Match Report U14s / U16s
Verulamians V Enfield 41 - 0 Under 14s
A beautiful sunny Sunday morning at the fortress Cotlandswick.
Looking at the 2 teams lining up you could have thought that Enfield were an age group up!
The first half started with some scrappy play while the 2 teams found their feet.
The Vees worked their way up towards the Enfield line with Arthur scoring under the posts and converting the kick.
Lots more hard tackling in the midfield with the Vees gaining dominance and making their way towards the Enfield line, a ball out to the right found Elijah in the perfect position and he powered over, but not converted.
More dominant Vees play saw Tommy force his way across the line, with Arthur converting.
Arthur added another try, but couldn’t convert.
Final try of the half was scored by Quinn with a breakaway using his pace to the full, Arthur conversion.
With the score at 31-0 at the start of the second half you would think that Enfield would be beaten, but no they came out and were playing with pride.
Vees eventually gained control and Freddie S stormed over.
Arthur scored another but didn’t fancy the kick so Freddie C stepped up but couldn’t get the ball between the posts from a difficult angle.
Quinn rounded off the game with another fast jinking run, but sadly no conversion.
The Vees were worthy winners, with lots of ball won in the breakdowns, and ferocious tackles in defence when needed, this was a real team effort.
Fair play to Enfield for playing to the final whistle.
U16s OA’s v Verulamians
First quarter
The game kicked off in glorious sunshine with passion running high as the two teams littered with friends from school lined up on opposite sides.
The ref set out his stall early by blowing the whistle frequently and the first try came from a blow of the whistle as OAs former 10 Matt H nudged the ball to the corner from a penalty. From the resulting lineout, the big OAs pack exerted their size and rumbled over for the first score. 7-0 as the conversion added.
The Vees fought back from the score and worked the best try of the day. A penalty for Vees was taken quick and was followed up with good work by Olly P. Jamie F made a half break and kept his ball carrying hand free to off-load to Charlie who showed great decision making to feed Barney who with a quick fend, sped over in the corner. Jamie F couldn’t add the afters. 7-5
Second Quarter
Vees struck next following . . . you’ve guessed it a Penalty following two high OA tackles after they couldn’t exit from deep following the kick off. Jamie F stepped up and slotted the penalty for a 7-8 lead. 7-8
The rest of the quarter was a bitty affair with the ref communicating mainly by the medium of the whistle. A sign of the day, following multiple penalties for OAs, they tapped and ran over as there was no rush from Vees, as the OAs player he hadn’t actually tapped the ball. The ref awarded the try despite the Vees protests about the lack of touch. A lesson in not leaving it to chance as our rush out from the big lads usually thwarts such attempts. 14-8 as Matt h added the 2 points.
Third Quarter
The next score came partly from the Vees failing to exit their 22, causing pressure to mount. More seemingly unfair penalties were awarded and OAs managed to get over in the corner with Vees dragged in towards the ball leaving a hole out wide. 19-8
The next try came on a problem area for Vees as we lost nearly every lineout and on one such steal, OAs powered over for try after some good hit ups. 24-8 at the end of the third quarter where Vees didn’t play their best.
Fourth Quarter
OAs thought they’d got their 4th try but the pass was correctly called as forward by the OAs touch judge.
The Vees were then reduced to 14 players as Charlie was shown to the bin following the observation to his team, not to chat to him as he was ‘having a bad day’.
Vees showed some determination, spurred on by the sense of injustice and Olly P showed his power to make ground with multiple OAs trailing in his wake and hanging on. As he was brought down it was recycle and Ellis moved closer to the line. Olly P then finished what he’d started by crashing over from short range. 24-13 with the angle to wide for Jamie F.
The final try came on another disputed (at least from Vees sideline) decision as OAs appeared to picked up in a ruck and their big unit front row rumbled over shortly after. 31-13 as the conversion was added.
Final Score
OAs 31 – 13 Vees (Tries: Barney, Olly P. Penalty: Jamie F)
Wallies of the Week
The Coll father and son partnership had a poor day at the office. Coll junior hitting the sin bin as per above and Coll senior rocking up at Harpenden to watch OAs vs Vees!
Players of the Day
Olly P – Bulldozed through the OAs players as he’s always willing to make the hard yards in attack.
Reuben – Strong over the ball and another sure tackler. Always uses his strength to maximum effect.
Jamie F – Ferocious in defence as he tackled everything and let nothing past. Great setup of a try with his half break.
Will – Lead from the front with a tenacious display in attack and defence. Supreme work rate and effort.