Sun 10 Nov 2019, 11:00
Match Report
Lancashire U16 Cup. Pool B, Round 3.
I would love to pretend I’d missed the first half of this match, as it's 30 minutes of rugby I’d prefer to forget! If we could spill it, trip over, pass to the opposition, drop the ball on our own try line or miss touch we did it. To cap it all one of our new recruits slipped while trying to back out of a challenge for an aerial ball and ended up sliding under the opposing player and bringing him down in the air. No malice, just a Red Card for slipping over in the worst place. The ref even commiserated with our player.
So, by half time we’d handed them 4 tries for a 26-0 lead and a one player advantage. Oh well, cup ties finish at a 30 point lead so at least we could go home soon.
As the second half started we were surprised to see that being a man down seemed to have put a little fire into our bellies. And a few minutes later Henry chased down a crossfield kick from Sam to dive on the ball by the corner flag. 26-5, at least it wasn’t going to be a whitewash. 6 minutes later Sam kicked a penalty when Rossendale infringed again in front of the posts to go 26-8. After 8 minutes of sustained pressure Harry slid over to take us to 26-15. The forwards then camped out on the try line for the next 5 minutes until Billy drove over to make it 26-22.
The restart was the last play, and Rossendale were panicking. We got the ball to our backs with a good scoring opportunity when the curse of the first half returned. The final pass finding touch rather than our wingers waiting hands. On the plus side, the boys came back well (earning a bonus point), and if we win our remaining games we can still top the group. Also, despite the Red card, our discipline was excellent, far better than the home side. They might have forgotten how to play at some points, but they didn’t get frustrated with the ref, or each other.
Match Captain: Billy
Man of the Match: Luke Fleming – Keeping your head when all about you are losing theirs – Sorry Kipling!
Highlights
1’ 5-0 TRY Rossendale
17’ r TRY & Conv Rossendale
22’ Yellow Rossendale - Dissent
27’ 19-0 TRY & Conv Rossendale
29’ Red Eccles – Accidental dangerous play
31’ 26-0 TRY & Conv Rossendale
HT 26-0
37’ 28-5 TRY Henry
45’ 26-8 Penalty Sam
53’ 26-15 TRY Harry Conv Sam
58’ 26-22 TRY Billy Conv Sam
60’ FT 26-22.
Report by Andy Connell, Eccles RFC U16 Manager
