Malvern U13s at Ledbury 07/11/10
Nov
Ledbury U13s B 22
Malvern U13s B 15
In the first of two bruising encounters the Malvern development squad took to the field with purpose and made the early running with a fine first half display. The opening try came from the kick off with an excellent series of rucks pushing Ledbury back onto their twenty two. It was left to Oakley to make the final break and score a very good third minute try.
Malvern were in total control of the game and were soon rewarded with a second try when Forsyth crossed the line on the right wing. This was followed up with an excellent interception and run down the left wing by scrum half Richardson to leave the visitors three tries ahead.
It was inevitable that Ledbury would fight back into the game and they managed to gain plenty of territory and possession but failed to take any early points. The Malvern defence was very sharp and the backs used their blitz defence to force Ledbury into handling errors but towards the end of the half they finally made a breakthrough to reduce their deficit to two tries.
With several second half substitutions being made by Malvern it was the home side that made the stronger start and they soon rucked their way to a try.
Malvern regrouped and worked hard to push their opponents back but spurned two scoring opportunities on the left wing after some last ditch Ledbury defending. This seemed to take the wind out of the Malvern attack and they went on to concede a further two tries and a conversion.
For long periods of the game the Malvern second string played some excellent rugby that they can be justly proud of.
Ledbury U13s A 25
Malvern U13s A 17
The second match between the A teams also started well for Malvern with Robinson scoring from the kick-off. Having taken the first points, the visitors continued to apply pressure to the Ledbury defence. Early ball release from powerful rucking and some patient work through the phases led to a thirteenth minute try from Cullwick.
Ledbury pulled back a try five minutes later and then added a further two tries to end the half with a five point lead.
As the game progressed into the second half Malvern were heavily penalised at the rucks and found it almost impossible to push out of defence and make headway into Ledbury territory. When the ball was made available to the Malvern backs the Ledbury defence pushed up quickly and stifled their passing and running game. Having absorbed so much pressure it is to their credit that the boys continued to work hard and got a deserved reward when Robinson scored his second try.
Ledbury had opened the half with their fourth try and with only a single score separating the two teams the final minutes were tense. Malvern were managing to hold their own and stay in the game but were penalised with another free kick on their twenty two. With scrum half Purcell injured on the sidelines the home side took full advantage and scored the try that finally sealed the game.
