U12’s Made to dig deep at Alton
By U12 coach
Vectis U12 Match Report – 15/11/2009
Vectis 25 – 10 Alton
Wessex Fire backs man of the match: Jake Matthews
Wightlink forwards man of the match: Tom Ayling
An early start saw Vectis U12s arrive at Alton within 45 minutes to spare, and a break in tradition meant the buses didn’t get lost! Due to illness the U12 had a fairly depleted squad with a mixture of old heads and some very new ones. Their old adversary Alton awaited with nearly twice their number.
Within a few minutes of the start vectis found themselves 5 points down as the visitors took advantage of some poor defence by the a sleep U12’s. This seemed to be the jolt Vectis needed as they responded with a good try of their own through F Boyce. Atlon not to be outdone responded with a try of their own again taking advantage of yet more sloppy defending. Finally Vectis realised that they would have to wake up and play some rugby if they were to turn over this very organised Alton side. The remainder of the 15 was all vectis as they began to stretch their legs and take the game to Alton, which resulted in another great solo effort for Boyce and levelling the game, Some more excellent support play from Vectis helped them get in for a third just before the break as Boyce scored his hatrick.
The second period was much tougher for both sides with most of the play-taking place in the middle of the pitch. The defence was excellent from both sides, which resulted in very few breaks from either side, however Vectis U12 captain W Vaughan did manage to break the deadlock with a superb try following some excellent rucking and support from his team mates.
The third period was the longest, and by the end the exhaustion from both teams was visible, and injuries were rife. The ref’s whistle played nearly as big a part in this period as the kids did, with the frustration of the players faces becoming increasingly visible. This resulted in an energy-fuelled battle. Vectis’ play was much more dominant but they were held back by consistent and, sometimes unnecessary penalising. This dominant play resulted in a great try from Matthew Miscelbach picking it off his bootlaces to score in the corner.
This game showed that vectis U12’s have some real strength in depth and this can only serve them well as they travel to London Irish to defend their title of Land Rover Premiership Cup Champions this weekend
