U17s - Chobham 19 - 29 Redingensians

On a very misty morning, several confused parents arrived at CHOBHAM rugby club (having been instructed that we had never played this club before), the occupants of the cars decamped and a role call showed that we had managed to muster up 13 players.

After some quick re-arranging of the line out, it was determined that Jake Holt would be having a very busy day at the office and the backs soon realised that they would have a lot of space to defend / attack.

Chobham really showed what friendly fixtures are all about by lending us a winger and agreeing to play with 14 per side.

I wont be able to relay exactly what happened when but these are the scoring sequences -

Chobham scored first at 7 minutes, conversion missed.
5 – 0

On the 10 minutes mark, Ensians power house centre, Liam Somers received the ball on his own 10m line and after realising just how far he had to go, pinned his ears back and powered off along the left touchline showing that someone with the physique of a prop can have plenty of gas as he out ran every defender to score tight on the left. An attempt to convert his own try failed.
5 – 5

15 minutes in, and Jake “Sharky” Wareham who had been having an awesome game had to leave the game following a nasty gash on his left eyelid that needed a visit to A&E.

With Sharky gone, Chobham lent us a prop but took back their winger meaning that Ensians we fielding 13 players to Chobham’s 14.

19 minutes. The loss of one of the team’s “go to” players seemed to affect the players and Chobham were the next to score which they also converted.
12 - 5

27 minutes. This time it was the elusive Kieran Leicester who added his name to the score sheet with one of his one of his amazing runs through, around and over the opposition. Once again, the angle was to tight for the conversion to be successful.
12 – 10

Half time – What ever happened to oranges?

39 minutes. Another Kieran mazy run let him cross the line tight on the left but he showed great understanding of the game by continuing his run in the dead ball line to get closer to the posts. Tom Lee stepped up to take the kick and the kick appeared to be good but the seagull perched on the top of the post threatened to report Tom to the RSPB so the officials called it no-good.
12 – 15

41 minutes. Another great day on the pitch for Liam Somers who has really found his forte is a huge barnstorming run with hands offs that Rocky would be proud of, I’m sure that some opposition players will be feeling the affects for a while. The only downside of this great try was the showboating swallow dive to cap it off. No need! Tom Lee calmly knocked over the extra points.
12 – 22

45 Minutes. In a game that could have gone either way, Chobham stepped up their game and attacked hard resulting in a try that was also converted.
19 – 22

In such a tight game, there have been occasions were Ensians appear to fold under pressure, not on this occasion. Some fantastic defence around the fringes and pressure blitz defence meant that our line was not going to be breached again.

The game was sealed off by a great try from Sam Oliver who took a dislike to the posts he seemed determined to knock them over by scoring a great try in smashing into a couple of opposition followed by the base of the post. Once again Tom Lee did the honours with the extra points.
19 – 29

Full time. 19 - 29

A great game played in a fantastic spirit, exactly what rugby is all about. The ref was brilliant, the first ref to allow a proper contest at the scrum by policing the feed really well. He also kept the game flowing by his really positive instructions / guidance. Turns out he was a forward as a player.

Overall, it was great to see that our players stepup today, considering that they were playing 13 players against 14 they realised that they were up against it and played what they saw which is one of the targets we set this season. It also showed that what we practice on a Tuesday night does pay off with some great defence around the rucks.

Kieran Leicester was nominated as back of the day and Tom Schwartz got forward of the day for his great performance including having been denied a certain try by having his head nearly removed from his shoulders. The ref did explain that he doesn't award penalty tries in friendly games but he would have given it had it been a league game.
The Chobham Number 8 was nominated by Ensians players as being their best player.

I am glad to report that Kieran won the drink off (is there anything he cant do?) with Tom deciding that drinking was too hard work decided to pour half his pint over his head.

Big thanks to those who turned up and you should all be proud of yourselves. Thanks also to the travelling support.

Squad – Sharky, Jonesy, Big Ryan, Callum, James, Jake, Toms, Tom L, Sam O, Liam, Paddy, Kieran and Jack

BP.