Canterbury
Blackheath U18s v Canterbury U18s – Sunday 21st December
This was a tight match against two well-matched sides both looking to build on previous League wins. Blackheath started well and forced a penalty mid-way into the Canterbury half which was converted (Bristow) for 3-0 lead after 5 mins. Canterbury responded very well and played through the phases to score a well-worked try that was converted to take a 3-10 lead after 11 mins.
Blackheath then scored the try of the match with the ball (for once) being played through the hands and finding the left winger (Olonma) who went from within his own half to score a scorching try in the corner, beating a number of defenders on the way. This made the score 8-10 after 21 mins and that remained the score at half-time. In the interim Blackheath had a player yellow-carded for reacting to some aggressive play and played the rest of the first half with 14 men.
5 mins into the second half saw a mistake near the Canterbury line, following excellent foraging by Redmill, which allowed Blackheath to pounce on a loose ball to score under the posts (Shea). This was again converted (Bristow) for Blackheath to regain the lead 15-10. Canterbury continued to push on and Blackheath conceded a penalty just outside the 22 for Canterbury to bring the score back to 15-13 (50 mins).
There followed a period where both sides made inroads only for defences to hold sway until another piece of ill-discipline by Blackheath saw a further penalty awarded that enabled Canterbury to regain the lead 15-16. (65 mins).
With only a couple of minutes remaining the Blackheath pack got moving forward mid-way into the Canterbury half and a penalty that could see Blackheath regain the lead in the final minutes was conceded just outside the Canterbury 22 metres line. Unfortunately the kick went wide and Canterbury kicked and chased a long ball deep into the Blackheath corner, which forced an error from the retreating winger allowing Canterbury to score a late try which they converted with virtually the last kick of the match for a 15-23 win.
A very tight game of high quality which either side could have won and saw the lead change hands 6 times. Congratulations to Canterbury on a fine result. (Report: Colin Carlin Pictures Jerry & Chris Hughes)
Read MoreThis was a tight match against two well-matched sides both looking to build on previous League wins. Blackheath started well and forced a penalty mid-way into the Canterbury half which was converted (Bristow) for 3-0 lead after 5 mins. Canterbury responded very well and played through the phases to score a well-worked try that was converted to take a 3-10 lead after 11 mins.
Blackheath then scored the try of the match with the ball (for once) being played through the hands and finding the left winger (Olonma) who went from within his own half to score a scorching try in the corner, beating a number of defenders on the way. This made the score 8-10 after 21 mins and that remained the score at half-time. In the interim Blackheath had a player yellow-carded for reacting to some aggressive play and played the rest of the first half with 14 men.
5 mins into the second half saw a mistake near the Canterbury line, following excellent foraging by Redmill, which allowed Blackheath to pounce on a loose ball to score under the posts (Shea). This was again converted (Bristow) for Blackheath to regain the lead 15-10. Canterbury continued to push on and Blackheath conceded a penalty just outside the 22 for Canterbury to bring the score back to 15-13 (50 mins).
There followed a period where both sides made inroads only for defences to hold sway until another piece of ill-discipline by Blackheath saw a further penalty awarded that enabled Canterbury to regain the lead 15-16. (65 mins).
With only a couple of minutes remaining the Blackheath pack got moving forward mid-way into the Canterbury half and a penalty that could see Blackheath regain the lead in the final minutes was conceded just outside the Canterbury 22 metres line. Unfortunately the kick went wide and Canterbury kicked and chased a long ball deep into the Blackheath corner, which forced an error from the retreating winger allowing Canterbury to score a late try which they converted with virtually the last kick of the match for a 15-23 win.
A very tight game of high quality which either side could have won and saw the lead change hands 6 times. Congratulations to Canterbury on a fine result. (Report: Colin Carlin Pictures Jerry & Chris Hughes)
