U13M - The Stingrays
Matches
Sun 06 Oct 2019
Gosport & Fareham RFC
U13M - The Stingrays
Tries: M Court, H Bennett (3), O Smith (2), P Headley (2), W May, C Fisher
50
5
Havant RFC
First game of the season for the Celts

First game of the season for the Celts

Neil Fisher7 Oct 2019 - 14:15
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Ten out of Ten for performance!!

On a glorious but windy Sunday morning the Celts hosted their first ever home friendly match at U13. Havant were the opposition who turned up with a very strong looking squad. After the referee briefings, the Celts kicked off to Havant into the wind and the sun. After some early tussles at the breakdown and a few knock-ons resulting in our first contested scrums, it was clear that the Havant pack had better technique and won the first few scrums with good hooking and power heaves! Charlie Fisher was fed through and used his pace to speed down the left wing and cross the line after 5 minutes but failed to ground the ball. No try!

Henry Shaw was a constant nuisance to Havant by looking down the blindside at every opportunity and Jack Harrison was running onto the ball well and sapping the defenders energy. Scrum Half Aidan Bones was dangerous at every breakdown looking to get the ball wide or making the most of any gaps in the defence he spotted.

It was the Celts who broke the score deadlock after 7 minutes, with Havant unable to clear their lines due to sustained pressure from the Celts, Max Court powered over from close range. This gave the Celts a good confidence boost and realising the space was in the wider areas, the ball was spun out through the hands to find Harrison Bennett on the wing. He still had a lot to do with two defenders between him and the touchline but he also had about 15m to work with! Great step, great speed and in at the corner. 10-0.

The Celts defence was holding up nicely and Havant were struggling to find ways through. Elliott Giles was impecable in defence and attack making some huge hits on the Havant players yet delicately floating the ball wide when in the run.

The ball was popping out of scrums and rucks all over the place and one player to never miss an opportunity is Oliver Smith (c) who picked up two powerhouse tries after collecting the ball from close range and driving 2 or 3 defenders back over their line. 20-0

Having only played 6 minute halves prior to this season, the concerns about fitness and stamina brought about some changes in the first half with Peter Headley coming on for Charlie Fisher on the wing and a number of changes to the forward pack. Peter did not waste his opportunity galloping away down the left wing and crossing for his first of the day. 25-0.

Half Time: 25-0

The boys came off with a spring in their step but some were clearly showing signs of hard graft. Others were not. More changes at Half time and a few areas to work on - haste to the breakdown / action on arrival and need to get the ball wider and faster in attack. Both sets of coaches discussed the 5 try deficit rule and Havant decided they would play on regardless.

The boys went out and improvements were seen in the areas we identified but some other weaknesses were exposed as Havant fought to get on the scoresheet. In coffin corner, Havant were looking to clear their lines against the wind but could only find a magnificent catch by Joshua Fernandes at Full back he immediately regained 15m before attemping a chip over the defence. A deflection brought it back to Brieuc Soulayrac who instantly looked to drive it forward. Brought down by a number of Havant defenders, he was supported well by Oliver Smith, Jake Hoare and Henry Shaw and the ruck was secured. Harry Cromie looked for quick ball out to William May at 10 who spun a fine 15m pass into the wind, missing two centres to find Harrison Bennett in space. What followed was Harrisons best ever double sidestep to clear both the last two defenders to leave them for dust! Awesome stuff! 30-0

Back to coffin corner where Havant were this time looking to run the ball out of defence when an ever-ready William May executed a trademark interception to cross over from 10m. 35-0

Our scrum was now starting to tick with some changes to positions in the second row. Michael Cromie was playing his first ever game as hooker and was starting to find his strike. Supported well in the front row by Fenton Dudley in his Celts debut, Jack Harrison and Max Court. Second rows were Charlie Gregory, Jake Hoare, Morgan Clayton and William Parker, all of whom put in a great shift to secure the ball under pressure from a large Havant pack. Well done!

Unfortunately, due to all the required substitutions under the Half Game Rule, the game became a bit disjointed in the second half and Havant pegged us back on our line for 6 or 7 phases before getting a nice bounce off our clearance kick which fell to their winger in space. He found our defence was out of position but to his credit he still had a couple of Celts to beat which he did to cross over for Havants try. 35-5

Charlie Fisher was back on the field and was looking for the ball, lingering at the back of the ruck when it popped out for him, with the left wing too conjested with defenders, he cut a line back through the defence, found a gap, sold a dummy and crossed under the posts from 40m. 40-5

There was still time for Harrison Bennett to get his hat-trick try and Peter Headley to hand-off his way to the line for his second in the last minutes.

Full time: 50-5

An excellent performance from the team and very pleasing to watch - 10/10! The boys on both sides conducted themselves well and were complimented by the Hants YMO who officiated. At the after match meal, Michael Cromie was awarded Most Improved Player of the match for his excellent debut at hooker, his rucking and for the creativity and awareness when kicking in attack! William May was awarded Man of the Match for his awesome performance at 10 and also his stint at 8 in the second half. Excellent versatility!!

With players returning from injury for our next match v Fordingbridge, the competition for places will ramp up! A good problem for a coach to have. Thank you to our sponsors; Deep Blue Financial Services, SA Group and Asda.

Also a huge thanks to the support who roared the boys on from the sides, again, in the spirit of the game - well done. See you on Wednesday!

Match details

Match date

Sun 06 Oct 2019

Kickoff

10:30

Meet time

09:30
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Main Club Sponsor - LBHS Mechanical and Electrical
MAIN CLUB SPONSOR - P A ROCHE
Club Sponsor - Precision Technical Engineering
Club Sponsor - Thermal Insulation Engineering Ltd
Club Sponsor - Trafalgar Property Consultancy
M/Y Main Shirt Sponsor - DEEP BLUE FINANCIAL Ltd
Main Club Sponsor - B&L FLOORING (UK) Ltd
M/Y Shirt Sponsor - QST Constrution Servies
M/Y Shirt Sponsor - S.I. Digital
Medals and Trophies - KATASTROPHIES