Bideford Under 10s v South Molton in the sun!

South Molton were this weeks visitors to King Georges, always a tough fixture against a team that travel full of passion, and a solid fry up from Mole Valley. Being afforded the privilege of playing on the main pitch means only one thing….there’s a lockdown looming!
Over indulgence on advent calendars appeared to have an adverse effect on the warm up and first few minutes as we were uncharacteristically lethargic…and quiet!
The first half saw us playing up the downhill, and despite the slow start, we tackled well against the elusive Molton runners, turning defence in to attack. This soon resulted in the combative Olly Bloodworth breaking through for the opening try. A flurry of tries followed, with Olly B leading the way with his usual strong running. To their credit, South Molton remained defiant and tackled well, and had some very strong runners who looked as though they were getting their side back in to the game…..until Will Harris woke up. His diet of raw steak and fish heads kicked in, and anything that moved got cut in half, in another display of gladiator like tackling. This allowed the team to reorganise themselves and bring back the structure that had been lacking until now. Will Slee started to run the show from 10, with another decent passing display to compliment his jinking runs. Contrary to media speculation, he didn’t pull his calf pre-match – that was his Dad! Jacob continued to rampage like a young bullock, knocking people over for fun. Henry Morris was also instrumental in chopping down the strong Molton runners so the attackers could benefit from the turnover.
Cole quietly went about his business with a solid defensive display and ran in a decent couple of scores from distance.
The second half saw much of the same. Josh Fisher was superb all morning, leading the line in defence, and running with real purpose. After waking from his Fortnite induced coma, Jack M got in to the game with some strong running and passing, and dogged work turning defence in to attack. This allowed his pals from St Mary’s to benefit – Lottie whose running and passing was instrumental in many of our scores, and Oliver Jackson whose running game from 9 was a real pleasure to watch.
A good day at the office, and with some cracking individual and team scores, all stemming from well organised and brave defence. I stand to be corrected, but I’m pretty sure we kept a clean sheet, which at age grade rugby is something to be very proud of!
Thanks to South Molton for coming over, we look forward to the reverse fixture in the New Year, and thanks to those that supported on what turned out to be a lovely morning weather wise!!
And what brought a real smile to our face, is that the finest traditions of rugby are still there – players using up their Lynx Africa in the shower on the lead up to Christmas, and then all chugging their drinks together in the clubhouse after!! One is pleased to report Jack downed his first!!
As always, thanks to the kitchen team!!