Heads Held High

Sunday 15 March 2009 - Away to Avonmouth

Last time we played Avonmouth we had to host the game at St Katherine's School because our pitches were unplayable. It was cold and miserable and we got a thrashing. This time we knew in advance we were going to be playing a mixed age side ( U14s & U15s), but due to our other Gordano teams commitments weren't able to mix and match as planned. As it turned out we weren't even able to field a full side - but the team that took to the pitch was second to none. They quickly got over the winging and moaning about the sides and got stuck in to play some fantastic, committed and enjoyable to watch rugby.

From the off Gordano took the game to the opposition, with the battle of the forwards being won through hard rucking and contesting every lose ball. The front five (Jack, Kit, Jack, Charlie and Dan) sat a solid platform for the scrum, securing their own ball and taking some of the oppositions as well. This platform gave the backrow (Jamie, Connor and Jev ) the opportunity to run with ball in hand an link up with the backs - superb support running from Jack and the out of position Rob. Early pressure enabled Jev to put Gordano on the score sheet first with team Captain Spence adding 2 more points. This was the wake up call Avonmouth needed, making the most of their strongest runners and numerical advantage they started to put a series of tries over the line against the tide of play.

A couple of lucky break away tries and the score started to creep away, and when the big centres got up a head of steam there was little that the determined tackling of Harry and John could do to stem the flow. But to their credit the lads did not let the score get to them, they kept playing hard and dedicated rugby battling all the way. The welcome return of Matt playing at scrum half released some strong runs up the centre by Spencer, and the teams grit and determination not to give in eventually saw Connor score our second try. The final score of 59-12 does not reflect the over all flow of the game, and out sized and out numbered the Sharks were able to walk off the field with heads high.