U13 Surrey League Division 2 Effingham 'A' 28 v 5 Warlingham 'A'

Eagles 28 – 5 Warlingham

Juniors U13 • League • Sun 25th Apr 10, 10:00AM

From Perspiration to Inspiration! U13 Surrey League Division 2Effingham 'A' 28 v 5 Warlingham 'A' Some times you can just tell. For sure there was a long way to go, but the calm atmosphere and determined mood around the changing room, prior to what was potentially the title decider, was not betrayed by the outcome. A welcome early morning shower took some of the 'spite' out of the hard and dusty ground and set the scene for a finely balanced tussle between two evenly matched teams. Straight from the kick off Warlingham made ground and put the Effingham defence under immediate pressure with some strong forward play. Effingham were going to have to earn the right today, and in the opening minutes plenty of perspiration was required to hold a surging Warlingham at bay. Slowly but surely Effingham gained a foothold in the game and it wasn't long before some characteristic pick and drive moves started to penetrate enemy territory. It wasn't just the forwards who were enjoying plenty of the play, some excellent quick ball from scrum half Mead fed the powerful Loftus, who intelligently mixed up the play continuously changing the angles of attack.  An early score would be welcome to settle the spectators nerves, and in one seamless period of play the crowd were rewarded. One after the other, Godwin, Bathurst and Chandler took up the challenge to make ground before Warr picked up to drive over for the final three yards. Mead, a little tentatively at this stage, slotted home the conversion. 7 - 0 Retaining possession straight from the kick off, Effingham proceeded to dominate the next ten minutes and should have extended their lead on a couple of occasions but for some do or die tackles on the try line. Bone, Godwin and in one 'time stood still' moment, Bliss; all narrowly failed to touch down. Still Effingham maintained the pressure and in a well drilled set play from a scrum 10 yards out, Chandler took possession to drive forcibly over the line for the second try. Mead stepped forward to convert a difficult chance. 14 - 0 With fifteen minutes gone, Effingham were definitely on top and continued to exert even more pressure. If one moment could typify the spirit of the boys, it came when Cornish delivered a 'statement of intent' with one of the most thundereing and awesome tackles ever seen on the bowl pitch. A real example to his teammates, which set the standard from there on in.    However Warlingham weren't top of the league without reason and they increasingly came into the game. Proving more than a match in the forwards department, they started to release quick ball out to their backs themselves, and it took some diligent and sharp tackling from Cody, Meek and the indefatigable Lim to hold back the surge. It may seem churlish now, but in the pursuit of excellence one was left to wonder if Effingham might pay for some less than clinical play earlier in the half. Fortunately not, and Effingham held on to come into the break with a well earned lead of 14 - 0. A very unfortunate injury to Seb Lim forced some changes at half time, and with the backing of the breeze Effingham were going to have to concentrate very hard in the early stages of the second half. Warlingham started to probe with some deep kicking and the ever alert Gruen was kept extremely busy. Displaying some excellent football skills his performance was faultless and time and time again he made ground on the returns setting up play to allow Effingham the opportunitie to probe down the flanks. One such surge nearly took Parsons in but for a fine tackle 5 yards out. Again Efffingham probed and the unrelenting Murray in the centre continously made ground, drawing the Warlingham defence into the midfield allowing Effingham to feed their lines. Hammerson, Crowhurst and Hadley were always quick to support and in one particular play, the ball found the pacy Cody who was only defied by desperate defending.  This very enjoyable game was just about to get even more enjoyable from an Effingham perspective. Another series of drives, this time by the impressive 'warrhorse' that is Stevie Warr and the quietly effective Matthews, drove the ball to just short of the try line before the rampaging Bone spotted an opportunity to peel off and drive for the line to secure Effingham's third try. Another difficult conversion opportunity, directly into the face of the wind, was successfully converted by Mead. 21 - 0. In an admirable display of fortitude Warlingham never gave up and continued to pressurise the Effingham defence. Perhaps this attitude contributed to what happened next, but nonetheless you couldn't take anything away from the tireless Bathurst, who grasping possession of the ball, broke with great power and speed taking the ball almost 60 yards to just short of the try line. Turning intelligently and looking for support, it was with some relief that Chandler and Bone had kept up, allowing the skipper to take on the responsibility and power over for his second, and Effingham's fourth try, to secure an important bonus point. Mead stepped forward for probably the hardest conversion effort of the day and coolly converted for his 100% record. A superb display of kicking. 28 - 0. Still searching for some reward for their endeavours, Warlingham continued to pressurise the Effingham defence and a smart move across their backs from a well won scrum saw them score a deserved try in the corner. 28 - 5 The simplicity of this score only proved to show how hard the Effingham team had worked in the early stages of the game, not only to gain a foothold, but to thwart the real threat of this Warlingham team, namely the pace and normal free flowing play of their backs. It was however, too little too late, and finally the referee blew time on a really entertaining game of Rugby, one in which both teams should be applauded for the excellent spirit in which the game had been played. It had been hard, and exhausting, but Effingham had shown true inspiration in their pursuit of victory. Statistics Man of the Match Almost impossible to pick one player from a fantastic team performance. However, the skipper led by example today, and therefore Max Chandler just takes the plaudits. Sequence First half: 5-0 Warr try; 7-0 Mead conv; 12-0 Chandler try; 14-0 Mead conv; Second half: 19-0 Bone try; 21-0 Mead conv; 26-0 Chandler try; 28-0 Mead conv; 28-5 Warlingham try Squad Max Chandler, Louis Hammerson, Matt Cornish, George Matthews, Sam Godwin, James Hadley, Stevie Warr, Luke Bliss, Chris Bone, Bill Bathurst, Will Mead, Daniel Loftus, Matt Murray, Chris Cody, Marcus Gruen, Harry Lonsdale, Sam Parsons, Seb Lim, George Meek, Mikey Crowhurst  T H Lonsdale25th April 2010  

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