2nd XV v Lady Manners Lost 26-0

The pitch oozed mud from every pore and the Lady Manners team seemed to be very bulky indeed for an U12 side. We warmed up well and went into battle with a very positive feeling – in the first minutes we were throwing everything at them. However, the sizeable opposition managed to keep hold of the ball well and S. Anselm’s ended up absorbing wave after wave of crash balls. They put up a valiant fight but were worn down and were not hungry enough to get their hands on the ball and turn Lady Manners over. This resulted in three converted tries in the first half. In all this we were not assisted by the referee.
After an aggressive half time talk we decided that we wanted to play with the ball and our retention improved enormously. William W took six or seven against the head and we began to ruck with some genuine success. There were some impressive phases in which we dominated Lady Manners. Unfortunately, the odd knock on or the late arrival of the front five at the breakdown meant we could not convert pressure and territory into points. The front five had moments of brilliance but seemed a little slow around the park at times. Lady Maneers bundled over for a try which was converted but that was to be their only one in the second half.
Throughout the game there was some heroic stuff from Paddy D, John W, Freddie H, Jack H, Charlie H, Toby S and others. However “man of the match” went to Alex V who was magnificent from beginning to the end (the referee commented after the match saying he was going to be a class player in the future).