Hallelujah!!!!

On Rememberance Sunday, the East Grinstead u16's won their second league match of the season by four tries to three. Those are the basic facts, the the story of their journey to a sumptuously impressive performance against a fiercely competitive Heath squad, playing at home needs emphasising.
The victory was richly deserved and never really in doubt after a third quarter performance that would have graced a top of the A league table clash. Over the last eighteen months they have learnt the importance of working for each other, of making the ball do the work, of hitting rucks, mauls & tackles hard and decisively, of tackling properly and looking for space with ball in hand & always backing up to secure the ball. In the third quarter, it all came together and the match was won.
The match started well - always a good omen, when on three minutes Jack Howcroft, playing on the wing, cut through from halfway to cross the line on our first real back line attack. On twenty minutes events turned against the young G's after a period of Heath pressure, when Harley Stanbridge was injured as he hit the ground hard in a last ditch tackle as he was making a break. Harley took no further part in the match and Henry Aronson came on to the wing. In the time it took to regroup, Hayward's Heath had equalised and Jack was limping off with a recourrence of his foot injury.
With Heath generuosly taking us back to 15, as we had travelled with only 16 on the day, we were in an uncertain period. In the past, we may have lost concentration and control, but not these 14 men!
This G's team was playing rugby and making headway against a buoyed Heath outfit. The forwards took control and pushed the opposition back until Or Shay saw enough space to ground the ball under the posts - presenting a more simple conversion for Ollie Adams.
The 12-5 lead at half time was nothing more than they deserved.
Now came the third quarter. In a complete team performance of aggression and application, the match was taken away from an increasingly irritable Hayward's Heath. It didn't start well as Heath scored their second try to bring the score back to 12-10.
Then the G's collective determination paid off. Henry sticking to his wing, was put away on halfway and so comprehensively beat the last line of defence, that he was able to dot the ball down between the posts 19-10.
Four minutes later, a move involving the backs and the forwards was not going to be stopped as Or used his strength to score his second try. The resulting conversion hit the centre of the crossbar from wide out, a real shame as Ollie deserved to add two more points to his season's haul for his complete performance, 24-10.
Heath battered away at a wonderfully resolute G's defence and didn't look convincing until the G's turned off at a penalty on halfway that allowed Heath to cross for a consolation try in the last two minutes.
The match was won, the Man of the Match award went to Ben Beard as Captain who had inspired the performance on the field, as it would have been wrong to select any single player - they all contributed in a magnificent victory and a quality game of rugby.