| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| arufc |
Posted - 01 Apr 2009 : 12:44:34
Ashbourne Under 14s 25 - Derby Under 14s 21
Ashbourne opened brightly using an accurate kicking game to force the Derby defence deep into their own half. The driving play of Ashbourne forwards pressured Derby into loose clearance kicks which allowed Riley to feed Glover bursting down the wing, the touch judge brought him back for a foot in touch but the pattern for Ashbourne’s first quarter had been set.
Derby seemed surprised by the Ashbourne forwards physicality as they punched several holes in the defence before the ball was moved swiftly away for Clarke-Kellow to score to the left of the posts.
From the resulting kick-off the ball was again forced back into Derby territory, when the attack appeared to have stalled Taylor slipped away quick ball to Farr whose clever chip was brilliantly picked up by Glover to score.
Further pressure allowed Haswell & Francis to disrupt a lineout; again Taylor moved the ball away quickly to the backs and Farr scored. 15-Nil and all three tries scored in an almost identical position.
Derby then used their rucking game to exert pressure on Ashbourne, the defence seemed to hold but a sharp move from a ruck allowed the Derby wing to escape for a converted try. Derby’s substitutes brought fresh energy & on the stroke of half time their centre crashed over for a second converted try.
With the change of referee at half time came an emphasis on the offside rule & Ashbourne began to give away penalties. Derby used this possession to gain a territorial advantage but was then shocked to see Glover break away and score.
Ashbourne continued to give away technical penalties resulting in a Derby forward pouncing on a loose line out ball to claim another converted try. Despite Ashbourne’s 4 tries Derby successful kicks had put them one point ahead at 20-21.
There was no panic from Ashbourne they moved up field again driving Derby back onto their own line, their high clearance kick was gathered by Riley who carved his way back to the line to score on the right.
Calmly Ashbourne closed out the game to seal the win by a single score.
These were two well matched and committed teams watched in warm sunshine by knowledgeable and encouraging supporters from both sides. It was an absolute pleasure to be there.
Ashbourne Team:
Redfern, Hudson, Beresford, Haswell, Francis, Richmond, Tylee-Peatfield, Donnelly, Taylor, Farr, Holland, Clarke-Kellow, Wakeman, Glover, Riley, Ditchfield, O’Hallan-Brown. |
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