try of the second half.

As the second half was winding down, Sunderland gave it their all, pushing DMP back, securing a well-deserved try for their team. Within seconds of the restart and with DMP approximately 35 meters out from the Sunderland posts, a cheeky drop goal by ‘Callum’ secured DMP an additional 3 points. As the game was coming to the end, additional try’s by both ‘George’ and ‘Jacob’ took the game away from Sunderland and upon the final whistle being blown, DMP had secured the win, but had been made to work for it by a determined and well skilled opposition. Thank you to Sunderland for hosting the team and making the game such a success.

The performance on show against Sunderland was not down to one individual person, but a team effort and everyone should be congratulated on their performance.

Well done to all those players that have already been mentioned and to those that were involved in the line outs, this saw, ‘Charlie’ and ‘James’ giving it their all to secure the ball for their team and some great throwing by ‘Rob’ and ‘Tomas’. We welcomed ‘Adam’ back to the ‘Wolf Pack’, from the ‘Stallions’ which saw him show that he still had the appetite to take the ball to the opposition from the back of the scrum. A wonderful effort by ‘Ben King’ along the edge of touch saw him being bundled out by some great defensive work by Sunderland stopping him from scoring a try. The centre brothers, ‘Callum’ and ‘Big Will’, saw them hitting the gain line and through the Sunderland defence. A big thank you to ‘Thomas’ who despite being injured attended the game and supported the team and to ‘Dean’ for providing the first aid care that was needed throughout the game.

A special mention must go to ‘Solomon’ who pulled on the DMP jersey for the first time for the game against Sunderland. His enthusiasm and determination to succeed was invaluable as he performed magnificently against tough opposition, making a number of try saving tackles in the process.

Finally, we wish those players that received a number of injuries as a result of the game a very speedy recovery.