Guisborough vs Darlington Mowden Park

Match 1
G’boro kicked off and broke through our defence after some initial resistance to score in the corner. (1-0) Soon after, good support play and interchange by Ben and Davey put Jack in for his typical try in the corner. (1-1) From the kick off Mowden’s stout defence on this occasion led to them winning the ball back and Nathan pinned back his ears and cut straight through the shell-shocked opposition to score. (1-2) Mowden let their concentration wander for a short spell which led to two tries in succession for G’boro to make it 3-2. From the re-start, Harry pierced deep into opposition territory and our boys were starting to link well together, calling for the ball only when they were in a good position, the ball was passed to Alex who popped to Matthew straight after being tagged. With the defence at sixes and sevens due to the quick interchange the try was a formality to make it three tries apiece.
As we approached half time G’boro sneaked ahead after pressuring our line; it was good to see however our boys working as a team in defence – it’s important to trust to trust your team mates to get the tag, since chasing after the ball carrier can leave a big hole in defence. (4-3) Mowden rallied, direct running by Arthur moved the ball upfield, Harry linked up before putting Josh in for a tight finish in the right hand corner to leave it four all at half time.
Half time did our hosts no favours as Ben moved in field and passed swiftly to Matthew who saw a gap and went for it to put Mowden ahead (4– 5). G’boro responded in kind to draw level; this spurred our boys to some great passing by Arthur, Alex and Josh, moving the ball along the line for Nathan to score from close in. (5-6) G’boro hit back and looked to exploit gaps opening in defence as the boys tired (6 all). Jack used his blistering pace to score in the corner yet again after some excellent interplay and aggressive running from deep by Davey who can always be relied upon to make yardage. (6-7) G’boro hit back with two tries without reply to take the lead in a tightly fought encounter despite heroic tackles by Harry and Josh. (8-7) As full time drew close, Mowden scored another try to equalise. The last play of the game saw G’boro pip us at the line to win in a thrilling match where rugby was indeed the winner. Final score 9-8 to Giusborough.

Match 2
Jack opened up proceedings to finish his hat-trick with another try in the corner, where his pace comes from is anybody’s guess, apparently his Dad was a centre?!!!! (0-1) G’boro hit back with their eventual MOTM barging through to score. (1-1) Our own battering ram Davey John responded in kind with a show of the ball for the pass out-foxing the defence to allow him to stroll over. (1-2) G’boro hit back with a dashing run from deep, despite desperate defence we were doomed to ship a try on this occasion. (2-2) From the kick off we did a good impression of the Fijian 7’s side moving backwards while still retaining possession, we didn’t panic though and gaps started to open up, Alex saw the space and took advantage to streak up the pitch for a wundertry from behind our own try line. Aggressive and disciplined defence by Mowden lead to a turnover in the centre of the park, quick thinking by Josh and Nathan exploited the shattered G’boro defence to put Matthew in for another try to make it 2-4 at half time.
Although no tea cups went flying, G’boro coaches’ team talk must have worked since G’boro replied with a scintillating try to leave just one score in it (3-4). Mowden held onto possession and moved relentlessly towards the opposition try line, Arthur capped a fine display with an unselfish pass to reward Harry for his morning’s work with a super try. (3-5) G’boro refused to let Mowden run away with this match and kept in touching distance with another good score (4-5). Ben moved infield to revive our flagging attacking options making the hard yards before passing out to Matthew to cap his day’s work with another try (4-6) Undaunted, G’boro came at us again, great tagging kept them at bay for a time but we simply ran out of defenders on this occasion and it was 5-6. A penetrating run from deep by Arthur moved the ball into opposition territory before he yet again set up another try, this time for Davey. (5-7) G’boro refused to bow in the face of this onslaught and replied with two great tries , the last scored by their mountainous MOTM to cap a match played in the finest traditions of rugby. Final score seven all.

Although we didn’t record a W against either of the matches played, all the boys saw plenty of action with the coaches endeavouring to rotate players throughout each match. Several beaming parents commented on how far the team’s play and decision making has come on since our last outing and the boys should be proud of their efforts. We look forward to entertaining G’boro who were fine opponents in the near future, but not too soon – revenge is a dish best served cold?!

Well done everyone, see you at training next Sunday.