U14 - MOWDEN DOMINATE TOUGH GAME TO TRIUMPH

With a couple of players away on international duty (spectating, not playing) Mowden faced a strong Middlesbrough team in a fixture rearranged from earlier in the season.

Middlesbrough, playing with the wind in the first half, held possession for the first few minutes of the game and tried to break through the Mowden line – charging through with forwards or moving the ball through the backs. However, Mowden were having none of it and solid defence forced slow ball for Middlesbrough and they lost ground. As Boro struggled to get the ball away an error by a Boro player allowed Tamer Fuat to fly-hack the ball to the Boro 22. In a footrace he beat his man to the ball, picked up and ran the remaining distance to score in the left hand corner. In the conversion attempt of his own try, a good effort saw the kick just fall short.

In previous games Mowden have been guilty of hanging off the ruck and giving away easy turnover ball. However, today was different and with Michael Hall, Sam Lorimer and Callum Oakes piling in with huge commitment, Boro were often driven off their own ball giving Gordon Thompson chance to set the Mowden back line away.

On one such occasion, when the forwards won turnover ball, fly-half Mark Wilson fired a quick pass out to Joe Craggs who passed to Jonny Teague. Jonny committed his man to give Mark Harsley a run in. The Mowden spectators were counting another 5 points but a tremendous sprint and tackle from a Boro player knocked Mark into touch just before the line.

The strong and gusty wind was not helpful for fluent passing rugby and both sets of players found handling difficult and there were more than a few knock-ons. As usual the opposing pack were bigger, if less mobile than our own and expectations were that we would struggle in the set pieces. Although Mowden did lose the first couple against the head Dom Gibson, Ryan Hall and Connor Noble in the front row were able to stand firm. With confidence rising against the larger pack, the back row were able to get their heads down and shove and the scrum was rewarded with the feeling of an opposition pack in retreat!

As well as strength in the set piece the team showed what they could do in a rolling maul. Jonny and Elliot Wanless picked up the ball from loose play and ran forward. They stayed on their feet in the tackle and the pack drove them a full 25 metres over the Boro goal line. Unfortunately there were just too many people to ground the ball. From the resulting 5m scrum Mowden piled the pressure on Boro who struggled to clear from behind their own goal line. Finally a weak kick out was fielded and Joe ran in to score under the posts. Tamer converted to make the score DMP 12 Middlesbrough 0.

In virtually the last play of the half, John Payne was able to show his strength and speed. Boro gave away a penalty for offside. A tap was taken and the ball quickly moved wide to the right. John ran through a couple of tackles and was nearly through to score in the right corner and only another great Boro tackle saved a try.

Half time Mowden 12 Middlesbrough 0

After a dominant first half performance and with the wind in Mowden’s favour the second half looked set for more scoring. Mowden made a few changes with Matty Warr and Aidan Smith on the wings and Simon Shepherd, James Maclintock and Alfie Wilson making a new front row.

Middlesbrough had clearly decided that the scrum was a lost cause and moved their fast lock and huge prop into the centre of the back line. However the second half started the same way the first finished and most of the first 15 minutes was played in the Boro 22. As Boro tried to break out Mark W and Gordon were kept busy against good opposite numbers whilst Tamer and Jonny stood firm in the centre. On the wings Matty and Aidan let nothing past them either. Playing into the wind Boro were not able to kick very far clear and Elliot was able to make some great attacking runs supported by the back row of Callum, Joe and Tom Lawson. In the scrums the strength of Michael and Sam, and the props Simon and Alfie were able to continue up front domination. Tom in particular was having a great game, making powerful runs through the middle and down the wings and tackling anything that moved in a red shirt.

Despite all the pressure Mowden were unable to put more points on the board. As Mowden’s frustration at the lack of scoring rose, errors began to creep in. In difficult situations, instead of holding onto the ball and allowing players to support, players were making over ambitious passes or passing to players already under pressure. Boro made good use of these mistakes and began to move upfield and retain more possession.

Boro went close as they pounced on a handling error and fly-hacked the ball into the Mowden in-goal area and there was a race for who was going to touch down. Tom got there first and touched down for a 25m kick out. As Boro pressed, Mowden lost discipline in the loose play and gave away a series penalties for not releasing and coming in at the side of the ruck. A couple of such offences gave Boro a penalty 5 metres out. A quick tap and a charge from a big forward saw them crash over in the right hand corner. The conversion was missed.

In a peculiar way, the lost try seemed to settle Mowden. Straight from the restart Mowden put pressure on the Boro catcher. The forwards piled in and the Boro scrum half and fly half were unable to get the ball away. More good tackling saw the ball spilled and Elliot, spotting a chance picked up and dived over the line for an unconverted try. Shortly after, the ref blew for the end of the match.

Final score Mowden 17 Middlesbrough 5

A strong team performance against very good opposition. It was great to see us getting stuck in and driving at the rucks and well done to our two front rows who outplayed heavier opposition. Well played to the forwards who set up the victory in conditions where fluent back play was difficult. As ever our defence was excellent with hardly a tackle missed and always good covering. However, we need to be better at holding onto the ball in pressure situations and not making things more difficult by trying to make passes that aren’t on.

Watch out for a text or keep your eyes on the web-site for next week’s game. Hartlepool Rovers have cried off and we are looking for replacement opposition.