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U14s Match Report: Bolton v Manchester RUFC Sunday 6th October
Jill Rowbotham8 Oct - 06:50
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A hard win for Bolton!
Bolton dominated the first half of this friendly match with some good tackling, a sprinkle of passing and good runs. Line outs successfully taken by Ciaran. The scrums were not as dominant as last week's game, but no worse than an even contest.
More could have come were it not for losing possession in tackles and rucks and some sloppy knock ons. A couple of good cross field kicks which just missed their mark. First try from Meta on the far left wing giving Luka a tough opening conversation which had good height and distance but just veered to the right of the far post.
Second try was from a scrum in the right wing and some quick thinking from Joel Read who found the gap to the right of the scrum. Again, a tough challenge for Luka to convert at that angle, but clearly had got his practice in as converted with ease.
A further Bolton try in the first half, this time from Saxon, through the centre this time, allowing Luka to make easy work to put Bolton 19-0 ahead. Meta and James' tackling kept Manchester away from our half, but they did manage to get one in before the half time whistle with a successful conversation to make it 19-7 to Bolton at half time.
The second half started badly with off side given to a too eager Bolton team setting off early from the kick. Whilst there was good tackling particularly from Saxon, Joe and James which kept a lot of the game in the middle of the field, possession was often lost in rucks and tackles. A few good individual moments with runs from Luka and Joel B, and another upfield kick which Finn beautifully intercepted, but wasn't quite able to maintain balance to give a pass back to Joel B who was unable to hold onto the ball.
An unfortunate line out lost us possession which Manchester took full advantage of, passing all the way to the right wing and their rapid winger flew past a handful of Bolton player to score their second try and conversion.
Bolton 19 - 14 Manchester .
Our right wing was then exposed when from a Bolton kick, Manchester did a solid catch and passed down the line to their left wing who cruises to the line for their third try and conversion.
Bolton 19 - 21 Manchester.
The game got a bit messy at this point with Bolton losing possession regularly, preventing them from threatening. Luckily, at the final minute Saxon ran down the right wing to secure the winning try and Luka successfully converted to the sound of the final whistle.
A hard win, Bolton 26 - 21 Manchester.
More could have come were it not for losing possession in tackles and rucks and some sloppy knock ons. A couple of good cross field kicks which just missed their mark. First try from Meta on the far left wing giving Luka a tough opening conversation which had good height and distance but just veered to the right of the far post.
Second try was from a scrum in the right wing and some quick thinking from Joel Read who found the gap to the right of the scrum. Again, a tough challenge for Luka to convert at that angle, but clearly had got his practice in as converted with ease.
A further Bolton try in the first half, this time from Saxon, through the centre this time, allowing Luka to make easy work to put Bolton 19-0 ahead. Meta and James' tackling kept Manchester away from our half, but they did manage to get one in before the half time whistle with a successful conversation to make it 19-7 to Bolton at half time.
The second half started badly with off side given to a too eager Bolton team setting off early from the kick. Whilst there was good tackling particularly from Saxon, Joe and James which kept a lot of the game in the middle of the field, possession was often lost in rucks and tackles. A few good individual moments with runs from Luka and Joel B, and another upfield kick which Finn beautifully intercepted, but wasn't quite able to maintain balance to give a pass back to Joel B who was unable to hold onto the ball.
An unfortunate line out lost us possession which Manchester took full advantage of, passing all the way to the right wing and their rapid winger flew past a handful of Bolton player to score their second try and conversion.
Bolton 19 - 14 Manchester .
Our right wing was then exposed when from a Bolton kick, Manchester did a solid catch and passed down the line to their left wing who cruises to the line for their third try and conversion.
Bolton 19 - 21 Manchester.
The game got a bit messy at this point with Bolton losing possession regularly, preventing them from threatening. Luckily, at the final minute Saxon ran down the right wing to secure the winning try and Luka successfully converted to the sound of the final whistle.
A hard win, Bolton 26 - 21 Manchester.
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