Felsted U16 'A' rugby v Norwich School
Result - won 26-12
Tries - Seager, Hutchinson, Sellers, Paulin
Conversions - Hutchinson
Penalties
Man of the Match -
On Saturday, the season finished with a victory over Norwich, by 26 points to
12. In truth, we probably should have won by more, but there were some good
moments, and it was very satisfying to finish on a winning note. The
frustration of defeat at Wymondham lingered a bit, but ultimately, the side can
be very proud of a record that reads Played 10, Won 8, Drawn 1, Lost 1, and
with the B team also winning (43-14, with a Marcus Joyce hat trick), the Under
16 club only lost two games out of 17 all season, which is a fantastic record.
The game on Saturday began with us applying pressure to the Norwich line, and after a
couple of close calls, James Seager picked up from the base of the scrum, and
dummied his way over. Rory Hutchinson converted, with Mr Bury quicker to get
the flag up than last week’s touch judge! The game became littered with
knock ons, and with the error count high on both sides it took another twenty
minutes before we added a second try, this time seeing Rory Hutchinson going
over, after a dummy switch in the centre, with him also adding the conversion.
One problem that the side has faced has been maintaining the intensity
throughout a game, and errors from the kick off created a platform from which Norwich were able to
score just before the break, to leave the game still alive at 14-5.
Straight after the break, a scrum in the centre of the field
was used to create space for Miles Singleton, who fed Max Paulin, allowing him
to race in under the posts, to put us in a comfortable position again. With Norwich still playing
hard, and a couple of their players having first team experience, it was not
easy, and the lack of fluency hampered our attempts to really kill the game
off. When they were then able to capitalise on a quick penalty, and turn over
ball, to bring the score back to 21-12, the last ten minutes looked challenging.
However, Adam Sellers picked up his second interception try in consecutive
matches, and scored the last try of the season to finish the game at 26-12. Norwich kept attacking,
but this time the defence was secure.
End of term report – it was a pleasure to work with a
well motivated, talented squad, both A and B team. The performance against Gresham’s was
definitely the highlight of the season, and the mid-season break did not help
our attempts to regain that fluency. As a group of players, they still have
much to learn, but that is what is so encouraging, because there is plenty of
room for further development and improvement, as individuals, and as a group,
in the coming years.
