U13s Bury St Edmunds – Sunday 20th December 2015

Bury U13s 29 – 36 Southwold U13s – A Christmas Cracker

Due to poor playing conditions are hosts switched this fixture to a superb pitch at Culford School which boded well for open running rugby.  A Christmas cracker of a game ensued.

Captain for the day Keanan won the toss and Southwold opted to face into the sun and for the first half.  Bury were able to apply pressure immediately from the kick off and spent time smashing their large running forwards against the Wold defence.  Southwold were on the back foot but soaked up the pressure for the first ten minutes without conceding.  Scrummaging looked fairly even and if anything Southwold were getting the better of their taller opponents at the lineout.  Eventually the pressure told and Bury were able to cross the Wold line for a converted try.  Bury quickly followed this up with a second try from forward pressure to gain a 12-0 lead.  Southwold were competing strongly and at times were able to put good passages of play together and gain ground up the field.  On one of these occasions the forwards and backs combined to move the ball up to the Bury 10 metre line and Keanan provided one of his devastating charges to gain an unconverted try.  However this proved to be the highpoint for Southwold with the feisty Bury left wing looping all the way round to exploit some poor defence and score a neat try in the right corner.  As is sometimes the case heads began to drop and the large Bury right wing was able to gather the ball immediately from the kick off and run through the Wold defence without being tackled to give Bury a half time lead of 24 – 5.

Squad changes were made at half time and the coaches gave their views robustly on what was needed and how well we had competed at times.  The boys appeared to respond to this as they took the game into the Bury 22.  Unfortunately a loss of possession and a quick break saw the Bury fullback streaking down the wing.  It looked like the Bury player had stepped into touch before grounding the ball but after consulting his touch judge the unsighted referee gave the try.  This gave Bury a 29-5 lead and it would seem all in Green and Yellow had decided their work was done and it was time to open their Christmas presents.  However there was a strong feeling of injustice over this last Bury try from the Wold boys and this seemed to light a fire in their bellies which would last until the final whistle.

A series of offside penalties allowed the Southwold forwards to get their mojo working and great interplay and rucking combined to take them towards the Bury line.  Surging runs from Josh, Peter and in particular Cameron drove the team forward.  Anton received the ball on the 5 metre line and looked to be held but was able to wriggle his way over for the score.  Max converted to make the score 29-12.  Max was next on the scoresheet after benefitting from further high tempo forward rugby.  Riley was then able to make good use of the space on offer to drive through the opposition and gain a try to bring Southwold into the game at 29-22.  The game now had a cup final feel as Bury nervously began to realise that Southwold were capable of stealing their presents from under the tree.

Max was again the tormentor with a long range looping run that ended with him beating the right wing and full back to cross wide out and with a superb kick he picked up all seven points and took the game level.  All the momentum was with Southwold and yet again they crafted a strong attack which took them into the Bury 22.  Penalties were now all going in the direction of the seaside raiders and this presented a dilemma when one was awarded on the Bury 22 with only a few minutes to go.  After some debate the team made the right decision and ran further towards the Bury line.  Again a penalty was given for offside and was quickly taken by Riley who needed no further invitation to crash through and score with Max adding the conversion to finally give Southwold the lead at 29-36.  The referee was determined to play to the last second of the game so gave Bury a lifeline with the kick off.  This was again gathered by the Wold forwards and taken into the Bury half where a scrum was then awarded to Bury.  Southwold then produced the scrummage of the game to surge forward and take the ball against the head.  The ball was then quickly tapped into touch and the final whistle blown.

The team showed due respect for Bury with a quiet celebration but the Wold travelling crowd certainly appreciated the early Christmas present.  It has been a tough first half of the season for Southwold U13s and this victory was a well-earned reward for all their hard work.   As there was no post-match hospitality due to playing at Culford there was no man of the match but it would have been awarded to the whole team for such a strong comeback performance.

Black & Gold Mole.

www.SouthwoldRugby.Club

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