Match report

11th October 2009

LEDBURY EFFORTS GO UNREWARDED.

Ledbury Under 11s visited Monmouth for a mini festival that would prove to be a good test for all the squad and with Ledbury the only side to take 23 players with intention of everyone getting some game time.

This was to be a tournament that would give the coaching staff an opportunity to give all new squad members a run out in preparation for a long season ahead.

With Welsh rules being adopted for this competion which meant uncontested scrums and lineouts this was always going to be a test as when you lose your best weapon in our case our front five competing in the set plays and add to that lots of new faces this was more about bloodying new players than winning the competion , although to be fair to all the lads they gave it there all and in actual fact came alot closer to winning by the end than we all thought.

With matches against St Josephs , Monmouth Blues , Berry Hill and Monmouth Golds to focus on there was plenty to think about.

Game 1 

LEDBURY 5 - 10  St JOSEPHS

Both sides attacked each other from the whistle with no quarter given , Ledbury in particular made a real impact in the loose and made a mess of St Josephs ball and got here noses in front after the break when Hemingway scored following a great contribution from Mence. However this lead was to be short lived when St Josephs made good use of the space and there winger who was incredibly fast scored twice in quick succsession to claim a good win and left Ledbury to rue several good missed chances missed.

Game 2

LEDBURY 5 - 10 MONMOUTH BLUES

This was almost a carbon copy of the first match played but with another cruel twist , Ledbury again despite the platform of the scrum put there bodies on the line and rucked and protected the ball excellently and like the opening match went ahead and again it was Hemingway who went over the whitewash from close range following excellent build up play with Hinkley  and Prosser hugely influential in gaining field position for there side. But poor tackling from the restart allowed Monmouth to get back in against the run of play and with there tails up the sniffed a winner .

But as the clock ran down a draw seemed a fair result but with almost the last touch of the game Monmouth put a speculative punt down field which wasnt dealt with and depsite the desperate efforts of Hinkley he was unable to prevent the score right on full time.

Game 3

LEDBURY 20 - 0 BERRY HILL

With alot of pride to play for Ledbury faced the reality of never losing 3 games in a row in any competion and one thing this side has is plenty of spirit. With a few more familiar faces in the starting line up it wasnt long before Ledbury started to show what they can do strong and direct running from Hinkley and Bennion in particular caused Berry Hill lots of problems this coupled with quick ball and Ledbury were looking good. Haines and Prosser crashed through people from deep and when the ball got shifted wide it was Evans who pinned his ears back to sprint clear and open the scoring. The next Ledbury score came from Bennion who benefitted his fellow forwards commitment at the breakdown and collected the ball to go over.

Berry Hill made a scrap of it and put there tackles in but they faced an uphill battle when after the break , Evans carry to Bennion who offloaded to Harris to touch down sealed the game , however it was very fitting the the final score should go to Hinkley who carried in his usual route one style to power over and seal a much improved victory.

Game 4

LEDBURY 25 - 0 MONMOUTH GOLDS

In the final game of the day Ledbury were to finish on a high note and build on there good win over Berry Hill however like in that game they were forced to dig deep and make there tackles as Monmouth took the game to them. But following a super half break by Prestwich following a good ball from Marriott saw the flyhalf open the scoring.

Evans was lively and a real handfull out wide and when he jinked his way past defenders , his offload to Goodchap was sublime and within a blink Lebury were to increase there lead and take control of the game.

It wasnt long before Goodchap grabbed a second great carry from Bennion and support from Prestwich who moved the ball well to create the space for the try.

Ledbury were going through the motions and when Whiles fed Prestwich after a solid scrum nicked against the head Prestwich wouldnt be caught up the blind side to grab another try.

Ledbury maintained a high tempo throughout and Monmouth struggled to cope with the speed and directness of Ledbury and this was evident when replacement Hemingway powered over to bring the game to a close on a high note.

With the try count back needed to seperate the sides at the end  as everyone lost at least one game it was Monmouth Golds who had the superior try count and took the trophy, congratulations to them and congratulations to all the Ledbury squad who participated lots learnt and lots more to work on well done.