U13s
Matches
Sun 21 Apr 2013
Gordano Rugby Football Club
U13s
5
0
Bristol Old Reds
Gordano U13s 5 v Bristol Od Reds 0

Gordano U13s 5 v Bristol Od Reds 0

Jim Merrick6 May 2013 - 22:04
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Sharks win at the graveyard.

Gordano V Bristol Old Redcliffians Sunday 21st April 2013 (Home)

This was a really well contested game, with perhaps a draw being a fairer reflection of the game. Both sides defended very well, with Sharks just having the edge in attacking ambition. However a number of handling errors in the first half thwarted that ambition. This was understandable given injury and unavailability of 5 backs, which saw players having to readjust but did not explain the less than usual effort off the ball.

Old Reds had their moments, with their 7 and most especially their 9 – two of the smaller players on the pitch – having outstanding matched. The Reds 9, who was also their captain lead by example and proved to be a harpoon in the Sharks side as he continually, throughout the entire match, got low into contact and turned the ball over. Had he had more support from his bigger team mates this might have been used to greater advantage.

James Appelby, Jacob Evans and Sam Merrick led the way with some strong carries, but lacked the support to take full advantage

Sharks regained composure after half-time and dominated the breakdown areas with counter rucking and slowing the ball, whilst also engaged in a far better off-loading game. All of these elements were thanks to a far greater effort off the ball which provided more support and more opportunity. Nevertheless Reds defence remained resilient and a couple of kicks into space almost resulted in a try for the Reds 7, but was beaten to the touchline by the ever present and hard-working Ben Critchley.

Following excellent carries from Will Hawkins, George Cogzell and Pete Atherton, Sharks came close to scoring through a searing line break from Hamish Bonar, who was just scragged as he looked to be in the clear. This appeared to galvanise the Sharks backs with Sam Green and Rohan Sewell also making excellent ground. Hamish made a further break only to have a very creative back-hand off-load intercepted.

With less than 2 minutes to play, Sharks won a line-out and Jordan Shaddick exploited the gap between the defending 7 and 10 to run 25 metres to score under the posts.

There was time for kick-off, but Sharks were not to be denied. A further sequence of sharp running, support and off-loading saw Sharks get close to the Reds line and with seconds to play, Ben Critchley seeing the defence drawn in, stabbed the ball over the defence for winger Matt Wilkinson to chase. With the defence struggling to cover the space, Matt was just beaten by the touch line which saw the end of a closely contested game.

Final Score;
Sharks 5 – Old Reds 0

Try; Jordan Shaddick

Match report by Gary Townsend (Coach)

Photos to follow.

Match details

Match date

Sun 21 Apr 2013

Kickoff

11:00
Team overview
Further reading