Emerging U13 Team Triumph in Eight-try Thriller

The U13's development side with a match-day squad of 14 and one of the smallest players in the team drafted into the pack for the first time? It sounds like a recipe for a thrashing – and so it was as the Heathens never knew what hit them. The decision to play Rhys Morgan at open-side was a bold, and as it turned out, inspired one as Morgan had his best game so far and opened the scoring for Gosport within 5 minutes of the kick-off.
Gosport made their intentions clear straight away, winning turnover ball from the kick-off and then putting the Heathens' scrum under immense pressure to steal possession and launch their first attack. Although Gosport then lost the ball forward, they quickly won it back at the ruck and attacked the Heathens' right flank with a powerful forward drive. Picking the ball up from the base of the ruck 5 metres out, Morgan dived over, with Patch Symington adding the conversion.
Gosport were back on the attack from the re-start with an excellent run from scrum half, Tom Collins, sparking another phase of pressure inside the Heathens' half. A crooked throw from a Heathens line-out gave Gosport a scrum, Symington at no. 8 picking up from the base of the scrum to feed Collins, who went over for Gosport's second in 10 minutes.
Gosport were winning the battle up front convincingly, pushing Heathens around in the scrum, stealing ball at the breakdown almost at will and recycling their own ball to give the backs quick, clean possession. Heathens tried to attack from a scrum in Gosport's half, winning a penalty, but solid tackling and defensive pressure meant that Heathens were going backwards. Gosport eventually stole the ball and a superb clearance kick from Ben Angell took play back into the Heathens' half.
Further pressure from Gosport saw prop, Ethan Carpenter break only for hooker, George Crouch to be held up on the line. Gos didn't have to wait long for their next score, though, as the ball was spread wide for Jake Buckley to touch down in the right-hand corner and Patch Symington added a difficult conversion.
If the forwards were bullying the Heathens up front, the backs were carving them to pieces out wide. A combination of quick ball, great handling & support play and some well-timed offloads meant that Gosport kept the ball alive superbly and were a constant threat. The fact that they were able to create numerous overlaps with a one-man disadvantage speaks volumes.
The Gosport pack had Heathens on the ropes and reinforced the point by stealing a scrum against the head just outside their own 22. A Heathens attacking opportunity once more became a Gosport score as the ball was cleared into the Heathens half, the resulting chase and some fierce tackling allowing Gosport to steal the ball for centre, Sam Hudson, to grab try number four just before half time.
Barely 3 minutes into the second half, Gosport were on the attack again; a Heathens penalty failed to find touch and allowed full-back Oliver Nichols to run from deep. Gosport kept the ball alive through several phases, switching play left, then right before winning a scrum deep in the Heathens' 22. From the scrum, Collins fed the ball out to Nichols, who'd come up into the attacking line and crossed for a relatively easy try.
Another try followed just 3 minutes later as Heathens failed to capitalise on good possession from their own scrum. Once again, Gosport stole the ball at the breakdown and the two flankers combined to set up the score. New signing Bradley Cummings, playing at blind-side, made a break and fed to Morgan, who recycled well in the tackle for fly-half, Hugo Marshall to take it on and score in the corner.
The day wasn't getting any easier for Heathens as Gosport were threatening in attack and defence; Heathens finally got a few phases together but the tenacity of the Gosport defence meant that they were only going backwards. Gosport made relatively few errors but Heathens failed to make the most of any of them, or of their own first-phase possession. Inevitably, Gosport scored again before too long, this time a forward drive inside the Heathens' 22 allowed Hudson to cross the line in the left corner.
Refusing to rest on their Laurels, Gosport scored one more to seal the victory with about 2 minutes left. Gosport attacked down the left wing from the re-start but knocked on to give Heathens the scrum, Heathens then kicked away possession, allowing Gosport to attack again. Gosport moved the ball down the right wing, then switched inside to take the ball up the middle and recycle for Angell to score under the posts and take a knock to the ribs in the process. Patch duly added the conversion to make it 46-0 to the home side.
The only nervous moment for Gosport came right at the end as Heathens kicked deep; the ball went over the Gosport try line and full-back Nichols gathered but hesitated to touch the ball down. He finally did so as Heathens failed to chase with any conviction - 22 drop-out to Gosport and game over.

Gosport Team:
1. Ethan Carpenter
2. George Crouch
3. Matt Sparshott “Sparky”
4. Jack Haggard (Capt)
5. Dan Duncum
6. Bradley Cummings
7. Rhys Morgan
8. Patrick Symington “Patch”
9. Tom Collins
10. Hugo Marshall
11. Ben Angell
12. Sam Hudson
13. n/a
14. Jake Buckley
15. Oliver Nichols