OAs won an early scrum but pressure from Hemel told and they put a try over not soon after the match started, moving the ball out through the backs to the wing and scoring in the far corner. Their tails up, Hemel kept on coming and OAs forwards needed to be more organised and get to the breakdown.

A second try by Hemel came not long after. OAs did not let their heads drop and in the middle of the first half there was some sustained pressure from Daniel and Alex and good handling through our backs to move up the pitch but Hemel defended well. A similar patch of play took OAs within a few metres of the try line but Hemel regained possession and their No.12 ran the length of the pitch to score their third.

Our scrum was strong as we won a few but we were unable to make this count. Towards the end of the first half OAs were better able to get a few moves going and play was held more in the middle of the pitch as we soaked up Hemel attacks. They had a very able full back and every time we put it over the top he took it well and came straight back at us. We were still on the back foot and after we lost possession and a Hemel scrum they moved it out to the backs for a fourth try.

OAs didn’t really get into their stride in the first half, we were a bit slow in getting to the breakdown, saw the ball turned over a few too many times and Hemel made the most of their opportunities.

The second half was a different game, we were much quicker to the ball and put pressure on Hemel from the restart. Hemel pushed up field early on and got within a metre but our defence was great and kept them out. From a scrum we won the ball it went out to Josh and then to our No.5 (sorry not sure who this was, Christopher perhaps) to make a good 15 metres which gave the team a boost. Alex made some good direct runs that were well supported and we recycled the ball much better.

A prolonged period of play saw mystery man No. 5 make more of an impact with a couple of 10 metre runs and we were better to able to break out of our half. Thomas made a good run passing through Harry to Ruben. Josh picked it up from there and went for the line down the left wing for our first score.

Soon after Marcus took a massive tackle which unfortunately saw him go off. OAs kept going forward and James did well pumping his legs and dragging a few Hemel players with him before going to ground. Later on from our scrum we moved it well, out to the backs to Josh down the left to the ever mysterious No.5, another good run from him, through a couple of tackles into their half. Hemel defended well and won the ball back. A good tackle from Thomas B. then promptly saw us regain possession.

The game was much more evenly balanced and the momentum was with us by this point. We moved the ball much better and we were playing much more in their half. We moved the ball out to James in the last third who made a good run, Tariq picked it up and went over for our second try. Hemel came back using their wingers but we soaked this up and defended well pushing them back up the pitch.

Late on a kick over the top from Hemel led to a try but their coach very sportingly called it a no try as there was a knock on. Scrum to us but Hemel managed to gain possession and score again. After the restart Ruben made some good distance, as did James soon after, Tariq moved it on and Ruben ran down the left wing to near the try line. Good passing to Sam and then Josh on the left wing saw our third try scored. At the death, Hemel pushed for another score but good last ditch tackles from Louis and Tariq kept them out. A much better second half performance from the whole team saw us win the half.

It was a good way to end the match and well done to the boys for showing some grit to come back after a very tough first half.

Stephanie Wells,

Under 13s