Didsbury Toc H Junior Colts vs. Oswestry Junior Colts
Oswestry only had 14 players and not a full front row so scrums were uncontested.
Didsbury kicked off. Good drop-out by Grogan and he ball was taken on by Kennedy into the Oswestry 22.
Scrum to Didsbury and the ball went out to the backs and with good runs by Bolton and Taylor Didsbury advanced to within 15m of the Oswestry line. Eventually a knock-on gave Oswestry a scrum and they managed to clear their lines.
Didsbury again went on the attack and a penalty gave them a lineout on the Oswestry 22. They won the ball and with forwards and backs combining well drove up to the Oswestry line. From the resulting scrum they again drove for the line before the ball came out to Taylor who passed to Ballantine who scored in the corner. It was not converted. Didsbury 5 Oswestry 0.
From the restart Oswestry gathered the ball and progressed into the Didsbury 22. Oswestry got a penalty for Didsbury being offside. They went for goal but unfortunately hit the post. A good kick by Grogan and following up by Taylor and Kennedy removed some pressure on Didsbury.
Play became a little scrappy with both sides trying to gain possession. Oswestry eventually made good ground thanks to a positive run by their number 15. A penalty to them took them to within 3m of the Didsbury line. Unfortunately they lost the ball and Ballantine, Grogan, Molloy and Quinn took play up to the Oswestry 22. Didsbury continued to attack and only some excellent tackling by Oswestry kept them out.
Oswestry countered and managed to press up to the Didsbury 22 where only good tackles by Walsh and Mullen stopped them. However, Oswestry were awarded a penalty and duly took the 3 points. Didsbury 5 Oswestry 3.
From the restart Oswestry went on the attack again but tackles by Davenport-Jenkins and Andrews halted their progress. Unfortunately a Didsbury player was sin binned for persistent infringements. From the resulting penalty Oswestry did not find touch and Didsbury countered with Andrews, Camilieri and Molloy to the fore. The backs were then brought into play with Merrick, Taylor and Ballantine making positive runs. Perrie and Bolton took the ball up to the Oswestry 15 line before Andrews and Kennedy got to within 5m of the Oswestry line. Oswestry got a scrum and elected to kick but did not find touch and Molloy gathered and went for the line. From the ensuing maul Andrews forced his way over score under the posts. Grogan got the conversion. Didsbury 12 Oswestry 3. Half time.
Oswestry restarted the second half and Didsbury were soon on the attack again and a penalty saw Grogan find touch on the Oswestry 22. Although they won the lineout Didsbury gave away a penalty and Oswestry were able to relieve the pressure and were awarded a penalty for offside. Credit to Oswestry as they ran the ball and were only stopped by good tackles from Bolton, Quinn and Mullen.
A good passage of play saw Oswestry get to within 5m of the Didsbury line. However, Didsbury managed to withstand the pressure and eventually advanced up to halfway. A penalty, quickly taken by Andrews, saw the ball go to Perrie and Molloy before releasing Ryan for a good run into the Oswestry 22. Didsbury exerted a lot of pressure but could not score and Oswestry eventually managed to counter get into the Didsbury half. Another penalty conceded by Didsbury saw Oswestry move closer to the Didsbury line. However, the Didsbury defence held and Andrews pounced on loose ball and made a run up to the halfway line. A scrum to Didsbury and a blind-side move took them up to the Oswestry 22. Didsbury retained the ball with Merrick making a run for the line before passing to Andrews to score. Grogan’s conversion hit the post Didsbury 17 Oswestry 3.
Oswestry restarted and again pressed but time was running out and the match ended Didsbury17 Oswestry 3.
This was an entertaining game and all credit to Oswestry for trying to play an attacking game.
Despite the win it would be fair to say that Didsbury made hard work of it. More commitment was needed at times with too many players taking the ball on by themselves and becoming isolated. Again, too many unnecessary penalties were given away. Had Didsbury played to their potential they would have undoubtedly scored more tries.