Early promise fails to materialise

On a glorious Sunday morning the U14s set off on the long journey to Thanet for their opening game of the 2013/4 season. Expecting to be slow off the mark we were anything but and after 20 minutes found ourselves 5-0 to the good. Having had a couple of late withdrawals Alex was drafted in at scrum-half and with about 2mins practice was thrown in for his first game in this position. That said, in the early exchanges it didn’t show as the forwards, led by Ben and Samraj won good possession for the backs who showed some great skill and lines of running.

On more than one occasion Bruce, Hunt and Wade-Fautley combined well to make good inroads into the opposition half. On more than one occasion the Thanet full-back made a great tackle to stop what looked like a certain try. Finally, though the Thanet defence was breached and Josh manage to score out wide. The conversion was well directed but fell short of the posts.

Unfortunately, this was probably the wake up call that Thanet needed and they soon realised their far superior size was better used by taking the battle up front. As G’s forwards began to tire we became increasingly slow getting to the loose ball and all too often coughed up possession when well set. That and some poor decision making gifted Thanet a couple of tries just before the end of the first half and after that G’s new it was going to be an uphill struggle.

The second half saw much of the same and Thanet made good use of their pacey back row and wingers to run in a number of unanswered tries. It was starting to look like our lack of match fitness was starting to show, something our opponents with a few games under their belt and a steady supply of replacements took advantage of.

As the game drew to its conclusion G’s forwards gave one last effort which saw Samraj advance towards the post and despite being outnumbered by the opposition the ball popped out on our side. Bruce opted to pass the ball wide and just when it looked certain that we would be rewarded for our efforts we contrived to miss the certain try.

It was a good game played in the right spirits and thanks to everyone who made the long journey. Training next week and we have some clear areas to work on but not forgetting the mazy runs.

Team: Chalal, Mide, Gillingham, Perry, Knapp, Woodbine, Bowler, Banfield, Titmus, Bruce, Eaton, Firestone, Hunt, Wade-Fautley, Johnson, Farqhuar, Cormac

Coach’s player(s) of the match: Josh W-F (some fantastic lines of running and a great finish to our only try)

Additional comments: Next up Tunbridge Wells at Home on 20th October