U15 Sharks home to Woodbridge U15 04/12/2016

The Woodbridge fixtures are always eagerly anticipated as many of the players on the two teams are at school together and a win secures the bragging rights on Monday morning, so we expected the usual tight start. An indication of how tight was that an early penalty resulted in an (unsuccessful) attempt at goal, which is unusual at this level, teams normally preferring to kick to touch or take a quick tap.
Both sides probed for weakness like boxers in the opening round, before Wold landed the first telling blow. Woodbridge were defending stoutly before a clearance kick was gathered and driven back by Renee, who offloaded to Dylan. A neat sidestep saw him go over in the corner and the stalemate was broken. A stiff breeze (well, it is Southwold common after all!) was always going to make kicking difficult and the score stayed at 5-0 for the moment.
Handling errors punctuated the game's next phase and play stayed stubbornly in midfield for several minutes as a result. Wold's snipes and attacks were repulsed by a combination of Woodbridge tackling and mistakes, to the point that they decided to kick for goal when awarded a penalty themselves after a while. Jack landed it to keep the score ticking over. (8-0)
As is ever the Wold way, though, we started to play after ten to fifteen minutes... a turnover by the forwards allowed Jack to place a clearance kick downfield. Matthew chased it down and caught the receiving Woodbridge player to set up a maul from which Toby emerged with the ball and weaved through the defence to score close enough to the posts for Jack to be able to deal with the strengthening wind and convert the try. (15-0)
Woodbridge are not a team that give up though and they kept working hard, working to get back into the Wold half mostly, though knock-ons and penalties set them back on their heels on several occasions as Jack kicked well in the wind. The forwards are to be commended for their work in turning over and securing possession in defence as well as in attack. Joe had his best game of the season so far and Jack (K) put in a great shift against his old club, forming what looks like a good partnership at lock with Henry.
With half-time approaching, Wold were awarded a penalty for a deliberate knock-on. As Woodbridge retreated, the kick was taken quickly and Charlie (M) rumbled over in the corner to take the score at the whistle to 20-0.
After the interval, several players changed sides to balance out the numbers and the game lost some of its shape, but Southwold went on to score two further tries through Renee and a guesting Riley. Woodbridge also scored twice, just reward for their persistance, and the final score was 32-14.
This was a good performance, although somewhat fragmented by the personnel changes, but did give everyone a run-out for the full game. Beau joined a couple of games ago and looks to be a strong addition to the squad with plenty of pace on the wing.

Next game: Holt (a)