After victory by nearly 70 points last time we played, the Under 16`s travelled down to Canterbury knowing they would be determined not to let similar happen again. Despite torrential rain for a few days before, and a very late call on the match going ahead, Sunday morning bought clear skies and a strong breeze, both of which helped to dry out the pitch, which although very heavy, was actually in relatively good shape. Both through injury and development we mixed up the squad slightly, and tried a few different combinations in the centres and wings, different half back pairings, and altered the front row, whilst still ensuring that all the squad of 22 players, got at least one half.
Trying different players and with 22 players getting game time, continuity was always going to be a concern, and when you factor in a couple of injuries that happened early in the game, it was a bit of a task, but in the main the players managed the changes and challenges very well.
As before Canterbury started the game with good, controlled aggression and had us pinned in our half for long periods of time, but good defence saw us withstand the initial onslaught with the game still 0-0 after 25 minutes, this was clearly a Canterbury team who were not going to ship 70+ points today.
Canterbury finally broke the deadlock just before half time with a well worked try and conversion taking them 7 points up. As is often the case, teams are vulnerable just after a score and this proved to be the case, with a try of our own a minute or so later, to make the half time score 7-5 to the home side.
Playing down a slope and with the strong wind in our favour the half time mood was positive, although as soon as the game restarted the wind dropped to a pleasant breeze, and strangely the slope didn’t seem as steep downhill as it was uphill, still, despite the meteorological and geological gods conspiring against us, we scored a converted try after 2 minutes of the second half and went on to score two more, unanswered, 7 pointers, to finish the match with a 7-26 victory.
Canterbury are a far better side than the score line of our first match implied, and this game proved that. It was a much closer affair and consequently a far more entertaining game to watch. Well done to both sets of players !
Thanks to Gareth (Canterbury lead coach) for reffing and for all the supporters who travelled to watch.
Squad day out to TJ`s next week, for another challenging encounter, then Kent League action for 1XV and 2XV the following week (29th Jan).