Storm Bronagh made her way to Woollams on Sunday morning bringing plenty of wind and rain, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the OA’s and Bishop’s Stortford U13 boys eager to play rugby. Although the horrible weather conditions sometimes meant that flowing rugby wasn’t always on the menu, both teams played out a very competitive and highly entertaining game of rugby with OAs deservedly winning by a margin of 4 tries to 2.

Playing with slight wind and rain at their backs OAs were 3-0 clear at half time thanks to two well taken tries from Seb and one from Max .

The game started at a fast pace, and despite the conditions OAs moved the ball wide as quickly and often as possible. Ten minutes into the game after a period of sustained OA’s pressure, the deadlock was broken with Seb going over for his and OAs first try following good work from Henry and Max.

The conditions produced some misplaced passes and knock-ons from both sides, but despite this, Seb followed up his first try with a superb run from his own half, turning defence into attack, easing his way through a strong Stortford line to score a second try in the corner.

Henry, Will, TomVN, and Lucas were highly prominent in defence duties for the home side, the front row of TomB,Tariq, & Rhys were winning their battles. Just before half time, a deft kick from Seb through the Stortford defensive line saw Max beat the retreating Stortford players, touching down for try number three.

The second half got under way and OA’s now playing into the wind and rain started strong, but Bishop’s Stortford scored first with a well worked try after some pressure close to the OA’s try line. This setback only served to strengthen the home team’s resolve; Mylo & TomF playing a tighter game with smart accurate passing and line breaks. Continuous attacking play resulted in OA’s fourth try, a really well taken effort by Henry, to leave the score 4-1 going into the last ten minutes.

OAs continued to pressurise the Bishop’s Stortford defence, with a notable break from Henry coming up just short. Despite the slippery ball, quick passing from Harry, incisive running inside and out wide from Freddie, Charlie, Max and Josh kept OA’s on the front foot until the last play of the game when Bishop’s Stortford got over for a consolation try. The final score four tries to two in favour of OA’s, a hard fought and well-deserved victory.

Team:

Max Lach-Szyrma
Henry Sandwell
Charlie Brunt
Rhys Baham
Freddie Ford
Tom Baker
Tariq El-Jumaily
Seb Brindley
Josh Addo
Mylo Watson
Tom Fielden
Will Powell
Tom Visaya
Lucy’s Osman

Tom Neville,

Under 13s