Match report

MATCH REPORT

13th December 2009

Ledbury U12s

LEDBURY U12A Wake Up and Win In Close Encounter with Luctonians.

Match 1 (RB)

Ledbury A      35                        Luctonians A             14

Ledbury Squad:

Ben Stevens, Sam Seaborn. George Hemingway, Ben Savidge, Benedict Shimwell, Will Butler, Charlie Samwells, Toby Hiram, Cameron Hunter, Rory Bateson, Hugh Smith, Dan Clark, Tommy Kinsella

With the ground reasonably firm after recent drenchings Ledbury welcomed Luctonians on a bright but cold morning. It soon became clear that Ledbury sorely needed a drenching to wake them up though as we witnessed the slowest start up of the season. Where was the drive, the cohesion and team spirit we have come to expect? Thankfully, mid way through the first half, Ledbury realised where they were and what they were there for!

Luctonians kicked off and Dan Clark made a clean catch but was immediately isolated and, but for a high tackle, Luctonians could have been through for a very early score. The penalty was not used to best advantage and Luctonians pounced from the first scrum using their fast backs who seemed a couple of gears higher than Ledbury. They seized their opportunity and easily put the first maximum points on the board after an uncharacteristic failing in the Ledbury tackling department.

Ledbury, now knuckled down and immediately applied pressure with the ball fed smoothly down the line, gaining territory all the time, and then reversed back inside to Will Butler who cut through to score, which he duly converted (his first of five in a 100% record for the day). The ping pong nature of this early period continued with Luctonians retaliating at once with a strong forward drive from the drop out and they regained their early lead with a well executed and converted try.

The game closed down somewhat as Ledbury strove to level. Toby Hiram almost got through but offloaded to Benedict Shimwell who rolled (or was it pirouetted?) out of two attempted tackles only to knock on short of the line. It took George Hemingway to grab the game by the scruff of the neck from the loose to gain open territory and the ball was quickly passed down the line to Dan Clark on the wing who had the strength and momentum to score in the far corner just before the half time whistle.

Ledbury’s drop out went long and Sam Seaborn was first there to capitalise on a Luctonians fumble but their defence held well. Ledbury’s pack began to assert itself in the loose and soon regained possession with Charlie Samwells feeding the backs via Cameron Hunter and Rory Bateson linking in from full back for a rolling run before once more releasing the marauding Sam Seaborn who crashed through to make the first score of the second period.

From the Luctonians long drop out Will Butler kicked long with interest but the ensuing scrum to Luctonians gave them the platform they needed to counter. There followed a scrappy period as each side jostled for possession. Benedict Shimwell stole ball from a Luctonians throw but was tackled before offloading to Tommy Kinsella in support. Always one to enjoy a messy run of ruck and maul Sam Seaborn yet again saw his chance when Toby Hiram passed out to him and he was through for the second of his trade mark scores.

Ledbury were now in the ascendancy and from a scrum deep in Luctonians territory edged closer with Benedict Shimwell just missing a score as the ball squelched out of his hands as he grounded it. Scrum 5 to Luctonians but Ledbury sensed their chance and maintained the relentless pressure.

The final score came from a George Hemingway line out win and drive before offloading to Benedict Shimwell who lunged for the line, albeit from a possible knock on missed by the ref, but justice was served as he should perhaps have had his earlier attempt given.

So after a slow start, and not performing to their best, Ledbury came good and maintained their winning streak in spite of themselves against very worthy opponents!

Well played all and enjoy your Christmas break!

Try Scorers: Sam Seaborn (2)

                     Will Butler

                     Dan Clark

                     Benedict Shimwell

Conversions: Will Butler (5)

Match 2 (DW)

LRFC B v Luctonians

Result: Ledbury RFC 7. Luctonians 26

Scorers for Ledbury:

Try: Harry Harris.

Conversion: Alex Seager

Team Sheet:

Ed Fryer, Dan Smith, George Watson, Oliver Jones, Harry Harris, Barnabas Seager, Stewart Martin, Alex Seager, Henry Thomas, Kieran Smith, Amber Wilkins, Rhodri Whittaker, Toby Cotton.

Replacements:

Noah.Jevon (on for Dan Smith).

The Luctonians arrived with a squad of just 20 players and were forced to

field a number of first team players for this encounter and their quality, which

was on display in the A team match showed through from the kick off. Ledbury

found themselves pinned back on their own try line and were powerless to

prevent the visitors scoring their first try despite some brave defensive work

following a number of 5 metre scrums.

The try went unconverted but Ledbury soon found themselves once again on

the back foot from the restart as the visitors mauled and drove the ball deep

into the home teams half finally feeding their impressive tight head prop who

carried the ball, and most of Ledbury’s defence, over the line from 15metres

out. This time there aim was good and the conversion was duly slotted over.

The visitors reinforced their superiority when they extended their lead on the

stroke of half time with a well worked try which was just reward for some

impressive forward play. Again their aim was good and they went into the

interval with a worthy 19 point lead.

The visitors changed a number of key personnel and after the break the pattern

of the game changed as the home side’s pack began to achieve parity with the

visitors’ forwards and finally provided the backs with some decent possession

which Stewart Martin and Henry Thomas in particular gratefully accepted.

Unfortunately Ledbury were carrying the ball as individuals and were making it

easy for the visitors to defend against their attacks often stealing the ball at the

breakdown.

Eventually, however, Ledbury’s persistence bore fruit as Harry Harris was

forced over the line from a close in maul and managed to ground the ball to

give the home team some hope. Alex Seager duly converted and Luctonians restarted.

Unfortunately the hoped for fight-back was short lived as the restart was

cleverly directed away from Ledbury’s pack and Amber Wilkins, who initially did

well to tidy messy ball, found herself alone when the visitors arrived en-mass

and had no option but to release the ball in the tackle. The visitors recycled the

ball efficiently and were over the line in a flash to score their final try which they

converted to finish the match deserved winners.  

Although the B team were ultimately outplayed on the day they showed plenty of spirit in defeat and much promise once some of the basic errors are eliminated and once they’ve had a few more matches under their belt.