Windsor u17's v Milton Keynes - LEAGUE
16th November 2008by Dr FT Bosh
The listing was posted by Windsor RFC - Juniors - u17s become colts - Season 08/09
Squad (and Beast), tired but reasonably happy after a great game against Milton Keynes
With their League campaign stuttering, the last thing the U17 squad wanted to hear on the morning of their fixture against Milton Keynes, was that they had any more injury worries. But Jack Clemance, Alex Devereux and Jack Williams were added to the list of casualties and left the home side with barely 15 players and no back row.
In contrast Milton Keynes appeared to have a full squad and were looking very “up” for the game. Home spirit has never been a problem for the Windsor U17’s, but today would be a big test, with centres Jam Ingham and Buddy Bradbury moving in to the pack to act as flankers, Chris Spring went to No 8 and Barney Overton was brought out of semi retirement to warm the bench in splendid isolation. The odds of him coming on at some point were pretty good.
Windsor kicked off in almost perfect playing conditions and began a fascinating first 15 minutes of play in which the ball was thrown around by both sets of three-quarters. The running was positive and aggressive by both sides and equalled only by the tackling. However Milton Keynes had the edge in the forwards and soon realised that a set of pick and go’s could net them territory. As they came into the Windsor 22, a strong break from their No 8 saw him force his way over for a good unconverted try.
Windsor, although playing well, needed a little something extra to notch their game up a level. MK were making slow but inexorable progress with their forwards. As the ball came out along their three-quarters centre Alex Tindall gambled, correctly, on the timing of a pass and caught man and ball together in a thunderous tackle that saw the ball knocked on, the MK momentum stalled and most importantly the Windsor squad’s passion ignited. As the Windsor forwards began to take back some initiative, the MK pack were penalised and Windsor moved up field. At the next scrum, just outside the MK 22, scrum half James “Jabah” Cullen, dummied inside his man, chipped over the full back’s head and ran on to collect a co-operatively bouncing ball and sprint in for an excellent solo try, well converted by centre Joel Turner.
Milton Keynes came back, all guns blazing, but from the restart, another break from Cullen got Windsor back on the front foot and a sharp three-quarter move saw winger Kudsayi Makurumure eventually bundled into touch deep in MK territory. The referee yellow carded an MK forward shortly afterwards and Windsor kept the pressure on. But MK dug deep and although Windsor battered their defences, they couldn’t break through. With 5 minutes to go before half time MK put in a huge effort that saw them back into Windsor’s 22 and then camped on the home side’s try line. A score seemed inevitable, but tackling from Ingham, Bradbury and Spring saw MK held up twice over the line. The last play of the half saw the MK No8 break away from a maul 2 yards out from the try line. He was probably mentally celebrating the seemingly certain score when Cullen’s driving tackle hit his sternum and knocked him back onto the maul. The ball went loose and half time was blown.
In the second half, Windsor started well with a break out of defence by the three-quarters. Centre Joel Turner stepped inside his man and offloaded to full back Conor Sawdon as he blasted into the line. The ball was then released to Makurumure who swept up the left wing channel. The MK defence snuffed out the move before it could net points, but Windsor had the initiative and field position. However Cullen, struggling with an injured lower back, was forced to come off. This meant some reorganisation for Windsor. Turner went into scrum half, Ingham came into the centre, Spring went to flanker and Barney Overton came on at No 8.
This disruption did not seem to slow Windsor down at all. Prop Charlie Herd had his best game of the season so far. Stealing ball he had no right to get, he kept Windsor possession alive and was a focal point for several Windsor driving mauls. Second row Gus Manzi and Sam Windwill seemed to be always available for pick and go’s or sniping runs and, with prop Ciaran Keen, Manzi also made several crucial tackles on breakaway MK forwards. When the referee pinged MK for swearing, fly half Sam Yeandle made sure of touch and hooker Cai Harrold delivered the ball to Windmill in the line out. From here Turner set the backs loose and a well judged kick ahead by Tindall was chased up. Tindall pressured the fullback and the ball ran loose in to the path of supporting winger Russell Chester, adjusting well he controlled the ball as it went over the line and dropped to score an unconverted try.
But MK were not to be denied, they poured the pressure on and whilst Windsor were able to hold them up on two occasions, in the end they powered their way over to score. The kicker, knowing the conversion was crucial, kept his nerve and tied the game at 12 all.
But neither side was done. The game had been played at a high tempo and this kept up for the last 5 minutes. Windsor’s defence was very strong and tackles from Harrold, Keen and Overton prevented scores and in the end gave Windsor a chance to nick the game at the end. Herd turned the ball over in the loose and Turner span the ball out to Yeandle, realising this was probably Windsor’s last chance, he elected to run the ball out from under his own posts. Catching his opposite number unawares, he broke through the line and connected with Ingham. The ball was shipped to Tindall who kicked for the MK corner, unable to gather it in, Chester, who had come across from the opposite wing, took it over the line to score, but the referee adjudged that there had been a knock on and blew for full time leaving the game tied.
This was an excellent game of rugby played in good spirit and the under-strength Windsor team punched above it’s weight by virtue of their desire to support each other in adversity. They will hope to retain this spirit for their next League game in a fortnight, against Buckingham.
Result:
Windsor 12 – Milton Keynes 12
Tries: Cullen, Chester
Conversions: Turner