Do you want it

Having lost to Vardre twice already this year the youth team had to dig deep to win, with a defensive steel that would not yield. Vardre possess a large pack and a couple of sharp backs, the 10 having a sweet left foot that in the first half pinned us deep into our half.
From that start we were being starved of the ball but would tackle with determination and turn the ball over through our scramble defence and ferocity. This game has set us up for our next match which has the potential to propel our season forward to success. We went into game with 11 players who have played every minute of the last 2 games and shown their loyalty and dedication on the pitch, though not always to training, there were notable absences, but it is for their conscience you only have a short youth career before you get into the ugliness of senior rugby. To a man all 15 players put their bodies on the line even acting as trampolines at the end, we are now moving into the dying stages of the season and we have to ask them to carry it on for a couple of weeks.
The game unfortunately was a very ugly affair not one for the purist as both packs battled for domination, in the front row Ross Beresford was strong in the tackle on several occasions turning their heavy players in the tackle, and when he was on the curl on occasion he resembled a bowling ball, and I don't mean a crown green one, on one occasion smashing 2 players out of the way in the carry. Ethan Murphy was excellent all round he puts in a serious amount of work in the tackle area and the loose, his lineout work was exceptional and was hitting his jumpers with aplomb. On the tight head Callum Bradshaw put in a very strong shift, nice to play for a winning team I guess, he was again putting in the hits putting his body on the line in tight situations, at one time Vardre attacked our line and our defensive line would not let them pass, on 3 successive moves the thuds of the collective hits could be heard from the sideline 50m away, the exact tacklers could not be determined as they moved as one.
In the second row Sam Clarke again put in a determined shift and was excellent in the lineout, he is improving every game and was instrumental a couple of times in single handedly ruining their driving mauls, when we release his inner tiger he will become unstoppable. He was joined by Rory Beswick whose student induced bulk has meant that he has been very destructive at the breakdown, and his desire was their to see, he possesses excellent handling skills, and throughout the game gave 100% and caused Vardre problems exploiting their errors to drive them backwards at every opportunity.
Our back row would not yield with turnovers the name of the game, Aaron Perkins captaining the team for the 3rd game in a row was excellent throughout, winning excellent front of the lineout ball spoiling a couple of Vardres throws and tackling like a demon, he has a willingness to carry, hard and fast being the order of the day, 95% of his decisions being spot on, his favourite number. I hope that in a tight cup match though we will not turn down kickable penalties as they are important. At 8 Alfie Thomas was excellent giving his normal ball carrying option and again being destructive at the break down, he punched holes at pace and was a catalyst in a couple of our drives. On the other flank Dan Messer had an excellent game bouncing much larger players off round the fringes and adding pace to attacks, his strength over the ball at the tackle slowed up their attacks and his turnovers meant we were not on the back foot for long. He was also an excellent rudder at the back of our driving lineout on several occasions we drove Vardre backwards with ease.
Moving onto the backs Ben Ley at 9 was excellent throughout his speed of thought caught the opposition napping at the penalty which were numerous, he was also brilliant in defence his covering is exceptional and his strength defies his stature. He has an excellent kicking game and was always willing to vary our attack. At 10 Jac Newbury was solid, he was brave in defence and his kicking out of hand was excellent helping clear our lines when he needed to find touch he did which was a relief, unfortunately we did not have a chance to attack with ball in hand playing quite a cautious game at time, kicking deep and pressing in defense, when we did attack we were a bit over keen with players overrunning something to work on in training.
At 12 Antonio Lezzi was determined as ever he tackled everything that moved chased every kick and carried the ball hard to the gain line, his hidden talent is that at the breakdown he is excellent bringing his back row skills to the party, on several occasions either turning the ball over or gaining that all important penalty, his partner at 13 Jack Thomas was impressive given that he had been ill all week, he was defensively strong at one time smashing their 13 in the tackle which he did not recover from all game, he did not run with the ball after that. Hopefully with a bit more in hand he can show his prowess next time we play.
On the wings Marcus Potter learnt from the last time we played them and did not give them time to settle on the ball, despite the fact that their 10 had that sort of boot that you could not over commit and be caught at the back, he is improving every game and when he gets his tribals will look the real deal, on the other flank Sadek I'll have a game Miah was committed willing to put his body on the line at times doing a good impression of a speed bump, and being a real nuisance, the wingers were supported by Jack Porter and Billy Thomas who were willing to get stuck in for the cause and played their part in an excellent defensive effort, at 15 Matt Richards was determined coping with high balls cover tackling and carrying the ball over the gain line when he had more mighty mouse than danger mouse, he is growing into the 15 position and is always willing to seek out the ball.
Our try came half way through the second half when from a penalty we peeled and peeled up the pitch to gain territory 5m out, another penalty saw the sharp Ben Ley go and score to the right of the posts, Jac Newbury converting, we had further chances but played a cautious game.
No one was disappointed with the win, we now go into a Plate semi final next Friday away at either Morriston or Birchgrove and need your support, lets hope we get a couple of extra players as we know we face a tough game