Match report

MATCH REPORT

1st November 2009

Ledbury U12s

Bredon Buzzards Away

LEDBURY U12s Triumphant Win Over a Strong But Ultimately Frustrated Bredon Side.

Bredon            0            Ledbury 42

The first day of November greeted Ledbury’s visit to Bredon with lashing rain and a wind strong enough to dispel any lurking cobwebs and stir up the autumnal leaf drop. Thankfully by kick off the rain eased and the wind abated somewhat to allow for a keenly fought contest, both sides initially struggling to adapt their play to the conditions.

The first ten minutes saw both sides weighing each other up with some scrappy play and either side could have taken the first score. It took the settling down of the Ledbury pack to eventually assert their dominance leading to the first try from George Hemingway, breaking through from a lineout and going on to score a magnificent four on the day. Both sides attempted to feed the ball down the line but the defensive tackling on both sides held strong. Unfortunately Bredon suffered from a desire to fly hack the ball at the slightest opportunity gifting Ledbury the opportunity to mount attacks from strong positions at the penalty. This led to George Hemingway’s second and third and ultimately Ben Steven’s first score before half time, all pack driven with individual flair backed up by strong team support. Will Butler and Marcus Ballinger increasing the scoreline with 100% conversions.

Bredon came out in the second half smarting from the result of the first and looked to immediately redress the balance but the defensive tackling from all the Ledbury side was impregnable and ultimately it was George Hemingway who opened the second half score line again. This led to his substitution to even the balance but Ledbury remained dominant in spite of some scrappy mistakes and ultimately Toby Hiram linked up with Will Butler to score the first for the backs.

Ledbury showed their ability to control the game in adverse conditions through strong pack play but it was also good to see the ball fed cleanly down the line on a number of occasions and, but for the unpredictable wind and slippery ball, we may have seen even more break throughs, Sam Prestwich in particular running in to join the line from full back.

All in all a very strong team effort with excellent support for each other leading to an impressive win but just as importantly a nil score against showing just how effective the Ledbury tackling defence and loose play was.  

Try Scorers:    

                            George Hemingway (4)

                            Ben Stevens

                            Will Butler

Conversions:

                            Will Butler (4)                            

                            Marcus Ballinger (2)

Ledbury Squad:

Sam Seaborn, Henry Thomas, Ben Stevens, Benedict Shimwell, George Hemingway, Cameron Hunter, Charlie Samwells, Will Butler, Sam Prestwich, Toby Hiram, Rory Bateson, Hugh Smith, Marcus Ballinger, Ed Fryer, and Dan Clark