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Sun 09 Oct 2016
West Park U16s
Boys u17s
71
0
Spirited performance - but West Park just too strong!
Jez Willard10 Oct 2016 - 07:52
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In the match against West Park, Harrogate, despite some spirited performances, was no match for a well drilled, organised and disciplined opposition which resulted in a final scoreline of 71 unanswered points.
West Park, out to stamp their authority early on in the game scored their first try within 3 minutes of the start of the first half having won a scrum in Harrogates 22 yd area after Harrogate had gone to ground with the ball from the kickoff. From the scrum, West Park fed the ball swiftly along their line using the full length of the pitch, rounding Harrogate’s defence to score. This set the pattern for the match with West Park using the blistering pace of their line to deadly effect. Regular attacks were launched at Harrogate’s defence and unfortunately gaps were found on a frequent basis. This resulted in the scoreboard ticking over with regularity reaching 5 tries, most scored in similar fashion to the first, one conversion missed, giving a score of 33 – 0 at half time.
The second half saw much of the same as the first with West Park breaching Harrogates’s line with seeming ease and regularly crossing the whitewash to score. Their second half tally was 6 tries, 2 missed conversions, giving a final score of 71.
Although West Park thoroughly deserved their win, the scoreline does not do the Harrogate players justice. Generally our set pieces were good. We did lose one lineout to the opposition but we also played well in the scrum, taking one against the head. A couple of times we pushed West Park back with a fired up rolling mall. We also made some goods breaks of our own only to be thwarted by some resilient defensive work by the opponents. Some hugely courageous tackles were put in by individual players, putting themselves on the line in an effort to stem the West Park onslaught
An encouraging sign was, despite the pounding we were receiving, and the physicality of the match for the full 60 minutes, the Harrogate team did not allow their heads to sag but kept on giving as good as they could right up until the final whistle. Something we can be proud of. Although the score paints a gloomy picture, there were some positives in the match and, providing we take some lessons from it, all will not be lost.
Stylishly penned by our freelance journalist, Mike Wylie.
West Park, out to stamp their authority early on in the game scored their first try within 3 minutes of the start of the first half having won a scrum in Harrogates 22 yd area after Harrogate had gone to ground with the ball from the kickoff. From the scrum, West Park fed the ball swiftly along their line using the full length of the pitch, rounding Harrogate’s defence to score. This set the pattern for the match with West Park using the blistering pace of their line to deadly effect. Regular attacks were launched at Harrogate’s defence and unfortunately gaps were found on a frequent basis. This resulted in the scoreboard ticking over with regularity reaching 5 tries, most scored in similar fashion to the first, one conversion missed, giving a score of 33 – 0 at half time.
The second half saw much of the same as the first with West Park breaching Harrogates’s line with seeming ease and regularly crossing the whitewash to score. Their second half tally was 6 tries, 2 missed conversions, giving a final score of 71.
Although West Park thoroughly deserved their win, the scoreline does not do the Harrogate players justice. Generally our set pieces were good. We did lose one lineout to the opposition but we also played well in the scrum, taking one against the head. A couple of times we pushed West Park back with a fired up rolling mall. We also made some goods breaks of our own only to be thwarted by some resilient defensive work by the opponents. Some hugely courageous tackles were put in by individual players, putting themselves on the line in an effort to stem the West Park onslaught
An encouraging sign was, despite the pounding we were receiving, and the physicality of the match for the full 60 minutes, the Harrogate team did not allow their heads to sag but kept on giving as good as they could right up until the final whistle. Something we can be proud of. Although the score paints a gloomy picture, there were some positives in the match and, providing we take some lessons from it, all will not be lost.
Stylishly penned by our freelance journalist, Mike Wylie.
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