Southwold U16's V Norwich U16's

One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals. Seven days after the plate win, could Southwold U16’s continue the momentum they have latterly built. With a seriously depleted squad through absences and injuries, Southwold faced a Norwich U16’s team that have recorded some much better results of late and appear to have found their stride. With four Under 15’s joining the squad, it still only meant we had a squad of 13 and therefore a 13 v 13 game. The ground was very, very muddy following torrential rain the night before and the ball was extremely slippery that would signify a forwards focussed type of game. Thankfully, it didn’t pan out like that although on a pitch that wet it was clear any match would be hard graft…and so to work. A great kick off from Sam put Norwich under pressure and within the first five minutes that pressure from Southwold meant they were within five metres of the try line and touching distance of a score. However, the theme of the game (understandably given the weather) were knock on’s and rucking over. Norwich withstood the opening salvo and thanks to a knock on by Southwold the advantage was lost. From the resulting scrum Norwich made metres up the pitch and the pendulum swung the other way. Again, handling errors meant that an advantage could not be gained for Norwich. Southwold were starting to find a bit of a rhythm with some great running from Jack at Scrum half, Ben in the forwards and Sam and Joe, and equally some strong forward play from Warren, Alfie and Bruno. This time Southwold took advantage of their play and Lewis flew down the right wing and went over the line. The first half was peppered by injuries and Norwich suffered as a team when arguably their best player received a nasty hit to his shoulder, which resulted in him going off. Credit to Southwold, they took advantage and their tackling and scrummaging started to prove decisive. With some neat handling as well, Southwolds confidence grew. Once again pressure from Southwold told and through that passing, found Bruno who powered through (as per the last two games) with him going over right by the posts (hair wonderfully coiffed this week - where is a photographer when you need them?). Sam converted meaning a lead of 12 – 0. Whilst, Southwold had the advantage at the scrum, Norwich were tremendous at their rucking and several times managed to turn the ball over, but failed to take advantage through a number of handling errors. However, it needs to be acknowledged that this was from the defensive pressure from Southwold, with Warren putting in some massive tackles and Malin putting in a try saving tackle as full back. This was the tale of the first half, and with Bruno in the ascendancy in the line out and running, went over again before half time to make it 17-0 at half time.
The second half followed a similar theme initially with hard tackling, defence and handling errors. Despite this, some great handling saw the ball track across the field to the left and Sam W took advantage with his speed and went over on the left to make the score 22 – 0. At this point Norwich could have let their heads go down, but they never did. Lots of knock on’s and lots of defending from both sides meant the score stayed at 22-0 for a fair part of the second half. About 20 minutes into the half the second half could have swung. With Sam taking a knock to his head, and the return of the injured lad who came off for Norwich in the first half, the pendulum swung to the advantage of Norwich. Southwold dug deep and on several occasions managed to defend their try line, holding the ball up for a potential try. However, from the resulting penalty, some quick thinking from Norwich meant they went over for the try – 22-5. With 13 minutes left the score remained this way with Southwold trying to re-assert themselves (with Sam returning to the pitch). However, a smart long field kick from the Norwich half saw Southwold having to track back. With the ball bouncing kindly for Norwich, it ran away from Southwold and bobbled forward. Norwich went over the try line again, but it was adjudged by the referee that the ball had been knocked forward prior to going over the try line. The full time whistle blew and the score remained 22-5. Both teams had much to take away from the game. The score reflected the distance Norwich have come since the beginning of season when the two teams met previously. Southwold can take any number of positives from the game. The handling, running and tackling from every single player was all that could be asked for. The energy and intensity after a week where Southwold could have rested on their laurels following their plate success was immense especially with the number of absences and injuries. Lastly, and this is a recurrent theme that shows the strength in depth of coaching at Southwold, is the fact that any number of players can step up an age group, make such a contribution that you do not know who is at which age group. The play from Jack, Ben, Will and Sam E was at a great level and they should gain great confidence from their performances. Sam E in particular (who had his first game today) should take a huge amount from how he played. Equally, the man of the match was Warren who has, in two games, shown a huge level of commitment in his play and should gain confidence from his displays. As a saying goes – things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. Southwold under 16’s are making a habit of this...and the adventure continues. ATW.