Cranbrook U15s 15 vs. Sidcup U15s 24

Cranbrook U15s 15 vs. Sidcup U15s 24

With the new season upon us the Sidcup Under 15's faced a tough opening match away to Cranbrook. A team that the age group had never defeated and had been beaten by twice last year.

With some late withdrawls due to illness and injury the team had to re-shuffle and a number of players would play in unfamiliar positions.

New Captain Ben Stock led his players out with expectant parents in full force on the touchline.

The game began well with the Sidcup forwards rucking well and offering good support to each other. Their pressure won a scrum which was hooked back well and a pop pass from fly half Jake Davis found full back Ryan Livermore running a great line to break through the defence and score the first try of the season.
Ben Stock converted to put the score at 0-7.

Cranbrook responded immediately as they won the ball from the restart and quickly fed the ball out to their outside centre who scored in the corner to close the gap to 5-7.

The home side then began to dominate and could have taken the lead but for some excellent tackling by Stephen Orford, Connor Potter and Ryan Livermore.
Clearly frustrated by the strong defence, Cranbrook resorted to the boot to take the lead 8-7 with a kicked penalty after the referee penalised Sidcup for offside.

The pressure continued and the lead was deservedly increased just before half time as the left winger scored in the corner after some good handling found the defence outnumbered. Half time came with the score at 15-7.

Some words of wisdom from Marmite, Neil and Bill plus a Captain's talk brought the lads out onto the field in determined fashion with Jake and Stocky both using the boot to gain ground into the opposition half.

The scrum held firm as it did all game and loose balls were being won across the park as Laurence Cooper led the way getting involved in all the dirty work.
Continued pressure from the forwards came within a whisker of a score as Charley Smith almost got over in the corner, only to be scrambled into touch a metre short.

Cranbrook won the ball from the resulting line out only to be pushed back over their own try line. From the 5m scrum Vlad Riamzinas forced over to close the gap to 15-12.
An interesting attempt at the conversion from the touchline from Stocky earned a shout of 'SH*T'...from himself!

The game was very tight with Sidcup again defending well and every man on the pitch making tackles and covering each other.

The game then swung as the home side were gaining territory and were awarded a scrum just outside the Sidcup 22.
The reliable Callum Morton won the ball against the head (as he did throughout the second half) and scrum half Scott Humphryes made a run which saw him accelerate past the flankers, and winger and as the covering full back came across he stepped back inside to run in under the posts for a 75 metre try.
The only thing missing was the Benny Hill music as his little legs went at a blur!
Ben Stock made his second conversion of the day and Sidcup were in front 15-19.

As the hosts tried to get back on top they found their guests in determined form as Kieran Moore ran the ball well out of defence and the tackles continued to come in thick and fast.
Injuries to Bobby Williams and Jake Davis re-shuffled the team with Stephen Orford moving to fly half (one of his 3 positions for the day).

All replacements came fully into the game and applied themselves well. The forwards continued to dominate and began a cycle of play that was of a higher standard than that seen last season.
The ball was continually recycled and the support was always in place.

Laurence continued to lead from the front and with great efforts from Samuel Foster, James Qureshi and Vlad we were soon camped on their try line.

With the time running down but the score still too close the nerves on the touchline were jangling..

Cranbrook conceded a couple of penalties near the line and one more could have meant a penalty try. No need though as another push opened a small gap which James Large dived through to close out the game at 15-24.

A fantastic result and a much stronger start than previous seasons. With lads playing out of position and some key players missing the result was all the more sweet.

A man of the match award for Laurence Cooper and special mentions for Stephen and Vlad...but every single lad on the pitch contributed and gave their all.

Gravesend next week...let's stick it to the Scabby family!!!