Pocklington vs Harrogate: Rain didn't stop play!

Sunday 13th of October
Harrogate Under 9s fielded evenly matched teams, the Vipers and the Cobras, against Pocklington's A & B teams. The weather was more seasonal than of late with heavy rain and winds, flowing fast games were not to be expected but coaches and supporters were pleasantly surprised!

The Vipers started their first game still half in bed with Pocklington racing into the lead; they were clearly up for a game and their direct running and strong tackling initially proved too much for Harrogate. The second half saw Luca Going being first to every breakdown passing the ball swiftly to Matthew Leatham who took control and distributed the ball stylishly to Finn Wright and Liam Wood who ran strongly off his shoulder to punch holes in the Pocklington defence. Eddie Bachelor yet again showed the way with his tackling which was technically superb but even more impressive was his commitment. The game finished with Harrogate one try short of a draw, an outstanding second half helping to close the gap and please the coaches and supporters alike.

The Vipers next game was against the Pocklington B side and Harrogate took control of this game straight from the start. Luca Foster made rumbling runs up the middle to make valuable ground and take several Pocklington players with him the process. Tom Wieland in only his second game used his pace to avoid several tackles and score in the corner, well done Tom. Fergus Lindley also made several wide runs beating the opposition and crossing the try line only to be tackled into touch. The touchline proved to be great defender for Pocklington with several Harrogate players stepping or being tackled into touch… a lesson for future games perhaps? Liam Wood continued to run some excellent lines and when running wide from deep onto a pass was unstoppable. All the Vipers improved in their tackling in the second game but of special note was Josh Sharkey who made some outstanding cover tackles to stop certain tries.

The Cobras got off to a great start with William Booth stepping up to the defensive challenge, his performance easily made him top of the tackle count in this game…..exactly what the coaches asked of him before the game, outstanding! Harry Baskind although not top of the tackle count showed everyone how it should be done with excellent technique noted and applauded by the crowd. Harrogate continued to improve throughout the game and fluent play over several phases and with nearly all the team touching the ball resulted in Max Bird scoring an excellent try, a great team effort that helped Harrogate Cobras earn their first victory of the day.

The next game against the Pocklington A team proved a little harder with stronger opposition and a more direct and aggressive approach, Harrogate felt the pressure. Direct running, as always, from Tommy “Bish Bosh” Carswell took the ball to Pocklington and challenged their defence. This opened up opportunities out wide for Luca Cotton who was able to use his lightening pace to score round the outside of the Pocklington defence. Eddie Swainston and Hugo Millar both new to the squad this year made excellent progress and looked more at home this week; they both made a valuable contribution to the team’s performance, and we look forward to seeing further improvements as the season goes on. Ben Green missing last week gave a good all-round performance as he teamed up with Finn Baker to put in some strong tackles on the hardy Pocklington offence. Although Harrogate took the upper hand Pocklington did not give up and continued to play some good rugby, strong in defence and quick in attack. Their progress was halted by the Baker duo demonstrating on more than one occasion the “Baker Combo Crunch” with Milly Baker taking the legs and Finn Baker the rest . A fantastic work rate from both these two throughout the game….keep it up the Bakes!

Played 4 won 3 but more importantly two fantastic team performances putting the early season training into practice.

At the end it was great to see one of the Pocklington lads come over and shake the hand of a Harrogate player who had clattered him in a tackle earlier on in the game, no hard feelings and great respect for each other. That’s what the game is all about.

This was a fantastic squad performance against some strong opposition with both Harrogate teams gelling yet further. We should all look forward to seeing how much further this squad will improve this season and beyond.

Roll on next Sunday!

Andy Leatham