Fixture

Rhyl and District RFC | Under 12s 12 - 19 Caernarfon RFC | Under 12s
Airan Semple
Conversion 1
Try 1
Owain Espley
Try 1

Match Report
12 March 2017 / Team News

A good, hard, close game!

Rhyl U12's 12 vs Caernarfon U12's 19

Rhyl had a full team and subs for the first time this season and the really good training sessions which the team have had in the previous few weeks really showed in today's performance.

Rhyl started really brightly and showed both good attacking intent and a combined resolve to defend as team. However, the visitors drew first blood, scoring a converted try for a 0 - 7 lead. Rhyl responded superbly and excellent off the ball running by Harry Windsor and Airan Semple gave the visitor's winger too much to think about. A hole in the defence allowed scrum half Owain Espley half a gap. The Rhyl scrum half doesn't even need that big a gap to punish teams and sure enough he scampered through the gap and sprinted clear from 30 yards to score. 5 - 7.

Rhyl continued the good work, hitting rucks and tackles hard and driving the ball up against their opponents. A series of penalties allowed Rhyl to set up camp in the Caernarfon half and following numerous repeat infringements, Airan Semple took a quick tap penalty, bursting through a gap to race away for a further score. The fly half added the conversion to send Rhyl into the lead. The half continued with good play by the home side and despite creating a few good opportunities, failed to turn them into points and were duly made to pay by the visitors who broke away for a further unconverted try. Half time 12 - 12.

The second half saw this close game swing to and fro. Rhyl's backs were looking get wide as often as possible with Joseph Roberts and Logan Jones to the fore in taking the game to Caernarfon. Solid scrummaging by the Rhyl tight five allowed hookers Emily Owens and Finley Mills to put their opposite numbers under huge pressure in the scrums. A third score by the visitors stretched their lead 12 -19.

The most pleasing aspect of the game from a coaching perspective was the way in which the whole team stood up to the visitors, refusing to bow down. This was epitomised by the defensive effort of the team in the last few minutes of the game. Rhyl's aggression in tackles and rucks saw Caernarfon players dropping all over the pitch and even when the visitors seemed to have crossed the line no less then 4 times in the last minute of the game, they were driven back by a defence that just refused to yield. This in itself shows just how far the side have come in this testing season. The first time a full team has been available and they showed the coaches, parents and spectators a real full team performance. 
This performance, although a defeat, was a hundred times better than our last game (and we won that one!). 

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