Match report

1st November 2009

LEDBURY DENIED VICTORY AS BUZZARDS SWOOP LATE.

Bredon Buzzards Under 11s 14 - 14 Ledbury Under 11s

Ledbury made the trip to a blustery yet friendly Bredon to face the Buzzards .

With both sides starting the new season well it was a further opportunity to give all of the new and experienced members from both squads some game and it was agreed to play 4 x 10 minute periods in order for both squads to rotate players.

What resulted was a full on, no quarter given clash in which both sides showed great flair and commitment in all areas of the park , defensively sound and with both squads running the ball it was a real joy to watch and equally hard to believe that the players are still so young and so early in there development, such was the level of desire and skills on show.

It must also be mentioned that the game was allowed to flow and huge credit goes to the referee / coach of Bredon who helped coach throughout the game , making it even more enjoyable so a big thankyou to him and all of the Bredon coaching team for there hospitality.

Ledbury began brightly and Hinkley led from the front he was tenacious at the breakdown and was a real handful for the hosts , Bennion carried hard and assisted by Scott Ledbury probed for an early break through. But Bredons defence was organised and patient and kept the visitors at bay , despite the visitors best efforts.

Both sides rucked aggressively and tackled with great commitment, Ledbury however failed to capitilise on there territorial dominance in the first quarter and at the break it was all square as defences got on top.

With a number of changes made on both sides the game began to open up , the visitors through Hinkley capitalised on a mix up from the restart  diving on the loose ball from the ensuing ruck from the Ledbury forwards allowed Harris to feed Bandfield who made half a yard and secured the ball just 2 metres from the hosts line, quick ball from Harris fed Hemingway and the prop used his strength to go over in the corner to open the scoring and finishing off a good team score.

Prestwich added the extras.

From the restart Bredon used the impressive scrum to put the visitors under pressure but super defence from Hinkley and Prosser in particular meant there was no way through the line and in fact disrupted enough to get the turn over .

From the scrum a huge shove from messers Hemingway , Rayner , Bennion , Scott and Hinkley secured the ball and this enabled the half backs to clear the ball through fly half Prestwich.

The kick was chased well by Evans and Prosser and with the rest of the cavalry not far behind the visitors secured the ball and turned defence into attack.

Rayner and Skittery protected the ball , for Harris to feed Prestwich his delayed pass to Evans at pace saw the winger evade the full backs tackle and sprint clear to score and with the kick converted by Prestwich the visitors were 0 - 14 to the good.

With the game into its third quarter more changes were made both both sides continued to fight for everything Prosser and Hinkley tackled superbly , Bennion, Scott, Goodchap and Haines all carried well and took the contest to there hosts, Harris , Marriott and Evans used the space well to create opportunities but to Bredons credit they defended manfully and the quarter finished as it started .

As the game entered its final quarter more changes were made which seemed to disrupt the visitors balance more than the hosts and the hosts were soon to sense this and capitalise on it .

Ledbury were under real pressure but to there credit held firm up front repelling several good attacks from the hosts with Harris , Hemingway and Skittery using there experience to keep the hosts out , but it would be to no avail as Bredon deservedly scored out wide and Ledburys inexperience was exposed the extras were added despite a strong wind.

The hosts were reinvigorated and sensed a comeback and sure enough it was gifted to them when Ledbury hit the self destruct button, poor desicion making and inexperience caused them to fail to deal with clearing there lines, and after several attempts to clear and relieve the pressure there kick was charged down and it fell nicely for a Bredon player to fall on and score , the conversion was good and the game ended probably deservedly in a draw.

A fair result and a fantastic advert for mini rugby played in good spirit but with total commitment and passion.

Well done and thank you to all those involved in playing your part in what was a super game , I am sure enjoyed by everyone both on and off the pitch. 

Ledbury squad :

Bennion , Rayner , Hemingway , Scott , Hinkley , Marriott , Prestwich , Skittery , Bandfield , Haines , Prosser , Evans , Harris , Mence , Goodchap , Fardon , Peters , Bonfield , Whiles , ( Best injured in warm up ).

Try Scorers :  Hemingway and Evans , Prestwich 2/2 kicks.