Under 14
Matches
Sun 25 Oct 2015
Maidenhead
10
17
Amersham & Chiltern
Under 14
Stepping Up....

Stepping Up....

Janneke Skilling3 Dec 2015 - 20:17
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The Under 13’s second home fixture of the season saw Maidenhead visit Weedon Lane for an A Team and B Team fixture.

Stepping Up
The Under 13’s second home fixture of the season saw Maidenhead visit Weedon Lane for an A Team and B Team fixture. We’ve played Maidenhead many times in the mini section and they’ve always been great opponents. A&C were without half of our usual players because of school holidays – a handy excuse or a chance for some players to step up?

The first 10 minutes of the A match seemed to suggest it would be the former. Maidenhead played fluently to keep A&C under constant pressure. Confident defending, and the odd relieving kick, meant that Maidenhead were empty handed despite continually playing in A&Cs 22.

And then the light went on, partnerships started to gel, and perhaps some sleep was wiped from eyes. A stolen ball in the ruck led to an excellent passage of linking play from the backs and Will Finch was on hand to finish superbly in the corner. Over the next twenty minutes the shackles came off A&C. Despite 8 changes from the last ‘A’ team game the standard of play continued to improve. Tom Ates was the star of the show, scoring a hat-trick of tries, with powerful running, intelligent positioning and great handling. He gave props everywhere hope that they are allowed to do more than shove.

Every member of the team played their part with Theo Weatherell dominating the lineout and Max Eggleton and Harry West providing a sound platform at the scrum. Special mention for Drew Skilling’s continuous industry on the wing and two fantastic conversion attempts from the touchline that, although narrowly missed, had supporters of both teams applauding. Kofi Cripps led the three-quarters with determination and intelligence and the effervescent Will Swerling provided an excellent link between forwards and backs. It was a shame then that Will suffered a nasty knock, which thankfully proved much less serious than was feared initially. A 29 – 0 result was, in the end, a reasonable reflection of a game that started full of worry but ended with some great team play
Man of the day? Mark MacKenzie-Crooks for refereeing three games on a Sunday morning without once needing a TMO and rightly being able to walk off the pitch to the thanks of everyone present

Playing with heart

With the A team down on numbers for the visit from Maidenhead this inevitably put pressure on the B team. A number of those who stepped up to the As also had to play in the B team game and we had new partnerships and players making their debut for A& C this season. A key thing that has marked out the B team this year is their excellent team ethic and the way they support each other. It seemed that this would be needed more than ever.

A Maidenhead side determined to avenge the result of the A team game played with power winning many of the rucks and mauls and piercing the gain line. A&C stuck to their task but too often tackles round the body enable Maidenhead to off load or make good ground. But never once was a tackle shirked and only twice, for all their pressure, did Maidenhead break the try line in the first half.

A half time rallying call from our resident Braveheart to his tiring troops paid quick dividends with A&C playing bravely and much more directly. A series of rucks and good linking play enabled Michael MacKenzie-Crooks to make a terrific break but he was stopped agonisingly short of the line. A&C kept to the task and forced a series of rucks and mauls on the tryline - Alex Greggor spotted a small gap in the defence and forced his way over from close range. And the self-belief visibly grew a little.

But Maidenhead did not want a whitewash today and returned to their task with vigour scoring a third try with little time left. There was a final hurrah for A&C as Dan Cox, who had done excellent work earlier with the A’s, tore through a number of tiring Maidenhead tackles to leave the final score a very creditable 10 – 17. 15 young men did A& C proud, but particular mention to Max Taylor for his waspish energy throughout the game, Arun Mannan and Harvey Wilson for granite defence, and Kai Geddes for industry at the breakdown. A defeat yes, but also proof that even with half our team away we have plenty of ability and strength to test very good opposition.

Many thanks to Maidenhead for a terrific series of games, played in a fantastic spirit throughout – a credit to their club and a timely reminder of why we get involved in this wonderful game.

Author: Ian Greggor

Match details

Match date

Sun 25 Oct 2015

Kickoff

10:00
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

U14s Sponsor  - CT Medical Sales
U14s Sponsor  - Campion Willocks
Club Sponsor  - Wells Farm Dairy