U14s go Down Battling at Esher

We hadn't played Esher since way back in the U9s so the squad set out for Surrey with no idea what to expect. Sometimes that makes it more fun and certainly on this occasion two well-matched sides delivered an excellent game of rugby. By the end it was Ensians who were disappointed to hear the final whistle with the final 20 minutes being our best period of the game and the lads no doubt felt that with 10 more minutes we could have snatched a victory.

However, we'd set ourselves an uphill challenge earlier in the game by conceding two tries in the first 10 minutes with Esher coming out of the blocks the fastest. They deserved their lead and by getting their hard-running backs attacking fast and direct, they looked the stronger side for most of the first half.

But Ensians weren't going to lie down and once we'd woken up and started to exert some dominance in the forwards, we finally managed to keep the ball for long periods and build our own attacks. Three well worked tries in the second half brought us right back into the game and showed that the lads have plenty of fighting spirit. Hopefully that'll bode well in coming weeks.

So a great game of rugby and passionate performance in the end, but also an important lesson that we'll have to take into the rest of the season .... you simply can't afford to snooze at the start of matches and only wake up and start playing when you're already 3 tries down!

Thanks to Esher for hosting us and serving up a great game.