07/03 windsor U14 A & B’s v Newbury U14 A & B’s
March 9, 2010
Newbury U14 Stags and Roebucks give Windsor
A’s & B’s a wake up call…..
Windsor U14A’s 22 v 22 Newbury U14 Stags
You know when you stand in the cold for a whole day at Windsor and come away with a draw and a creditable loss you have to admire the resilience and team spirit of the whole Under 14 Age group, players, parents, coaches, everyone for sticking to the task in hand. Last year’s league fixture saw Windsor score 66 points to Newbury’s 0 … what will be today’s outcome.
We arrived early and prepared ourselves to start after the U15A game and after a lengthy injury delayed us further we were eventually ready to play….
The two and a half hours had taken their toll in terms of cold and The Stags opened the game by conceding the softest try of the season to go 5 - 0 down.
The air was warm behind the posts as Windsor went to take the conversion and our Head Coach reminded the boys why we had turned up at Windsor.
It was as if the game had just started and suddenly Newbury came to life…..Rucks, Mauls, first tackles were all knocking Windsor backwards. With ruck ball a plenty Newbury were running wave after wave. A couple of positive breaks from Matt Nicholls set the backs running then a break from Sam Rossiter, typical sniping run to then open a gap and allow Price Richards to attack, step inside and score under the posts which Rossiter converted. 5 – 7 to Newbury.
More attacking rugby from Newbury with Herrod Taylor and Fane coming into play and then the forwards rampant to release the explosive Tristan Telford in support and after a great final tackle to stop him but the ruck allowed Connor Brady to storm over to take the lead 5 - 12 the score.
Newbury’s midfield of Bates and Price Richards stopped every Windsor attack. Newbury were growing in confidence. The pack were dominant, Hookway, Hawkins and Rees winning good ball, Collington and Brady supporting and stopping everything that moved but the back row of McIntyre, Crossley and Jenkins were destroying any pattern for Windsor and creating ball for the backs to run…. Anything Windsor offered was snuffed out by great tackling, Herrod-Taylor on the wing breaking down each runner with huge tackles.
Newbury soaked up some pressure but rarely went into their own territory after the terrible start and again in midfield they broke down the hosts and from more disruption Price Richards picked up and jinked his way from the 10m line to score a great individual try 5 - 19 to Newbury. Half time the hosts shocked.
Coaches View
“Great half of Rugby, cold start for good reason but to come back like that was excellent I think the hosts were shocked and we didn’t look fragile today”.
Second Half and the wind was against but this didn’t deter the attacking game Newbury were playing. Windsor had made a couple of changes to bolster their pack but Newbury came back at them hard.
The high tempo pattern continued and with a bit more luck the game would have been won in the first ten minutes of the half however Windsor came back and managed to score through an excellent run from their winger ‘KK’ to bring the hosts back in touch
12 – 19 and Newbury began to regain ground, great open running to set Herrod Taylor loose on the wing but thwarted by a forward pass…
It was tight and Newbury were under some pressure but defended well and broke out with Bates, working hard down the mid field countering at every chance. This led to a rare penalty and Rossiter slotted home 22 – 12 but more to come. Newbury stood off and let Windsor come back and with only minutes remaining Windsor travelled up field with some good rugby and after two phases drove in goal to score and convert. 19 – 22 all to play for and with very little time Newbury soaked up pressure and stopped three opportunities for Windsor to score another try … tense but nearly time and then the final twist, a penalty advantage being played for Windsor, they made ground 10 metres and then dropped the ball to knock on, game over ..… no the penalty stands and Windsor slot home to equalise 22 all Final whistle.
Well played both sides, next season will be interesting! …… J
Coaches View
“Really pleased but disappointed for the guys, they played really well and we are so close to getting it right. Overall everyone performed. Some really good individual performances which contributed to a great game and the best team performance to date….We’re on track that’s for sure. Well done”
Windsor U14B’s 25 v 14 Newbury U14 Roebucks
As we drew breath and rubbed our hands in the increasing cold the hardy Roebucks took to the field, they had endured a lengthy wait, some 3.5 hours!!!…but they started as always with some really good rugby. The forwards having thawed out, showed how they have worked to improve their rucking and won some good ball for Maher and Gardner to let the midfield run.
Windsor where a well drilled side and although they were attacking Newbury’s defence was outstanding and the tackling of all the backs at this point particularly Billy Clarke was superb. The game was end to end and after some good rucking Newbury broke loose and Diwas Limbu broke away to score under the posts with Norman converting 0 – 7 to Newbury.
Windsor where gaining in strength and, having been hanging around for a long time, the cold and inevitable tiredness set into the Newbury side. No detraction they competed well and the front five worked hard to win some good ball and the back row of Kenneth, Cresswell and Wilson competed well with the Windsor forwards.
Newbury kept working and attacking but with growing pressure Windsor broke away to score twice in quick succession to lead 10 – 7 at the break.
Coaches View
“A good half of rugby and each week the performances improve across the squad. I was really please with the effort in the first half considering the wait!!! Very positive”.
Half Time and Newbury were ready to compete again and considering the cold they came out ready to compete….Great rucking to win more ball, the backs running well and almost breaking through good defence and Windsor were having to work very hard to stay with Newbury. Windsor’s backs were becoming more dominant and after soaking up pressure Windsor managed to break twice to score and lead 20 – 7.
More pressure from Newbury and some quick hands released Limbu again and he powered his way through to score for Norman to convert again. 20 – 14 and maybe a fightback…..
Newbury kept working and just the final pass didn’t quite make it and with a couple of players carrying injuries Windsor managed to score one final try to win the game 25 -14. A great all round effort and again a good turn round from last year.
Coaches View
“Overall again another excellent effort, improvements across the squad and some good performances. One of the big pluses is the effort is sustained for the full game and heads don’t go down when we concede. That shows great character and again we are starting play good rugby in patches. It will click soon. Well done”
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