Sutton Coldfield v Melbourne

After a strong game v Paviors last week, an away game to a team we have never played before in Sutton Coldfield was in store for the mighty Under 14s.
Their previous match reports and scores suggested that they would give us a good game.
With Melbourne winning 80 - 7 it suggest otherwise - however the spectators were treated to an almost flawless Melbourne display with tries being run in from numerous different attacks.
The team started this week with the welcome return of Cam , Ben , and Alex after recovering from injuries.
From the kick off we gathered the ball and from the first dominant ruck Cam picked the ball up and ran straight through the Sutton Coldfield defence to score in the corner. Tommy nailed a cracking conversion from a difficult position.
The scrum was then tested - with Rohan starting at front row for the first time and Robert taking on the hooker role we were not sure how we would compete - there was no need to worry - all 8 members pushed hard securing their own ball and taking a fair few balls against the head.
The lineout worked equally as well with some nice moves allowing the backs the space to run. This was where we saw the team at their best today. At times we saw a fluid ball coming from the breakdown through numerous pairs of hands allowing the backs the space to run and score, Ben and Robert making the absolute most of the opportunities with some great tries between them - at one point we were treated to one of the best tries the team has ever scored.
The forwards also did an outstanding job today with great rucking - an area we have had to work on in the last two weeks - and some great front foot rugby. Alex stood out, gaining us some hard yards from the breakdown over and over again today, taking the rest of the forwards with him. Cam was a welcome addition back into the side and had plenty of barnstorming runs, bouncing opposition players asunder with his runs. A highlight was his pick and go from the back of the scrum towards the end of the game from within our own 22 to score at the far end - tremendous individual try!
Whilst Sutton Coldfield never got into the game and made life pretty easy for us - we can only ever play what is in front of us - the key thing is the boys played well!
The 18 players played exceptionally well today - however Alex's hard yards marked him as Man of The Match.

Another day to be proud of your son!

Final score 7 - 80.

By Peter Welsh