St Ives U13 0, West Norfolk U13 10
A travelling West Norfolk Rugby Club U13s side was gifted with a sunny and warm welcome from St Ives RUFC. West’s opponents were unbeaten last season, so the mood was set for a tough match.
Before kick-off at 11am, a minute’s silence was held in respect of the tragic loss of Arturas Rudys of Wisbech RFUC last Saturday.
The match started with a good tempo and pressure from the home side, forcing West back. West’s front row of Dexter Anderson and Flynn Jackson-Hopps dug deep, regaining possession for Charlie Cooper to take control of the advantage to find Jack Godfrey-Leggett who cut through St Ives defensive line, finding full-back Ben Taylor-Bunting to score a well-earned try.
With West’s nerves settled and confidence ignited, Godfrey-Leggett quickly scored again. Finding his stride, Godfrey-Leggett continued his onslaught with a second try.
St Ives did not buckle and tried to break down West but Cooper and Ruairi Fitzgerald were first in every challenge. Their grit and determination provided Archie Thomson with a passage through to find winger Harry Martyn who went on an inspiring run. Backed by Jonny Ringwood’s heroic efforts to maintain possession, the move was finished off by Godfrey-Leggett.
Throughout the match, Charlie Cook was commanding his forwards to be overall victors in the scrum which proved to be instrumental in securing West’s superiority over their hosts. Another two tries from West ended the half at 6-0 including a late breathtaking try from Finley Smith-Parry, chasing down the kicked ball single handedly and blitzing St Ives back row to score.
West’s coaching team made some savvy changes going into the second half which gave Freddy Farr some freedom to charge through the front line, dissembling the opposition.
Ethan Kilian was always quick to gather and chase down his opponents and carry the ball in style. The safe and quick hands from Will Lloyd kept his team on high alert and West’s very own fortress Fitzgerald, ensuring the game was to be played in the opposition’s half, gave Cooper focus to continue his relentless display of show-stopping tackles.
Another solid performance of West’s forward play with ruthless runs from Anderson and some big tackles from Ash Thompson, Harry Carman, Lincoln Flannigan-Auker and Jackson-Hopps. A courageous Theo Hobbs proved to be a handful for St Ives and deservingly scored a further try. West’s boys worked a great team try, scored by Taylor-Bunting to seal the victory at 10-0.
Forwards of the match: Dexter Anderson and Charlie Cook; Back of the match: Jack Godfrey-Leggett; Coach’s player of the match: Charlie Cooper.
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