U15s vs Winchester

On a beautiful Autumn morning in leafy Hampshire Ensians assembled for an extra fixture.
After the breakfast club had eventually had their bacon & sausage rolls, some opting for sausage through no fault of their own, as the Berkshire accents were not understood by the kitchen staff.
It was always going to be a tough fixture with 18 boys playing against a squad of 30ish for Winchester.
The coaches had agreed on 3 periods of 20 mins each.
Ensians kicked off the 1st period & after winning the 1st scrum on their put in, the ball was moved along the backs to Ryan who made good ground & off loaded to Samuel who was bundled into touch. From the line-out their No.10 kicked down field (this wouldn’t be the last time this happened). Richard gathered the ball at Full-Back & cleared to touch. From the ensuing line-out the ball was re-cycled & driven by the Winchester forwards across the try line. The conversion was missed.
From the kick-off Winchester won the ball back & their centre picked a wonderful line to break through & score under the posts, with the conversion being a formality for their No.10.
Ensians had the ball from the re-start & after several phases a penalty was awarded for Winchester being off-side, a quick tap was taken & Luke looked certain to score but was held up over the line.
After several phases Winchester had a scrum 5 metres out, their No.8 picked up & powered over the line & the conversion was added. Again Winchester went through several phases & scored & converted.
At the end of the 1st period the score was Winchester 26-0 Ensians.
Winchester kicked off the 2nd period & was able to make several changes to their side.
A line-out won by Winchester & after chasing their kick through the try was scored & converted.
From the next scrum Ensians won the ball it went to Alex who chipped ahead, the ball was gathered by Ryan who made good ground , as he was tackled Alex was on his shoulder in support & gathered the pass to score. The conversion went over from Conor.
Guy was having a good game at scrum half getting the ball away quick from the breakdown to get the backs running onto good ball.
Zack went on a mazy run & at the ruck Winchester were pinged for hands in the ruck. The penalty was kicked by Conor. At the next line-out Max stole the ball the ball went to Alex & onto Ryan who dashed down the wing & just touched the line for a line-out. Ross seemed to be every- where on the pitch & was 1st to most rucks & was stealing the ball or was winning penalties as the tackled boy was not releasing. From one of these penalties Conor kicked the penalty.
At the end of the 2nd period the score was Winchester 33-13 Ensians.
As the final period started Winchester must have been worried about the comeback & spirit shown by Ensians in the 2nd period as the big guns were brought back onto the field. The “big guns” came out all guns blazing after resting & scored 4 quick try’s with some good lines of running from their big centres .The boys heads didn’t let this affect their spirit & they had the last word. After applying pressure & taking a few tap penalties the ball was re-cycled several times & Charlie scored the try.The conversion was sent between the uprights by Conor.
The final score was Winchester 57-20 Ensians.
What pleased the coaches was the commitment & desire by ALL the boys, several playing in different positions. The game was played in a good spirit by BOTH teams & was the referee was FAIR to both sides.
As is the tradition, a Man of the Match & Man of Steel was awarded, the deserved winners were :
M.O.M = ROSS GREEN & M.O.S= RYAN SPONG.
The boys kept up the tradition of winning the drink-off against the opposition.