Old Albanians 0 Vs Stafford 32

Due to GCSE’s being on the horizon the decision was made early this season that the Feb half-term would start with a Tour and as always, the Terriers wider community engaged and committed to the weekend on all levels.
So, to the game, a Saturday lunchtime kick-off and a welcoming club, dry weather and a set of spectators full of ‘characters’ were in for a treat.
The home team suffering with injuries to their front row had no props so uncontested scrums were in (not a bad thing for our props considering that the final is two weeks away).
From kick off the pace that the game was played at was high, big early carries from Joe and Connor saw some early attacks from the Terriers before the home team began to get into the match. It would take big tackles from Jake, Oli O, Joe and Ed to keep the scores level as the home team showed good hands and good pace.
Stafford were struggling to get out of their own 22 and each time they did, Old Albanians using a lot of pace out wide would either pass long quickly or cross kick and pin the Terriers back. Dex made a lovely break from the back of a scrum but after the ball was turned over, the Terriers would again have to rely on the defensive set up to keep it 0-0.
The turning point would come when from a line-out as the home team were held up and Oli B managed to steal the ball away in the maul, the ensuing break saw Harry W and Connor get out wide and the pendulum of Territory started to swing towards the Terriers.
The home team looked still to play out and a break from the 22 saw the winger on the far side beat two players only for a good cover tackle from Harry W got the player into touch. It didn’t matter what they did whether out wide or in short, the defence was stifling. Jonah putting in a big hit disrupted an attack in short and Jude flying up each time stopped the ball going out. You could see the home team were starting to get frustrated by the great defence on show by the Terriers.
From the next line-out Stafford looked to go wide and a good set of hands from the backs saw Carta make ground and put Connor into space. One more pass and we probably had the opening try but the opposition winger tracked back really well and intercepted the pass. Leon though tracked the winger and tackled him deep in their half. This would lead to Stafford almost open the scoring as Ed was held up over the line after good forward play.
Both the forwards and backs were now making good decisions, Joe played a lovely tip pass to Jack who made a break rather than taking the contact. Leon made a half break and was well supported by Connor and Carta, only for Stafford to concede a penalty and the play to break up.
The home team decided to kick long but missed touch and Harry W cleaned the loose ball up, made a step before feeding Leon who got Stafford on the front foot. Connor came hunting for work and made another break, offloaded to Dex who in turn fed Ed. A quick recycle and Ed was on hand again to get the go forward. A loose ball allowed a half clearance which Harry H took brilliantly and two recycles later, Connor burst through on a great line to get the opening try (0-5)
Stafford were going through the gears but defence was still at the forefront and from a scrum Jake provided one of the tackles of the day, smashing the opposition backwards, Oli O then had the ball in hand and the prop showed a lovely change of pace to make a 50 metre break. I don’t know what the opposition fullback was thinking as Oli approached but he did enough to stop/slow Oli down and see out the half.
As the second half started Stafford applied some really good pressure to the home team ten and he kicked out on the full. A clean line out for the Terriers saw the familiar orange scrum cap of Jakes come into the line at pace and the hooker would go in from 30 metres barely touched. His try was superb, his conversion attempt, not quite up to the same standard, can your grubber kick over the posts? (0-10)
Old Albanians were still looking to pin the Terriers back with some clever kicking, but Finn G at fullback was up to the task and cleaned up a loose ball well. After an attacking scrum was awarded to Stafford, Will B (in at 10) made a great break, only to be stopped short. Quick ball and recycling from the forwards saw Danny score a try, which was well celebrated by all of his teammates. The hooker then composed himself and slotted over the conversion. (0-17)
Stafford would score again quickly after a Will B break fed Jude who continued the charge, the defence was now at sixes and sevens and fast ball saw Will B finish the move that he had started. This time it was Jacks turn to have a pop at the posts. Rather than describing the kick , it was nice to see Jack apologise to the opposition player who was shocked at the trajectory of the effort. (0-22)
Stafford were still relying on the defence to snuff out any attacks with Will B and Jude putting in some monster hits and after another cross kick had a fortuitous bounce, the Old Albanians winger looked to be in at the corner, but a super tackle started by Declan and finished in combination with Finn G kept the winger out. I think this was celebrated almost as much as Danny’s try.
Stafford went from that corner and made carry after carry up the pitch, a penalty was then awarded and Joe kicked to the corner after much deliberation as to whether to go , tap, kick for posts etc, the prop made the right choice and nudged the ball to within 7 metres of the try line. The result would be another try for Danny as he would go blind from a maul and extend the lead (0-22).
Stafford weren’t done and as time began to tick over the visitors had a penalty near half way. Harry H got on the ball quick, tapped and went, Frazer followed his 10 and recycled the ball, Ed picked and went and Frazer again got in to provide quick ball. This set the platform and eventually Joe would smash through to add to the team's collection. The icing was almost on the cake but Declan’s conversion drifted just wide. (0-32)
As the final whistle sounded you could see the belief and joy on the Stafford players who again but a big shift in.
It was again a pleasing display from all involved, points win games but a solid defence accompanied by a positive mindset, belief in their abilities as a collective and teamwork will achieve the results you want.
The hosts awarded the man of the match which was Will B who then continued despite suffering another serious wrist injury during the game to win his boat race.
So, we move on, its two weeks till the final, for some sadly its not enough time to get fit and healthy, for others its time to get the small injuries healed, so listen to the advice, rest , ice etc, and for the rest its about working to get the small things right and the things we do well even better. Last big push.