Under 16 Match Report
Sunday 24th February 2008
Lutterworth 46pts v Nottingham 5pts
I didn’t think I’d be writing this today, but a certain Simon Williams (whom I normally sit next to in the Crumbie stand) lent his Tigers season ticket to a rather large Mancunian. I’m pleased to say he slept through most of the game having met Pete Sandford for ‘a few’ in the bar beforehand – but he did wake up just before the final whistle. After declaring is undying love for some girl called Sabrina Chabal (who looked rather unattractive to me and seemed to be sporting a beard and moustache – unusual for a lady) he asked me to write today’s report. So here it is…
Dry conditions underfoot and a stiff breeze blowing down the pitch today. Nottingham arrived with a thin squad and only two front row players, so it was uncontested scrums from the start of this game. Nottingham kicked off with the breeze behind them, but really failed to capitalise on it in the early part of the half. The Lutterworth pack was playing well. Lutterworth soon began to use the forward platform to test the Nottingham defence and incisive runs from Barker and a menacing amble from Hopwood forced strong defence from the opposition. Barker and Johal were playing well together and eventually the good hands from the backs paid off with a try for Johal in the corner. 5-0 Lutterworth. The Lutterworth try seemed to provoke the Nottingham team who struck back almost immediately from the restart. Good, quick ball was spun wide and Jack Cockerill scored in the corner. 5-5. Normal service was resumed and Lutterworth then enjoyed the majority of the possession with several strong attacks. Eventually Hargreaves drove for the line only to be stopped two metres short. Dann dug the ball out quickly and Goodfellow was over in the corner. 10-5 Lutterworth.
The second half started with the wind behind the Lutterworth team. Hargreaves signalled the intent of the team by stripping the ball from the Nottingham receiver from the Lutterworth kick-off. Nottingham were penalised for an infringement at a ruck just inside their half in front of their posts on their 10 metre line. Sandford stepped up and slotted the penalty. 13-5 Lutterworth. Lutterworth were using the wind to gain field advantage and pegged back Nottingham into their own 22. Lutterworth disrupted a Nottingham line-out with the forwards winning a scrum from the resulting maul. Ingham picked the ball up from the base of the scrum and Dann fed the ball to Leeks who timed his pass to Barker perfectly for Barker to charge through the Nottingham defence and score underneath the posts. Sandford slotted the conversion to take the score to 20-5 Lutterworth. Lutts were starting to dominate the game and took a quick tap penalty after a high tackle (“aren’t they all”- Munch) on Pell. Quick hands from the backs put Hargreaves over wide. 25-5 Lutterworth. At the next scrum to Lutterworth Barker made another strong run only to be stopped two metres short. Ingham collected the loose ball and was over. Sandford made the conversion 32-5 Lutterworth. Nottingham went down to 14 men at this point through injury, despite being offered a Lutts player. Lutterworth were now completely in control and punished another sloppy Nottingham lineout by stealing the ball and spinning it wide to Goldsworthy who went over to take the score to 37-5. Sandford defied the wind to slot the conversion, a very impressive kick in the blustery conditions. 39-5 Lutterworth. The last score of the day came when Sandford gave a well weighted pass to Grunwald, who ran a nice line to score under the posts. The conversion from Sandford took the score to 46-5 Lutterworth.
Coaches Comments:
Forwards played well but could have tightened things up a bit. Overall it was a good performance. Backs ran nice lines and showed some good skills today. As a general point – when it looks like it’s going to ‘kick off’ (Pete’s words) then all of the players need to graft to make sure that they are at the breakdown to protect the guys on the floor.
Men of the Match:
Forwards: Ingham and Hargreaves. Backs: Barker