Match report

11th October 2009

Ledbury U14s 32 - Evesham U14s 7   North Mids Cup

FOUR TRY HAND HELPS LEDBURY TO FIRST CUP WIN

The first ever cup game for this squad did not disappoint. A large Evesham side took the field, but the smaller, more agile Ledbury outfit started strongly, pushing as a unit in the first scrum and setting the scene for the match. From a second scrum David Smith picked up and went blind. He stood up in the tackle and skilfully offlaoded to Matt Hand who took the ball at speed and ran in from 20 yards.

Ledbury continued to put good phases together, and quick ball from the forwards again gave the backs the chance to show their handling skills. The ball was spun wide to Will Dzioba at outside centre, and he powered through the defence to score Ledbury's second. Then in another dominant passage of play, Joe Fowke picked from the back of the scrum, straightend the line and went through the gap, offlaoding to Matthew Badham who in turn fed Matt Hand who after some encouragement from the touchline, headed round the Evesham defence for a third touch down. 

Evesham struggled to compete in the loose. The Ledbury tackling was ferocious and even without the ball Ledbury were making ground. A collapsed scrum just before the break caught the home team out. The referre had shouted that the ball was out, and the Evesham No.8 raced away from the covering defence to score. The try was superbly converted and for all of the Ledbury dominance the score was worryingly close at 15 - 7 going into half time. The last play of the half saw another Evesham break, and a good tackle from Josh Brett brought the half to an end as Evesham were ushered into touch. Unfortunately this was the last action for Josh as he twisted his knee.

Half time saw some changes. Rhys Jones came on for the injured Josh Brett, Henry Lee made way for Noah Callaghan in the back row.

The second half started as the first, with the Ledbury back row putting pressure on the Evesham line, forcing errors and gaining territory. Slick hands from the back of a ruck saw Matt Hand go over for his third try. Joe Fowke again drew his man, passed to Liam Colledge who was everywhere in attack and defence. He moved the ball on to Matt Hand who wrong footed the defence to score. Tom Poyner found his kicking boots at last and converted.

Oli Warrilow came on as scrum half in place of David Smith and Ryan Morris went on as Full Back for Ben Butler. Matthew Kettyle took Sam Brooks place on the wing. The team continued to work well together, and after a bit of prssure from a spirited Evesham team, the ball went loose, Oli Warrilow kicked and chased, fly hacked on and Fowke was unlucky not to latch on to the loose ball and go over for a try. From te resulting lineout, Ledbury continued to gain ground and from a 5 metre scrum back row movethe ball fell to Noah Callaghan who dived over.

The rain started to fall, and the wet conditions made handling more difficult. Ledbury adapted well, and a series of pick and drives from Ben Chapman, Rhys Jones, Tom Buteux, and the back row, saw good ground made before the ball was spread wide to Matt Hand again who scored under the posts for his fourth. Tom Poyner had an off day with the boot, but his kicking from hand was excellent and he controlled the line with great authority.

Ledbury played hard to the final whistle and celebrated a fine win.

Team:

Adam Baker, Josh Brett, Tom Buteux, Ben Chapman, Rhys Hunt, Henry Lee, Rhys Jones, Liam Colledge, Joe Fowke, Noah Callaghan, Charlie Fox,  David Smith, Oli Warrilow, Tom Poyner, Matthew Badham, Will Dzioba, Matt Hand,Sam Brooks, Ben Butler, Ryan Morris, Matthew Kettyle, Dan Risbey.