With the new season upon us Cheshunt U16’s faced Stanford-le-Hope in their first match of the season. The match was played at Cheshunt in bright conditions. The team have trained hard over the summer especially with the introduction of “lifting in line-outs” and the Scrum Half being permitted to come past the tunnel at scrums. So everyone was eager to see how all this training panned out.
As this was a friendly match both teams agreed on 3 x 20 min periods. Ryan Kicked Off the 1st session and from the start Cheshunt piled on the pressure. Time & time again Cheshunt moved the ball between their forwards & backs, continually pinning Stanford in their own half, however Stanford defended well and managed to soak up all of the pressure that Cheshunt applied. When the 1st line out occurred there were cheers from the watching crowd as both sides saw their jumpers soar high into the air.
Cheshunt continued to pressurise Stanford but sadly to no avail. Then in the last 30 seconds of play in the 1st period Charlie made a great run down the left wing only to be tackled on the 10m line. Sadly without support the ball was ripped off him and Stanford managed to run the ball back down the pitch and score the 1st try of the match, a successful conversion giving them a 7 – 0 lead into the 1st break.
With the addition of a few players this season, it means that we are finally able to use substitutes more effectively. The 2nd period started with Cheshunt still rattled by the conceded try. However within 5 min they were back to their best pressuring Stanford in all parts of the field. Sadly, still not managing to break down Stanford’s defence. Then once again against the run of play, Cheshunt missed a couple of tackles and Stanford scored their 2nd try of the match. A missed conversion putting the score at 0-12.
Cheshunt didn’t allow their heads to drop, didn’t panic and continued to play good quality rugby. Eventually their patience was rewarded as Tom ran in Cheshunt’s 1st try of the season. Ryan converted with a fantastic kick from the sideline to close the gap to 5 points.
Into the 3rd period with both teams started to looked tired. Stanford resorted to kicking out of defence and Will carried out his full back position extremely well. As the match drew to a close Cheshunt used their pack to walk Stanford deep into their own 22m. Literally with the last play of the match, Connor took the ball from the base of a ruck 2m from the try line and passed to Will coming in at pace to score Cheshunt’s 2nd try. Ryan once again walked up to the mark to slot his 2nd conversion of the match and give Cheshunt a well deserved 14-12 win!
