U11 Whites v Westoe

On Sunday 4th November Mowden Park under 11 white team played two matches against Westoe at the club on Yiewsley Drive. The squad was Callum Poppitt, Jacob Willson, Joshua Race, Henry Norman, Gabriel McGregor-Taylor, Jack Williams, Amar Atwal, Jacob Vickers, John Grey, Brook Hall-Beasley, and Regan Godfrey.

Early pressure from Westoe was endured with a strong defence from Mowden. Jack exploited gaps in the Westoe line with Jacob V and Callum giving strong support to take ground back from Westoe. These efforts were rewarded when Gabriel forced his way over the try line and opened the scoring for Mowden. This lead was short lived when Westoe scored from the kick off with a run through a gap left on the Mowden line. Pressure now from Mowden, with John notably launching himself at the Westoe defence. Unfortunately this pressure led to nothing as Westoe, against the run of play took the lead. Westoe then took command of the game, opening gaps in the Mowden line seemingly with ease. Some outstanding and try saving tackles from Jacob W, helped keep the score down, but Mowden never recovered their composure and Westoe were the worthy winners at full-time.

The second match started in the same way the first match ended. Westoe took a couple of tries as Mowden missed tackles and let gaps open in their line again. Good Mowden scrummaging and quick responses from Callum at scrum-half led to Gabriel again opening the score for Mowden. Unfortunately Gabriel's valiant efforts didn't lead to a Mowden revival as they continued to show Westoe too many gaps in their line, which Westoe took full advantage of. Some excellent attacking play with good support from Amar, Brook and Regan eventually allowed Callum to score Mowden's second try. When Jacob V followed shortly after with another try it finally looked like Mowden's structure and tackling ability was coming to the fore. Alas this section of quality Mowden play was not built on as again gaps opened in their line and Westoe weren't shy in taking advantage. Mowden again needed to regroup, and with good support from Henry and Joshua, it was deserved that Gabriel yet again powered his way over the Westoe try line with the last play of the match. Another win for Westoe, but there was some excellent rugby from Mowden which needs to be played more consistently.