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v Winchester House
Maidwell lost 5-20
We came up against a very skillful team who moved the ball beautifully in the backs throughout the match. We battled hard in the scrums and rucks and produced some good rugby in the first half, but were guilty of not closing down space, which allowed them to score 3 unanswered tries in the first half. We got our act together and moved up field to score a good try form Archie Clifton-Brown. The second half saw us have to soak up lots of pressure, but we defended brillantly to only allow one try. Javier Sobrino made some good breaks, but sadly could not quite get away enough from some good tackling. Overall a satisfactory performance, but there is a lot to work on.
v Oundle
Maidwell lost 12-19
On a sweltering day this was a very competitive match and one which we could have won. We were camped in Oundle's half for most of the first half, but couldn't quite find the killer instinct to get near the try line, or gave away silly penalties. Oundle punished us with their own converted try. Thankfully we drew level with a charge and try from Yontham Piensuparp. The second half was even, but Oundle capitalised on our lack of attention and ran in from a penalty on their 22. They then scored another after we weren't able to stop their No.8. We scored in the dying minutes through Javier Sobrino but it was sadly too late. There were some positives to be gained but we need to work harder on our decision making and look to get the ball out to the backs earlier.
v Spratton
Drawn 17-17
This was a brutal encounter with two very physical teams desperate to achieve the win. We started well and our pressure led to a try from Joseph Ayoub. Spratton came back hard in the latter stages of the first half and scored a converted try right on half-time. In the second half we allowed their big prop two opportunities to score after we failed to bring him down. Still we pressed hard and scored two tries through Joseph again and Alex Palmer. Johnny Beck Brown kicked the conversion to make it 17-17, a fair result in the end. One parent commented on the end that he felt he was watching a proper game of rugby, given the dross witnessed in NZ in the morning - both teams deserve lots of credit.
v Bilton Grange
33-10 won
We got off to a brilliant start with an excellent try by Javier Sobrino within 20 seconds of the kick off. After 15 minutes he had scored two more and with Johnny Beck Brown's conversions we were 21-0 in front. Yontham Piensuparp also scored another, again with Johnny converting, but BG hit back with their own try just before half-time The second half was much closer with both teams scoring one try each (another from Yontham), however, we had lots of possession and there was a sense of disappointment that we hadn't scored more. Still, this was easily our best performance so far with backs and forwards all working hard for each other.
v Oakham
17-17 draw
Another physical encounter against Oakham's U13B team. We competed throughout the match and defended extremely well. The main issue was our giving away silly penalties, mostly from being offside. Also, we must look to tackle players lower rather than constantly going for the ball. Our tries were scored by Sam Boscawen, Joseph Ayoub and Javier Sobrino. Sam's try was a real team effort with the forwards winning the ball and the backs using it well for Sam to score in the corner - for me the highlight of the term so far.
v Witham Hall
lost 5-53
We came across a mighty team - big, strong, athletic and with soft hands and awareness. We didn't play too badly when we had the ball but sadly struggled to gain any form of momentum. We were also a changed team with some of our better players moving up to the 1st XV. Still we didn't give up and our tackling at times was very good. But it's hard for boys who weigh 4 stone to be faced with someone three times their size, running at full pace and also with the loudest parent supporter I have ever heard on a school playing field. Our try was scored by Joseph Ayoub after some good work by Archie Forsyth.
v Akeley Wood
won 19-14
This was easily our best team performance of the term so far. We were very physical in defence and worked really well when on attack. We were camped in the opposition half for most of the first half and scored two good tries from Johnny Beck Brown and Lucas Ortiz. We soaked up a lot of pressure in the second half and after some good work from the forwards, Archie Forsyth found himself in space to score his first of the season. Our fitness waned in the last ten minutes and Akeley came back with two tries, but we did well to wrestle the ball in the last minute and kick it into touch for a deserved win.
v Wellingborough
lost 0-55
Always a difficult fixture against a school with twice as many boys to choose from. This year was no exception as they were a very physical and strong team. We tried our hardest but payed the price for turning over too much ball and missing tackles. We never got anywhere near their try line and came away not having learnt a lot, other than a reminder that Wellingborough fixtures will always be tough encounters. The team are determined to not allow this to deter them from another difficult task against Swanbourne on Saturday.
v Swanbourne
lost 0-36
The scoreline doesn't really tell the tale of the match as we had lots of possession and won most of the scrums but gave the ball away on too many occasions through some fierce opposition defence. We also made some very silly and uncharacteristic errors which killed any form of fluency. The last five minutes saw three tries being conceded. It was a real shame to finish the season in this way. A big thank you to all the boys for their efforts and especially to the Form I's who have played their last game of rugby. To the Form II's, keep working hard on your skills if you want to be in the 1sts next year.
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