U14s – MOWDEN MAKE IT 10 IN A ROW

Mowden U14s travelled north of the Tyne for the first time to play a new fixture against a Morpeth team that had only been beaten once this season. The visitors made the most of the excellent conditions to use their mobile forwards and the pace of their back line to record a well-deserved victory.

Morpeth started on the attack, helped by some early penalties given away for offside in the ruck and the scrum. They managed to drive to the Mowden 22 and launched a couple of forward drives from the penalties. However, the rearranged back three of Joe Craggs and Tom Lawson at flanker and Sam Lorimer at number 8 snuffed out the attack. When Morpeth got the ball back Jonny Teague and Tamer Fuat were able pressurise the player with the ball and force a penalty for holding on allowing Joe to clear to the half-way line.

From the line-out Morpeth stole the ball but Max Harrison starting for the first time as hooker and the new second row pairing of Dom Gibson and Michael Hall were quickly onto the Morpeth back line. They drove Morpeth back into their 22 and managed to rip the ball loose. Under pressure Morpeth kicked to Elliot Wanless on Morpeth’s 10m line. Elliot needed no encouragement and in a super burst of speed, ran through the Morpeth defence to score under the posts. Tamer made sure of the conversion.

In was not long after that Mowden doubled their lead in a brilliant handling move. Tom and Sam did great work to win a ball in the maul and Gordon Thompson sent the ball down the line to John Payne on the right wing. John made it into the Morpeth 22 before he was tackled. He got the ball down and Alfie Wilson and Connor Noble used their strength to ruck over the ball to make it available. As Mark Wilson sent the ball quickly down the line to the left, Tom took a crash ball from Jonny who then looped around to receive it back from Tom thus creating a 2 man overlap. He committed his tackler before slipping it to Joe who did not need the support of Mark Harsley and went over the line to score. Tamer converted to move the score to 0-14.

Morpeth then began a spell of their own pressure. Mowden did not help themselves by again giving away penalties on their own 22. Morpeth took a quick tap and flung the ball out to their winger who looked certain to score. However Elliot showed one of the reasons that Mowden have already kept eight clean sheets this season and in a tremendously powerful tackle took both winger and linesman nearly onto the adjacent pitch!

Mowden then put together a couple of good moves but squandered the opportunities they created. Too many times players tried to run through the opposition but Morpeth were too good for that and the ball carrier lost momentum as they were tackled so that his support runners ran past and the resultant forward passes gave possession away.

On another occasion Tamer did great work ripping the ball away from Morpeth. Mark W spotted a gap behind the Morpeth line and put through a brilliant chip kick but it was wasted as the Mowden chasers were too quick off the mark and were given offside.

However there were also some good moves as the forwards began to get to grips with Morpeth and win more ball for Gordon to use. Max and Alfie won turnover ball for the backs. Jonny stepped inside his man and Tamer gave a beautifully timed pass to Mark H who shot off down the left wing. But Morpeth showed why they have been virtually unbeaten and a great covering tackle by the full back stopped him just short of the line.

Mark H nearly scored immediately after in the last move of the half. Joe ripped the ball from a maul to set Mark H on his away but again the desperate defence just about covered in time.

Half time Morpeth 0 Mowden 14

Morpeth were down to 14 men and Mowden agreed to take a player off to balance the sides. Matty Warr, Ryan Hall and Simon Shepherd came. Mowden lost concentration and shape in the new 14 man formation and Morpeth began the second half strongly as they had the first and Mowden again gave away a thoughtless penalty for offside that was further penalised for ‘chatting’ to the referee. Fortunately Simon and Ryan had their wits about them and were able to stop a forward drive from the tap.

Mowden recovered composure and got a grip back on the game. They nearly scored following some great forward and back interplay as Tom, Max and Connor supported each other to gain a lot of ground before releasing to the backs. It was only a foot in touch that prevented a score.

But Mowden didn’t have long to wait for the score to come. More good work by the forwards set the backs away, Jonny turning his man and releasing to Tamer who evaded the last defender to score in the left corner. The conversion was just missed.

In order to play 15 man rugby, in a great sporting gesture Dom agreed to pull on a Morpeth shirt for the rest of the game. This was certainly no loss to Morpeth as Dom’s strength helped to steady a scrum that was beginning to creak under pressure and Morpeth began one of their periods of pressure.

More mistakes by Mowden ended up with a penalty to Morpeth on the Mowden 5m line. Swinging the ball wide they looked for the overlap but firstly Mark H nailed his man, followed by Elliot on the overlapping full back before Joe cleaned up and Mowden managed to run the ball out to the 22.

There followed a period when neither team could get on top and mistakes by both teams led to a series of scrums in the middle of the pitch. On the last of these Morpeth won their own ball but Tom and Ryan flew round to put pressure on the Morpeth back line. A few hurried passes while going back meant than the inside centre received both ball and Max at the same time. The ball came loose and a Morpeth player fly-hacked it forward into a melee of players. If Michael was surprised to find the ball lodged in his midriff he showed no hesitation in grabbing it, spotting a gap and charging through the Morpeth players from the 10m to score under the posts. Tamer again converted to make the score 0-26.

Morpeth continued to work hard and from the restart won a scrum on the Mowden 22. A great angled run by the full back looked like he had broken the line but a diving tackle by Jonny brought him down. He offloaded to his fly-half who was picked up and driven backwards by Mark W in one of the tackles of the game. The forwards piled into the ruck winning the ball, making ground and then recycling quickly. The Morpeth backs were out of position and quick thinking passes to Matty gave him the chance to show his speed and he rounded one man and handed off another to score in the right corner.

Mowden had now got on top and John could have had a try but for a too-long delayed pass that that inevitably went forward as the player’s momentum was stopped by a tackle.

However he didn’t have to wait long for his score. Mowden were pressurising the Morpeth 5m line so Morpeth kicked for touch. It was well caught by John inches inside the line. Repeating Elliot’s first score of the game, John ran through for the final try of the game. Tamer was close with his kick as it just shaved the outside of the right upright.

With Mowden beginning to get on top in what felt like a short second half the ref blew for full time.

Final Score Morpeth 0 Mowden 36

A fine win against what is undoubtedly a very good Morpeth side who were lacking a few of their starting line-up. Defence as ever was excellent with everyone tackling well and some lovely ball handling with better support for the runners.

However we squandered too many chances and we gave away too many careless penalties mainly for offside in the rucks and mauls that would not have gone unpunished on another day.

We have had a fine run of victories and must guard against complacency and arrogance. We still need to do the hardwork supporting the ball carrier and the ball carrier needs to look for and use the support. Rugby is a 15 man game and we will only continue to enjoy the current success if we play as a team.

A week off next week then our final planned fixture on 1st May home against Penrith with whom we had a tough game in November.