U14 Match Report: Sunday 26th February 2012
HML League 3: Ruislip 0 vs Hitchin A 33
Tries (5): Tom B (1), Freddie (2), Jordan (1) , Max (1)
Cons (4): Max (4)
Squad: Ashley, Benji, Ben, Bradley, Dan B, Dan C, Dan H, Frazer, Freddie, Harry E, Jack W, Jamie, Jordan, Max, Ollie M, Ollie P, Saiful, Sam J, Tom B, Will B
It’s a beautifully sunny and windless morning at Ruislip RFC where Hitchin step out again in our white away kit. Our boys are ready to go at the upper end of a gently sloping pitch while Ruislip keep an impatient ref waiting. Ruislip kick off – caught by Freddie and played out to Ashley on the wing who takes the ball into Ruislip territory and we’re soon into a maul with the opposition. Ruislip attempt to pressurise us back into our half but we change tactics to play out to the wings. A couple of breaks give Ashley and Saiful a chance to press forward purposefully with some great passing down the line allowing Full back, Tom B to start the score with our first try in the corner. Max attempts a long conversion that falls short leaving the score Ruislip 0 – Hitchin 5 at 11 mins into the game. Ruislip restart with a kick that’s caught by Dan B who runs down the wings to within 10m of the try line before being tackled. Ruislip attempt to clear but the ball works its way back. Under pressure, Ruislip concede a scrum at 5m from the try line. The ball is won by Hitchin and passed down the line to Saiful who gets to within 2m of a try before being stopped by Ruislip’s defence. Fortunately, Freddie has been following close behind and powers through to complete our second try. Max achieves a successful conversion from a difficult angle leaving the half-time score at Ruislip 0 – Hitchin 12.
The second half sees Hitchin playing up the gentle slope. We’ve made a couple of changes to the opening line up with Harry and Tom coming off, replaced by Will and Jamie. Hitchin kick off deep into Ruislip’s half with Saiful chasing. Saiful secures the ball from a stunned Ruislip defence and passes to Freddie who powers up the centre dragging a couple of Ruislip’s lads behind him to score our third try in the centre of the posts! Max confidently converts bringing the score to Ruislip 0 – Hitchin 19 just 3 mins into the second half. Ben comes on to relieve Freddie as Ruislip restart. A promising push from Ruislip brings them within 5m of our try line for the first time in the game but a failure to release the ball on the ground concedes a penalty – allowing Jack to clear to 22m. We refresh a couple more players with Bradley swapping with Ashley and Olli M replacing Dan B. Despite Ruislip’s best efforts the ball remains steadfastly in their territory and Hitchin’s consistent rucking keeps it steadily moving towards the try line. Bradley gets a break and carries to within 5m with Jordan shadowing – but it is Jordan that stretches out to place our fourth try of the day. Max converts again giving a score of Ruislip 0 – Hitchin 26 at the mid-point of the second half. Ruislip restart again but this time a fumbled catch gives them a knock-on scrum at 22m in our half. We win the scrum and consistent Hitchin pressure carries the ball back into Ruislip’s half. This time it’s Max that breaks through Ruislip’s defences and places our fifth and final try in the centre of the posts – and finishes off our scoring with a conversion too! Final score: Ruislip 0 – Hitchin 33.
A tremendous game where consistent teamwork across all players delivered superb results. We maintained possession and territory throughout the game making it very difficult for Ruislip to progress. Fair play to Ruislip too who gave good opposition throughout the game with good, clean rugby. Man-of-the-Match awarded to Dan H for his hard graft. Cruncher goes to Jordan for stopping Ruislip’s best break-through attempt.