Sarries2009 U15's Match Report

U15's - Match Report (21/02/10)
Paignton - Home (Lost 14-15) Devon RFU U15's Cup

This delayed Devon Cup quarter final clash pitted two closely matched sides in a tremendous contest. Saracens flew out of the blocks, pinning the visitors back in their 22. Sarries looked confident as they moved the ball from side to side, probing for any weakness in the Paignton defence. Locks Greg Willmington and Ryan Jenner both stole ball from Paignton line outs and props Zach Lee and Ben Warren drove strongly into contact. Paignton battled hard to repel wave after wave of attack and finally conceded with ten minutes on the clock. Saracens were awarded a scrum on the right of the pitch, near the Paignton 22. Scrum half Scott Burgan fed James Slater who tokk the ball at pace, then passed on to Ollie Palmer. Palmer spotted a slight dog leg in the oncoming line which he jinked through to run clear beneath the posts. Theo Miller added the simple conversion to give Sarries a 7 point lead. To this point, Saracens had had all the play and looked to be in total control. This all changed from the re-start. Paignton roared back with their big, athletic back row players making good ground picking and going from around the breakdowns. Sarries' back row of Jack Marks, Shimi Wilson and Steve Ashford all put in a number of strong tackles to try to preserve their lead but Paignton were relentless. They tried their luck out wide but found it difficult to get around Tom White and Calum McLaughlin on the wings. The visitors were unlucky not to score when an attack through their forwards crossed the line only for the ball to be lost forwards. Slater made a number of excellent relieving kicks to touch form deep in his own half but Paignton refused to be denied. With five minutes of the half remaining, they got their just reward when, with the Sarries defenders drawn into a ruck, their flanker picked up and forced his way over. The successful conversion meant that at half time, the scores were level.

Paignton continued to press at the start of the second half. The driving maul was used particularly effectively to gain ground and pull in the Sarries defenders. With just a few minutes gone, they were awarded a penalty and astutely elected to kick for the posts. The kick was successful and gave Paignton the lead for the first time in the match. Play then moved from end to end. Paignton looked to test Saracens' fullback, Ollie Goodfellow, by kicking deep but Goodfellow was equal to the task both running back or returning the kicks with interest. Where the Paignton forwards were stronger in the mauls, the rucks were evenly contested and in the scrums, Sarries were the more solid. Their hooker, Tom Raymont had a fine game, winning a number of strikes against the head. The next score came after Sarries had knocked on to give Paignton a scrum 10 metres from their opponents line. After the initial number 8 pick up had been foiled, Paignton's lively scrum half darted away from the resultant ruck. The Saracens tacklers went in too high to stop his forward momentum and he was awarded the try despite a suspicion that he may have lost control of the ball as he touched down. The conversion narrowly missed but the Paignton lead had been stretched to 8 points. Once again the balance of the game changed, with Saracens forcing the pace in their attempt to get back on terms. Jenner showed his impressive turn of speed as he broke through the Paignton defence from distance. When he was brought down just short, the supporting Sarries players arrived in numbers and took the ball over the line but a Paignton player was able to get his hand under the ball to prevent the try. Shortly after, the deficit was reduced from a scrum inside the Paignton 22. Shimi Wilson picked up from number 8 and strode determinedly towards the line. Despite the attentions of two tacklers, he was able to force his way aver and Miller slotted the conversion to bring Sarries back to within a point. This set up a nail-biting finish. Paignton mounted attacks, looking for the score that would have made their position more comfortable. Handling errors crept into the Saracens' play in good positions as the pressure of chasing the game began to tell and good opportunities went begging. With the final whistle imminent, Sarries had one final chance as they set up a drop goal opportunity in front of the posts. Unfortunately the possession from the ruck was a little too slow. The chance was gone and, with it, the game.

The closeness of the 14 - 15 final score accurately reflected how evenly matched these two sides were and, in truth, the result could have gone either way. However, Saracens can have no complaints and wish Paignton all the best in their semi final against Devonport Services.