Southwold u13 - 45, Ipswich YM u13 - 15

Having lost to YM last year, Wold knew they were in for a tough game and despite the scoreline, so it proved. With a big squad to choose from the first team to start the match was Will, Lucas, Harrison B, Arthur, Raife, Max, Finney, Savile, Freddie L, Louis, Jake, Callum and James.

YM started strongly, immediately going on the attack and their forwards, already trained to work in pods, paved the way for a first try. Wold had to work out the best way to stop the YM possession and get hold of the ball, and quickly realised they had to close down the YM space for their strong runners. Even though Wold were back-pedalling in their own half, they refused to kick, and from a penalty 5m from their own line, quick hands and strong running from Max, Lamps, and Louis freed Max to gallop in from halfway. Callum almost got a score after an overhead pass from Lamps, then Max bagged a second try after turning over possession and being left with space to run in. Thanks must go to referee Roger Felton who had an interesting day ensuring the inexperienced lads safely negotiated the scrums, then trying to keep up with the pacey attacks. In the second quarter, YM again kept up their forward assault but from a period of pressure, Lamps spotted an obvious pass and intercepted cleverly to sprint home from halfway. Halftime 15-5.

With a reshuffle at halftime, Troy, Kai, Harrison H, Freddie P, Henry and Oscars C and F all came on. The second half started with another YM attack but a strong tackle by Oscar F and an excellent clear out by Savile gave Max a huge gap to trot in for his hattrick. He quickly followed with a fourth after Raife and Harrison H made strong runs out of defence sucking in enough defenders for another clear path to the line. Wold were ahead by using the space on the pitch to greater effect and moving the ball to space, but it didn't stop YM continuing to charge forwards. A period of superb defence on the Wold line showed the boys character as Oscar C broke down the field with support for Raife to eventually score under the posts for Wolds sixth try. Savile added another after jinking through following a scrum on the YM 22, then Raife got his second straight from the kick off when he surged through some dejected defenders to sprint all the way in. Freddie P was the final Wold player to score after the took a difficult pass close to the line and managed to roll over and dot down. YM then dominated the final few minutes with two consolation scores, one after pressure near the Wold posts and another fine solo effort from their no10.

The coaches were very pleased with the way the boys identified the problems they faced and came up with their own answers on how to combat the threats. They used the space very well to exploit their pace and the team spirit was excellent. A kicking strategy, scrums, rucking , mauling and handling are all things to work on as the season progresses. Honorable mentions must go to Raife, Harrison B, Troy and the pack for getting stuck in and doing the hard graft which meant MOM, Max, could score his tries.