Morley U11s v Yarnbury

Morley U11s v Yarnbury U11s Rugby Match Report - 21/10/07

Morley travelled to Yarnbury hoping to avenge the previous weeks defeat in the mini festival. On arrival we discovered that we would be playing two games as Bramley had also made the journey.

In the first game Morley played Bramley and things could not have got off to a worse start when Bramley fielded the kick off and ran virtually unopposed to score. With the conversion successful Morley trailed by 7 points in the first minute.

From the restart a good chase put Bramley under pressure only for Morley to knock on. However the Morley forwards took one against the head and scrum half Joe Firth nipped down the blind side to score and add the conversion making the score 7-7.

The rest of the half belonged to Morley and only desperate defence from Bramley prevented further scores.

Morley started the second half well, but playing up a big slope against a very large and physical side began to take its toll and Bramley eventually ran in a further 3 converted tries. However Morley played some excellent rugby at times and refused to allow themselves to be intimidated; this been typified by the defensive work of Lewis Starr making a welcome return to the Morley line up.

FINAL SCORE: Morley 7 - 28 Bramley.

Try scorer:

Joe Firth

Conversion:

Joe Firth

Team:

Chris Sawicki, Alex Stevenson, Ryley Wan, Lewis Starr, Sam Hood and Cameron Wallis.

In the second game Morley played Yarnbury hoping to avenge the previous weeks defeat. From the kick off Morley put Yarnbury under pressure and were rewarded when Tyler Harrison scored. Joe Firth added the conversion to make it 7-0. From the restart Morley gathered the ball and an intelligent kick from Chris Sawicki put Yarnbury under pressure again. Good handling then enabled Richard Hall to score and again Joe Firth added the conversion. Yarnbury were finding it increasingly difficult to play against a fired up Morley outfit and when they did manage to get over half way Morley sent them back down the field with good kicking. Morley were also winning a large amount of turn over ball particularly from Luke Metcalfe, Richard Hall, Tyler Harrison (What are you feeding him?) and from such a turn over Tyler Harrison bludgeoned his way over for a second try and Joe Firth added the extras.

Finally, Joe Horner dummied past at least three would be defenders to score next to the posts and Luke Metcalfe showed why he is, and will always be, a member of the sacred front row union, by missing the conversion.

At half time Morley led 26-0.

Morley knew they could not rest on their laurels as they were now playing up a steep slope and they took the game straight back to Yarnbury with only desperate defence preventing further scores. With Morley's line rarely threatened they started playing some excellent rugby, although at times they took the wrong options and tried to force the ball a little too much. However, they were rewarded with another try to the excellent Tyler Harrison, but Joe Firth could not add the conversion after Yarnbury successfully put him off by shouting and screaming as they advanced for the charge down (Very sporting!).

Morley continued to press and looked like adding to the score when a mistake in midfield allowed a Yarnbury player to pick up the loose ball and run 50 metres to score under the posts. The resulting conversion made it 31-7 to Morley. Unlike in previous weeks Morley were not content to allow Yarnbury to have the final say and after further good work from Ryley Wan up the left hand side the ball was recycled for Richard Hall to bemuse the defence with his quick footwork and score. This time Joe Firth took his time with the conversion and despite Yarnburys best efforts he slotted over the conversion to make the final score Yarnbury 7 Morley 38.

This was an excellent team performance with backs and forwards combining well in all areas of the field. It was also good to see Morley play with more composure when they were put under pressure.

Special thanks to the Morley parents and in particular No. 1 fan Sheila Metcalfe, who really got behind the team this week. You were rewarded with some excellent rugby and smiling faces!

FINAL SCORE: Yarnbury 7 - 38 Morley.

Try scores:

Tyler Harrison (3), Richard Hall (2), Joe Horner

Conversions:

Joe Firth (4)

Team:

Luke Metcalfe, Joe Horner, Thomas-John Cook, Tyler Harrison, Richard Hall,

Joe Firth, Chris Sawicki, Alex Stevenson, Ryley Wan, Lewis Starr, Sam Hood and Cameron Wallis.