Malvern U12s at Land Rover Premiership Cup 28/03/10
Mar
Land Rover Premiership Cup – Malvern U12s
An undefeated Malvern squad were devastated after being eliminated at the Quarter Final stage by the toss of a coin. It was a hard blow to take after being totally dominant in their qualification Pool and scoring an unequalled seventeen tries with only one conceded.
Pool D - Malvern 30 Dudley Kingswinford 5
In their first game they faced Dudley Kingswinford and totally dominated the play. Two tries from Jack Curtis and a Dan Batty try on the wing after some good work through the hands by Sam Harcombe and Henry Stratton sealed the game in the first half.
In the second half Curtis claimed his third try with a trademark run down the wing when the Malvern forwards won the ball from a maul on their own twenty two.
Nathan Hall received the ball from the restart and made a fine direct run at the Dudley Kingswinford line. The threat seemed to cause chaos in the opposition defence and when Hall was finally forced to take the ball into contact he laid it off brilliantly to Harry Robinson who exploited the space to score the first of his brace of tries.
Pool D - Malvern 15 Chaddesley Corbett 0
Malvern attacked from the kick off and just failed to score when Ben Richards was held up on the Chaddesley line. After the forwards had worked hard to recycle the ball Curtis was once again ready to pounce and score. The remainder of the first half was tense as Chaddesley dug in and counter attacked but they were unable to make a breakthrough.
The second half started with an alert Jack Curtis pushing up to intercept a Chaddesley pass after they had received the ball from the kick off; Malvern’s second try was inevitable as he broke and scored. Robinson added Malvern’s third to finish the game as Chaddesley continued to be dogged but unable to break the Malvern defence.
Pool D - Malvern 40 Bromsgrove 0
The Malvern forwards completely controlled the game and it was fitting that second row James Richards scored the first try of the game when he broke and dashed for thirty yards.
With abundant possession Malvern were able to turn on the style and soon added to their tally when Robinson passed to Miles Richardson who found space to run for his first try. Scrum half Frankie Purcell made a run from the back of a scrum only to be halted by the Chaddesley defence but he handed the ball off to Curtis for Malvern’s third.
Robinson added three more tries to his total in the second half with Curtis and Rory Atkins also scoring to give Malvern an emphatic victory.
Quarter Final - Malvern 0 Worcester 0
Malvern made a lively start and their pressure should have been converted into five points when Curtis broke on the right wing but his try was disallowed. After this setback the Malvern forwards seemed to go to sleep as the more streetwise Worcester were quicker to the ball and repeatedly stole possession in the rucks.
With Worcester dominant in the rucks and Malvern stealing back in the mauls there was little to separate the two teams as both defences also stood firm. The second half started and finished in the same vein with both sides trying to grind each other down without being able to make the breakthrough try.
The deadlock could not be broken with extra time so the game was decided on the toss of a coin which was clearly not a just reward for a Malvern U12 squad that had played some fantastically entertaining and flowing rugby in a great spirit.
Malvern Squad - Ben Richards, Ryan Williamson, Glen Potter, Jack Curtis, Sam Hughes, Nathan Hall, Harry Robinson, James Richards, Frankie Purcell, Rory Atkins, Sam Ladd, Ted Hill, Sam Harcombe, Dan Batty, Henry Stratton, Miles Richardson
