Sarries2009 U15's Match Report

After more than a month without a game due to the recent bad weather, it was a great relief to receive confirmation that this match could go ahead. Considering the heavy snow and rain, the Sidmouth pitch was in superb condition and the bright, warm winter sun made playing conditions near perfect. In recent years, Sidmouth have shown themselves to be one of the strongest teams in the county in this age group and so Saracens were pleased that, for almost the first time this season, they were able to field something close to their strongest possible side. Sidmouth began the game in characteristic fashion, moving the ball wide to their wings but their every effort was countered by the Sarries backs who held a disciplined defensive line. On two occasions Sidmouth managed to create an overlap but the Sarries' back row of Gyles Southwell, Steve Ashford and Shimi Wilson covered across to close the gaps. As the half progressed, Sidmouth seemed to become more and more frustrated by the quality of the Saracens defending. Their flawed strategy to overcome this obstacle was to run laterally rather than with any real penetration. When Sarries had the opportunity, their own backs also looked to move the ball through the hands and wingers Tom White and Calum McLaughlin both posed a threat to the home side. The visitor's fly half, Ollie Goodfellow, also looked to kick intelligently to put the home side on the back foot. The two sets of forwards were evenly matched in the loose and at set scrums. Whichever side entered contact with the ball seemed to be able to retain possession without too many difficulties. This left the lineouts as the area where turnovers were most likely. Greg Willmington and Ryan Jenner in particular managed to disrupt on the Sidmouth throws, but Sarries also had some of their own line outs stolen. Indeed, the opening score came from one such line out. Sidmouth had put the ball into touch ten metres from the Sarries tryline. Sarries chose to aim for the back of the line but the throw had just too much weight on it. Sidmouth's flanker was on hand to gratefully collect the loose ball and just managed to score despite the close attentions of two tacklers. The conversion attempt drifted across the face of the posts. Despite this setback, Sarries continued to play to their game plan and this brought a deserved reward shortly before the end of the half. They pressured a Sidmouth player into a handling error and were awarded a scrum just outside the Sidmouth 22. Scott Burgan span the ball to Goodfellow who passed in turn to inside centre Ollie Palmer. Palmer spotted a gap in the Sid defence which he exploited with deadly precision. Having sidestepped his opponent and broken clear, he drew the fullback before releasing a perfectly weighted pass to his centre partner, Theo Miller, who scored to the left of the posts. Miller attempted to convert his own try but hit the upright. This made the half time score 5 - 5.

The second half was as evenly contested as the first. The Sarries forwards began to exert a degree of control, with props Zach Lee and Ben Warren running strongly with ball in hand. Despite being one of the smaller players on the pitch, hooker Tom Raymont rucked and mauled like a demon. Sidmouth's backs enjoyed plenty of possession but, as in the first period, their attacking efforts were well marshalled by the determined Sarries tacklers. They varied their approach by looking to kick into space but Sarries fullback, Ed Williams was equal to everything that came his way and showed good decision making as to whether to return the kick or run. The home side did regain the lead when their Number Eight picked up from the base of a scrum on the Sarries five metre line. He used a combination of pace and power to touch down halfway between the posts and the left hand corner flag. Again, the conversion attempt narrowly missed. As play restarted, Sarries winger, White suffered a slight hamstring strain that required a reshuffle of the backline. Replacement James Slater came on at flyhalf where he gave a fine demonstration of passing and kicking from hand. Goodfellow moved to left wing, a position from which he would later make a decisive contribution. For the next ten minutes, play moved swiftly from end to end. Sarries levelled the score from a scrum just inside the Sidmouth 22. Sidmouth had the put in and, despite intense pressure, won possession. As the ball bobbled from the back of the scrum, the Sid scrum half was closed down by both Sarries' flankers. He attempted to kick for touch but sliced the ball high across the pitch. Goodfellow positioned himself perfectly to pluck the ball from the air and as the Sidmouth defenders closed on him he calmly passed to Miller who had looped to the outside. Miller just managed to evade the despairing tacklers to score wide on the left. This time, the sweetly struck conversion dropped neatly over the crossbar to give Sarries a precious two point lead. Gyles Southwell then took a well earned rest to allow Alex Kelly to make a promising debut at blindside flanker. For the final five minutes, Sidmouth threw everything they had left at the visitors. Their forwards continued to ruck and maul well and their three quarters probed for a chink in the Sarries defence that just didn't exist. Sarries held firm and were deserving winners of a game that proved the value of teamwork and organisation in defence, combined with the incisiveness to capitalise on attacking opportunities when they occur.

Ollie Palmer was named Sarries Man of the Match for his tireless tackling, silky running and assured passing.