DMP Blues v Yarm

The U11's first away games of the season were against two teams from Yarm RFC.

It was bright and sunny but cold and very wet underfoot.

Matthew White kicked off for Mowden and this lead almost immediately to pressure on the Yarm line when Dylan Sharp robbed one of their players of the ball.
Nothing came of this but it was followed by a great run by Jack Ryan Kennedy that left a hole in the Yarm defense and Will Todd was able to use this to touch down for a try.
This was turning out to be a hard fought match and both sides showed courage in defense and flair in attack.
Notable for Mowden were takles by James Garlick, Will Todd, Matthys Mooij and Matthew White.
At one stage a Yarm try looked inevitable but great defense on their own line kept Mowden one up.
Good work in the middle by Matthew Auger and Will Hickerson nearly put Mason Scorer through to score but he was put into touch by Yarm.
Will Todd also went close in the other corner and the scrum that followed was only cleared by Yarm after a fierce tackle by Matthys Mooij left them with no choice but to kick down field.
This was picked up by Matthew White and passed under pressure to Will Todd who set off on one of his long runs to score his second.
There was more Yarm pressure but a long run by George Halliday who broke through several tackles nearly brought a third for Mowden.
Stout defense with a fine tackle by Jack Ryan Kennedy meant that the half time score was.

0-2 To Mowden.

The second half started with a long period of pressure on the Mowden line with some neat passing by Yarm.
The pressure was relieved by a great kick to the corner by Will Todd and the scrum that followed meant the pressure was on Yarm for a while.
Yarm could also kick well and following a good pick up and run a try was only saved by a brilliant tackle by James Garlick.
Despite good moves by both sides and hard work in defense from Mowden the score did not change.
This had been a tough match on both sides and Mowden were worthy winners. A great improvement on the same fixture last year.

Full time 0-2 to Mowden

The second match against Yarm also had Mowden kicking off but this match was not as open as the first.
The ground became more muddy and this led to a spate of handling errors and knock-ons from both sides.
Matthys Mooij and Dylan needed to be Sharp in their tackling to prevent Yarm breaking away and both teams resorted to kicking into space to try and break the deadlock.
Further handling errors meant lots of scrum practice for both sides as the ball was knocked-on in close play.
Much effort in the lead up to half time could not put a point on the board so it was:-

0-0

The second half brought much the same, with Yarm parked for long periods in the Mowden half of the field.
One scrum on the Mowden line followed another try saving tackle by Jack Ryan Kennedy, sadly Yarm could not be denied and they scored from their next move.
Will Todd put in a perfect kick to clear and this led to a scrum right on the Yarm try line, this time the pressure could not be converted into points though.
There were some good passages of play with notable tackles from Jack Ryan Kennedy, James Garlick and Dylan Sharp.
All of the team worked really hard to level the score but most effort was in the defense and Mowden could not get a point on the board.
This had been a real battle and all the team should be proud of their efforts in tricky conditions with a slippery ball.

Full time 1-0 to Yarm