Match Reports - First team Colts & Under 13's
Ealing Trailfinders 1871 52 Vs 7 Verulamians
The mighty Vee’s travelled down to Vallis Way in West London in what was mapped out to be a great match. With the heavens raining down upon Ealing’s great first team pitch both teams looked ready to start off the 21/22 season with a bang!
Ealing got off to a quick start early establishing a good set piece and scrum leading to them scoring two early tries in the wet encounter. 12-0 the scores stood as both teams tried to gain momentum in the match with various kicks being used to try and exploit the new 50-22 rule.
Some quick thinking by George Harding led to the Vee’s mounting some attacking pressure in Ealing’s half. With our line out starting to click we looked certain to score a try, however, Ealing held out strong and managed to use their fleet footed outside backs to pounce on some of our mistakes which led to two more tries. Making the score at halftime 26-0.
Despite the scoreline Vee’s came out in the second half firing with some great pressure straight from kick off! After a sustained attack in Ealing’s 22 and numerous penalties later, their full back saw yellow. At this point the Vee’s had their tails up which led to a rather uncharacteristic pick and go try from player coach George Harding.
Ealing bounced back from this score though and with the help of a few injuries for the Vee’s, Ealing scored three tries in quick succession despite the Vees fighting back fiercely and at one point only had 14 players! The match finished 52-7 in what was a great match despite the weather and the Vee’s can be proud of the hearty performance. A special mention to full back James Ryan who achieved our first 50-22 of the season off the back of a great showing fielding numerous kicks from Ealing.
Tabard Colts 31 - 41 Verulamians Colts
A stronger test for the Colts last Sunday playing away to Tabards. Our lads put in a good first half pulling ahead 22 points to 12. In the second half Tabards came back strong but V's managed to maintain their 10 point lead finishing the game 31 : 41
A lot of good individual performances by V's but some work to do in improving the communication particularly in the forwards. But a win is a win and the lads did well to pull it off given injuries, loaning of players to Tabards front row, and some key players unable to play in the second half which inevitably contributed to some of that imbalance.
Now looking forward to out first League match on Sunday 10th away to Kilburn Kosmos."
Under 13’s - Welwyn RFC 2 Vs 11 Verulamians
The Vees went up against a good Welwyn side , who started well and applied pressure to the Vees defence from the off. The first 10 minutes was a very even game with both sides scoring tries. The Vees rucking improved as the game went on, and the match started to open up with some good forward runs by Bodie, Tom, Oscar and both Harry’s. The backs ran in a few tries after the forwards pushed through Welwyns defence. On the restart, a great catch from the restart allowed Bodie to do a solo run and score a good try by weaving through the Welwyn back line, which must of inspired Gethin as he went on a mazy solo run to score the next try. Some great tackling by Henry and Luke in the backs showed what a rounded performance the Vees put in. Welwyn were a pleasure to play against and we look forward to playing them later in the season.