Junior Colts sign off in style
MACCLESFIELD U17 .... 48 SANDBACH U17 ............. 38
WELCOMING Sandbach to Priory Park is always a pleasure and last Sunday was no exception.
The first try came at 1m25s to Macclesfield (5-0) the conversion missed in the wind. Coaches rubbing their hands together thinking “great, we have this.” This was followed by 30 minutes of Sandbach action.
Within 5 minutes, Sandbach were up (5-7) after a stunning try from their fast backs, outrunning and swerving through the entire Macc defence.
The restart saw Sandbach dominating the field. Macclesfield took the highball only to be turned over inside their own 22. A fierce attack from Sandbach saw them go over again, right under the sticks.
Dominant in the rucks, and keeping the ball away from Macc players say the half time whistle with the score 5-31 and a seemingly impossible hill to climb. Unfortunately 2nd row Dylan Tyrrell was
taken off with a suspected broken collarbone.
Second half KO and a complete about turn by Macclesfield. Dominating the field, winning ball and managing to keep the ball. Some clever play from the forwards saw the next try quickly from the prop.
Restart saw Sandbach mishandle and take the ball into touch on the 5m line. Macc won the lineout and drove a maul over for the next spoils. 15-31 and tails high. Everything went Macc’s way for most of the half and they were soon ahead at 34-31. What a comeback!
Sandbach restarted as the clock ticked down, and they clearly had ideas on turning the tide. A penalty to them midfield saw a perfect kick towards the corner. Lineout won, a further penalty to Sandbach saw another lineout 8m out, and Sandbach could sniff the goal.
However, Macc had other ideas. Sandbach were turned over in the ruck, a quick backwards pass from Noah Wolstenholme saw captain Jake Jones break through a gap and sprint 90m to score, converted by Hugo Duckworth in an excellent kick leaving the score 41-31.
Sadly Jakes heroics resulted in a suspected fractured elbow as he landed on it scoring the try. The bench (of 3) empty, Hugo Duckworth took over captaincy. Taking the restart ball, Macclesfield launched a fierce attack pinning Sandbach in their 22. Fast ball from the back of the ruck and an exploited overlap put macc 48-31 ahead. Just as the final whistle approached Sandbach took a consolation try, converting to finish the game 48-38.
A thrilling encounter between two teams that have played each other for 10 years now. As always played in the right spirit, where Rugby is the winner.
Comments from the Referee: “For me, the players set the tone of the match and they were more than decent. Where they asked questions, I answered them. When I gave instructions to try to prevent having too many scrums or penalties, they listened and responded (mainly!). I thoroughly enjoyed the match because I think both sets of players enjoyed it.”
Sadly this is the first, and last game for the Junior Colts. The two colts teams will be combining due to various reasons, so these players will now be part of the Senior Colts team.
Good luck to Sandbach for the rest of the season and we will definitely have that final game as always.