U11s at OAs - match report 17 Feb 08

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There are occasions when the scorelines really don't do justice to the matches played and both the matches were examples in different ways. After a couple minutes of madness in the first match we got progressively better and though the second match was officially a draw, morally - and with some real justification - it was a clear victory.

Matches with OAs have previously been full of incident and this day was to prove no exception as lots was happening throughout. The first match could be characterised by our not unusual slow start followed by a decent period either side of half-time when we were showing the necessary discipline to gain level when within the space of a couple of minutes some dozy play let in two soft tries. The final scoreline was flattering to the opposition when for a significant part of the match we were playing on a par with them.

The first couple of OA tries came early in the first half with some swift play by their scrum-half from a scrum followed by some solid mauling forward play after we lost possession from a weak pass out of a lineout. But it could have been a whole lot worse as we were let off a third try after one of their backs had done all of the work to break through to our try area down the line but decided a spot of showboating was in order, heading towards the centre to place the ball under where notionally the posts would be, but instead went straight into a tackle by Simon thus giving away the ball. (I must confess at this point that the try was such a dead certainty that I had already turned my head to start writing it down in the book and so all I saw was the OA player hitting the ground in anger.)

After this let-off however the team responded with some discipline and, though understandably not entirely fluent, showed real resolve as we started to regain the momentum in the closing plays of the first half. In particular the recent training appeared to be paying off in the scrum where we managed to hold our ground despite some interesting maneuvering by the ref (to prevent the collapses the OAs had been involved in during the season) and consequently a second push. There was some excellent play from the forwards going through the phases in defence when by the close of the first half OAs were consistently hit hard, with the assault led by Lewis with four or five big tackles, and consequently OAs were put under pressure and knocked off the ball. One of the other notables was the selection and consistent kicking from Dominic at fly-half - evidently the two hours dedicated training the previous two days were paying off.

It was such a shame then when after battling to get ourselves close to drawing level we gifted a try at a penalty by going to sleep and allowing the OA forwards to stroll through. We could learn from OAs ploy to take quick set pieces. We were still recovering from that shock when after the kick-off we were in disarray to allow a further soft try.

Now to the second match. Every so often this professional statistician has faced a real crisis of conscience when the urge to put aside integrity and adjust the bare facts to reflect the reality was almost overwhelming. The outcome of the second match was just such an occasion. The performance was thoroughly creditable especially when you consider that before the first half was even over OAs had felt compelled to put back in their first team pack and yet we still managed to hold them pretty fair and square without taking off anyone who hadn't played in the first match and so ensured everyone played at least one full match.

We started off strongly almost forcing a try by rucking and mauling over in the first play when the ball was taken over by Will but held up and Joe came close too with a driving run before losing the ball. However the talking point of the second match was undoubtedly some enterprising loose play by our backs when the OAs were caught in possession in their try area: a good tackle went in and the ball was spilled for Ruiri, who was following up, to pounce on. However the ref saw the ball being held-up (he told our players) and so took it back for a 5 metre scrum.

A try at this point wouldn't necessarily have been decisive - since it would have been the first score - but with what followed it could easily have led to a scoreline of three clear tries up from which it would have been hard to see OAs finding their way back - first team pack or not. And what did follow was another incident that left us mystified when Joe was penalised for stepping over in the ruck, but from the sideline it was quite clear that it was OAs who had infringed, and OAs took the advantage quickly to put the ball over. It's very difficult to reconcile all of this to any player and so it is to their absolute credit that they maintained their discipline so effectively and after an exchange of tries, in the second half we were still playing with the discipline and intensity required to give us the chance we deserved.

One final thing that caused us to smile at least was listening to the OAs players and parents all thinking at various points they had cracked our lineout code. They hadn't of course but we sure had worked out theirs - as Lewis demonstrated repeatedly on his opposite in the forwards. We also got some reward from our training over the last two sessions with the award of a penalty at the breakdown for the opposition holding on because we had quickly got to our feet and tried to rip the ball In fact the OA referee complimented us for this at the end, saying that he saw us trying to do it several times and he's only ever seen it once before in our age group. It was a nice reward for the day but not enough to satisfy the nagging sense of loss for what we truly merited.

Match 29 v.OAs A Lost 7-26 (HT 0-14)
Ellis, Will, Joe (sub Peter), Lewis, Jamie, Harry, Dom, Ross, Ruiri, Beth, James W, Simon
Try: Ellis - highlight of the day for Andy as one of the set plays came off from a penalty at 5 yards out with Lewis and Jamie binding on to Ellis to drive him (and the ball!) over the line. Conversion: Peter

Match 30 v. OAs B/A Drawn 14-14 (HT 14-7)
Joe (sub Peter (sub Ellis)), Willm Brandon, Jamie (sub Lewis), Jacob, Chas, Dom, Rui, Simon, Kate, Beth (sub James W), Harry
Tries:
Simon - a proper ducking & diving, weaving in & out run through the middle from about 30 metres out. Con: Dom
Joe - justice for Joe after earlier near miss when he ran straight through their backs from a penalty. Con: Dom