Chepstow travelled to Penallta to take on their very highly rated U15 side. After illnesses and injuries the Chepstow squad was not at its full strength, with only 14 boys available. The weather was miserable but the game was scheduled for their 4G pitch, no-one was getting muddy today. The warm-up was good, the boys were focused and up for it.
From the off it was clear that Penallta were going to be very physical. During the first play of the game there was a huge collision between Jayden Davies and their prop, unbelievably Jayden got up and carried on whilst their prop stayed down with a stinger in his right shoulder. It certainly woke Jayden up as he was everywhere after that, having his best game for some time. Penallta had the bulk of possession early on but good defensive work by the front five of Dan, Angus, Jayden, Fred & Callum held them at bay. The back row of Will, Spencer & Rhys were effective at the breakdown and we turned over the ball on a number of occasions and worked hard to make ground, the boys showing great commitment. The game was deadlocked but the physical intensity was very high and Chepstow were working at their limit to keep Penallta under control.
The home team had a very strong scrum which meant that Chepstow found it difficult to maintain field position and consequently were defending more and more. The Chepstow backline was moving up rapidly but not following through by committing to the tackle, something we’ll need to work on. Slick handling by Penallta’s backline set their outside centre free, showing great pace and balance he ran clear 40 metres to open the scoring. A similar try followed not long after.
Chepstow were being well led by Will and the backs were looking effective in attack with Edwin providing good service in windy, wet conditions. Thomas showed good hands to act as the distributor, despite a great deal of pressure from a very rapid Penallta backline, setting Morgan and Keegan off into the midfield. Joe made some important tackles and Tom worked hard at fullback, particularly difficult on a skiddy 4G surface. The balance of play evened out but a kicking exchange led to more pressure on the Chepstow try line. A scrum, under pressure, led to a loose ball and their flanker scored an opportunistic try.
At halftime the score was 19-0 and the boys had given everything. A few changes were made, giving Joe a crack in the forwards and putting birthday boy Callum at inside centre, Lewis Bedford bravely playing up a year came on in the front row and Spencer volunteering to play out of position to try to handle their strong running wing. Each of them made a good impact.
As the 2nd half wore on Penallta grew in confidence as the physical battle took its toll on the smaller Chepstow team. Their free running backs were hitting the line at an impressive pace and were extremely difficult to stop – sometimes you just have to say well played! Despite this the boys at no point gave up, they kept encouraging each other to keep going. The Edwin - Thomas link was helping to bring Callum in on a crash ball that was making yards everytime. Will was taking his leadership role more seriously than ever and his work rate was the best it has been all season. All the hard work forced the visitors into a good attacking position and from quick ball Thomas’ usual ‘show and go’ saw him win the foot race to score our only try. The final whistle went a few minutes later – Penallta 55 – 5 Chepstow.
Things to be pleased about:
Things to work on
The boys should be proud of giving everything they had, well done, on we go ………
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