U14s Nuneaton 12 - Melbourne Gold 5

Here we go again, this was the forth time Melbourne U14s had visited Nuneaton over the last 2 years, a well respected club which we knew would be a tough afternoon of rugby on and off the field, the Golds gave a debut to club captain Lewis Quinn, and with 3 additional DPP players in the squad we would be in for a good game .

The respect to those who had given so much was impeccable by both teams and supporters and was a pleasure to witness a faultless 2 minutes.

The game started with neither team wanting to back down first, and there was nothing between the two sides, unlike, Courtney Lawes who was clearly offside.

At the request of Pete Welsh, from the U15s, we will continue with songs throughout and given ABBA is his favourite group we will have a go at squeezing them in, just like Scotland did with 8 tries yesterday.

Back to the game and we welcome back Robin after a few weeks and like a Super Trouper he gave us great speed out wide. His early run down the wing would not be his last, and gave a lot of hope, the first half would see good runs from Northy, Brad, Quinny and Bailey. Nuneaton then scored 2 quick tries, one from a penalty move, and the 2nd from some scrappy play out wide and then we were 12-0 down.

Another dangerous play saw the referee have enough and the Nuneaton player was given 5 minutes sinbin, which equalled up as Ollie Smith had to be helped from the park from the incident.

Half time and a quick re group, we knew 2nd half we would be playing with the sun and wind at our back and 2 tries down we knew the 2nd half would be Winner Takes It All.

The second half would see more infringements by both teams and desperate defence on both lines, Melbourne went close with Elis, and a good driving maul from the lineout .

Brad’s performance for all of the game was always Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and gave us a real threat from full back.

With 5 minutes left on the clock Melbourne had a scrum 10m out, with Jones desperate to go blindside it was suggested he may want to reconsider and he picked up the ball and ran over the fly half to score, unfortunately the conversion was missed, but Melbourne still had a chance to draw the match, but unfortunately the clock was running out and Melbourne could feel the game Slipping Through their Fingers , and Nuneaton ran backwards and kicked the ball into touch to win the game 12-5.

Good performances throughout the pack with Fraser, Paulo, both Harrsion's, Hew, Mason, Fraser, Rueban, Tom G, Ellis and Ben all having a great game.

No Man of the Match shared between the whole team.

When All is Said and Done, under real pressure all morning, Melbourne U14s showed Teamwork, Respect, Fun, Sportsmanship and a lot of Discipline.

Big thank you to First Aider Joanne who was like a Dancing Queen on and off the pitch.

The home made shortbread went down faster than Napoleon at Waterloo, a big thank you Mrs Bentley!