07/02 Newbury U13A v Redingensians U13A
February 8, 2010
Newbury 7 - Redingensians 12
This Berkshire League match between the only two unbeaten teams was a hard physical battle throughout. No quarter was asked or given and chances were few and far between in a game where space was at a premium. The two sides were very evenly matched, the game always looked likely to be decided by one score either way and so it proved.
It started well and had some good early pressure. The Newbury defence held firm but Theo Brophy Clews was forced to kick repeatedly to try to clear the danger. The Redingensians full back was very secure under the high ball and the game continued to be played entirely at the Newbury end. Full credit to the defence but it was clear that this was going to be tougher than usual. With the speed merchants hors de combat this was a day for the grapplers and George Anderson and Jack Davies were prominent in the thick of things. While Theo and Andy Payne were doing a lot of tackling to repel the assault.
It was not until the twelfth minute that Newbury finally got out of their own half. Theo broke away from his 22 and Jordan Ruddock supported and took the ball on. Andy was steaming up in support, but Jordan could not quite get the ball away as he was finally tackled and the move died.
The game now changed abruptly and for the remainder of the half it was Newbury who camped in the opposition 22. However for all the pressure the try line was seldom threatened. The Redingensian’s defenders tackled everything in sight and Newbury were unable to break the gain line. At half time the score was still 0-0 and it was all to play for.
The second half remained tight and it was hard to see where a score was going to come from. Then 10 minutes in, Newbury conceded a penalty, Redingensians quickly spread it wide and the winger had shot down the wing before Newbury had seen the danger. He sped past some slightly weak tackling to score under the posts and silence the home supporters. The try was converted to make it 7-0.
Almost immediately afterwards Redingensians kicked ahead and it was a foot race to the line between two Newbury defenders and one Redingensians back, but the ball took an unkind bounce to let the attacker in and make it 12-0.
The rest of the match was played entirely in the Redingensian half but for all their territorial advantage Newbury could not make it count. With five minutes left Will Britton tapped a penalty and forged over to get Newbury back in the game. Finn Connor landed an excellent conversion to make it 12-7 and set up an exciting finish.
The game ended in a familiar pattern when a promising Newbury attack was turned over and Redingensians cleared to touch with the last play of the game.
This was a frustrating match but a hugely absorbing one. Redingensians played a fine game and were perhaps a little bit more streetwise than a Newbury team which has perhaps been lulled into a false sense of security by dominating hitherto weak opposition.
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