Gosport U13 lose season opener to Wimborne U13

The first match of the new season proved to be a baptism of fire for Gosport and Fareham U13s as Wimborne imposed their dominance early on. The step up to youth rugby was always going to be a tough one and so it proved when Wimborne won a scrum in the Gosport 22 within the first minute, enabling them to launch an attack which led to their first try.
Wimborne were on the attack again straight from the restart, their scrum-half running through the Gosport defence to win a penalty, from which Wimborne scored their second converted try.
Wimborne seemed to be running through the Gosport defence almost at will in the first half and were hitting the contact area hard, winning more than their fair share of rucks and mauls. Gosport's first attack of the half was dealt with comfortably by Wimborne, who turned the ball over and launched their own counter-attack. The Wimborne open-side flanker ran 30-40 yards unopposed to give Wimborne their third try, with just 7 minutes gone.
Gosport hit back soon after the restart, winning good possession from a ruck deep in Wimborne territory to send outside centre, Joe Bunn, over in the corner for Gosport's only try, which was duly converted by Patrick "Patch" Symington.
That was the high point of the half for Gosport, with Wimborne continuing to dominate the breakdown, pulling the Gosport defence around to create space for their back line, who worked the overlaps superbly. Three more tries followed for Wimborne to give them a half time lead of 38-7. An outstanding performance from Stephen Cheatle at inside centre wasn't enough to stem the tide and some ambitious running from inside their own 22 came to nothing, with Gosport players finding themselves isolated in the tackle area.
Although the game was already lost by this point, Gos came out fighting in the second half and gave a much improved performance, which had Wimborne rattled at times. Coach Steve John made several changes at half time and the injection of experience and physicality made a noticeable difference straight away.
Gosport were now competing, and winning, at the rucks and mauls and putting in some much more solid tackles. James Rowe's pace and power caused trouble for the Wimborne defence and gave Gosport an attacking platform, almost creating a try for Cheatle, who was held up on the line.
Gosport were starting to exert pressure, attacking from a scrum inside the Wimborne 22 and winning a penalty, which resulted in another try-scoring opportunity. This time it was Rowe who almost touched down but lost the ball forward in the tackle, right on the Wimborne line.
Gosport weren't going down without a fight and, if Wimborne expected an easy ride in the second half, they didn't get one. Cheatle, Matthew "Dids" Symington and Cameron Holling, in particular, tackled well to deny Wimborne, with Ben Angell seizing the opportunity to counter attack from deep as Wimborne turned the ball over.
Ultimately, Wimborne managed to keep Gos at bay before hitting back again. Following an excellent kick to touch, Wimborne secured good, clean ball from the line-out then quickly moved the ball wide to create the overlap and score in the corner.
Wimborne attacked again but, despite some missed tackles, Gosport held firm. Gosport may have had a case for a penalty for a high tackle on Rowe, which wasn't given. Instead, Wimborne were awarded a scrum, which Gos won against the head, before promptly giving away possession again.
With the last attack of the game, Wimborne moved the ball wide right, then left from the scrum but were turned over again by Gos. Gosport put the ball into touch from the penalty and won the line-out but a crooked throw meant a scrum to Wimborne and the end of the game.

Gosport team
1. Ethan Carpenter (sub Christopher Wallis)
2. George Crouch (sub Joel Bowers)
3. Michael Smith
4. Scott Craik
5. Sparky (sub Dan Duncum)
6. Shotgun (sub James Rowe)
7. Patrick Symington
8. Connor Parkinson
9. Tom Collins (sub Matthew John)
10. Hugo Marshall (sub Matthew Symington)
11. Jake Buckley
12. Stephen Cheatle
13. Joe Bunn (sub Jake Moseley)
14. James Cutler (sub Ben Angell)
15. Rhys Morgan (sub Cameron Holling)