Young G’s force the win

Young G’s force the win.
East Grinstead U16’s 66 v Edenbridge U16’s 27
What a game to put on the hallowed turf of the main club pitch. In front of a good crowd this emerging G’s side began to prove to the club, the coaches and themselves what a talented team they could be. The score is sensational enough partly explained by a 13-aside game on the biggest pitch at the club, but mostly due to both sides determination to play expansive front foot rugby.

It began with East Grinstead controlling the first quarter and building up a decent 12-point lead through tries by James Winter and skipper Ben Beard converted by Ollie Adams. Then the contest started as Edenbridge realised that they had to compete at a higher level. The G’s old defensive line frailties came to the fore as they missed the first tackle or fell off other tackles. The half however turned into a superbly entertaining roller coaster as the sides swapped tries seemingly at random as the whole pitch was put to use in both teams desire to accumulate points. At the half time whistle Edenbridge found themselves three points to the good at 19-22

The G’s halftime rethink was about re-establishing control of the ball, the ruck and perhaps most importantly territory. The set pieces were already overwhelmingly E.G.’s domain. The 80metre kick down wind at the start of the half established the pattern and three quick tries saw the G’s pull away in the most exciting clinical fashion. Now, with the territorial advantage and confidence restored, the G’s tackled anything that moved to snuff out any danger in centre field. The build up was intense and the delivery sometimes sublime, none better than Captain Beards silky classy, run in after breaking the line 30 metres out.

Credit to Edenbridge for keeping going and they were rewarded by a late score only for James Winter to expertly round off another good move to score his fourth try between the posts. The forwards were immense, the front row had a larger Edenbridge trio in their pocket, the second row and no.8’s were first to the breakdowns and still found time to make line breaks and support the backs. Sammy Carlile at scrum half kept the ball moving and encouraged his players to hit the gain line all day long to knit the team together.
The full list of try scorers:- Ben Beard 4, James Winter 4, Tom Edwards, Harley Stanbridge & Ollie Adams with 8 conversions.

The Squad:- Harley Stanbridge, George Beet, Oscar Arro, James Busby, Dan Harding, Caleb Rebelo, Tom Edwards, Sammy Carlile, Ryan Whiteman, Tom Skinner, Ben Beard, Or Shay, James Winter, Ollie Adams, Jack Howcroft, Henry Aronson, Ollie Roberts.
Man of the Match:- Ben Beard