U12 Reports

Matlock U12s 50

Ashbourne U12s 0

Matlock welcomed three new players to this encounter, Jordan Crapper, Tristan kawalek and Callum Wheelhouse, and each made a significant contribution to the game. Ashbourne, playing together for the first time, started strongly and mauled well but exceptional work in the contact area from Harry Spencer, Thomas Cruttenden, Harry Stephenson and Charlie Short meant that time and again the home side came out with the ball. Philip Eastwood who had an outstanding game at scrum-half made good use of the possession and the first try for Matlock came from his quick ball to fly-half Mullaney who deftly sent a grubber kick through the Ashbourne line which winger Ben Howland chased brilliantly to collect at pace and score in the corner. Full-back Jim Neil doubled the points tally for Matlock by coming into the back-line to take a well-timed pass from Ella Ritchie and use his mazy running to elude the would-be tacklers. Captain Daniel Ryde was next to score from a well executed scissors move with Mullaney, which sent Ryde running through the confused defence. His fellow centre, Ben Slack, promptly followed suit shortly after by powering through several Ashbourne tacklers and reaching for the line. The Matlock No8 Curtis Bolam, who had a tremendous game, then got reward in the form of points by stealing the ball in a maul and forcing his way through several Ashbourne forwards before touching down. Mullaney ended the scoring in the first half by using his trade-mark dummy to wrong-foot the defence.

Matlock made several changes to their line-up for the second period but as the score reflects the commitment was no less intense. Joe Goodridge distributed the ball well at inside centre and smart interplay between him and Mullaney led to the latter opening the try account for this second session. Bolam added his second try after second-row Luke Evans passed him the ball from a maul and Bolam burst through the Ashbourne defence. Jordan Crapper then gave a marvellous display of powerful running by shrugging off three tacklers and claiming another five points. Minutes later Tristan Kawalek found himself on the end of a superb pass from scrum-half Thomas Parkin and Kawalek used his pace to leave the opposition behind and score in the corner. Parkin quickly added another try after Harvey Hosein jinked his way through the Ashbourne team to take the play deep into the oppositions half and Parkin was on hand in support to dive over in the opposite corner. Just before the final whistle after tenacious mauling by both teams on the half-way line, debutante Callum Wheelhouse found himself in space with the ball and raced up the wing to put Matlock back on the attack. By this time Harry "The Mountain" Mellor was well into his stride at prop and when Wheelhouse got stopped Mellor ripped the ball from his hands and set off on his own mission for a try. There was never any doubt in the minds of the crowd about the outcome and although Mellor lost his boot just short of the try-line he kept the ball and fought his way through eight defenders to claim his try and end the scoring.

Matlock U12s 35

With the pitch resembling an Olympic swimming pool Bakewell elected to defend the deep-end leaving Matlock paddling in the shallows. The visitors were first to attack but despite several attempts to score Bakewell defended strongly and Matlock seemed to be treading water for the first few minutes. However, superb rucking from Harry Spencer and Thomas Cruttenden soon gave Matlock good possession and Curtis Bolam at No8 took the ball at the base and slid several meters on his front to claim the first try. This seemed to break the deadlock and excellent handling from the Matlock Captain Daniel Ryde and his team-mate Joe Goodridge in the centres broke open the defense to allow winger Liam Naylor to wade towards the line. The move was stopped just short of the high tide mark but scrum-half Philip Eastwood spotted a gap on the blind side and took this opportunity well, diving into the water to obtain five points for the try and 9.8 for the double-pike position and clean entry! Harry Stevenson, Harry Mellor and Charlie Short scrummaged brilliantly throughout to steal several balls against the head but despite this and several superb runs from deep by Jim Neil the first half ended without further score.

Fresh legs were introduced by both teams after half-time and debutante Tom Colton added his strength to the mauls and line-outs for Matlock. Bakewell produced a number of good runs up the middle of the pitch just after the restart but powerful tackling especially from Ben Slack who produced several turnovers kept the home team at bay. Then an early try from fly-half Drew Mullaney, who took a well-timed pass from Ben Howland and dummied his way to the line, set the tone for the remainder of the match. Matlock began to find space out wide and Harvey Hosein at full-back continually fielded clearance kicks from the home side and jinked his way up-stream through the defense to put Matlock back on the attack. Eventually the pressure took its toll and Ella Ritchie, who was fed an excellent ball by Cruttenden on the half-way line, made running in the mud look easy outpacing everyone to score in the corner. Matlocks' final try came from Thomas Parkin who ploughed up the wing and cleverly wrong-footed his opposite number before diving into the swamp which was the in-goal area. Conversions came from Mullaney (3) and Bolam (2).
Full marks to both teams who played the game in a true rugby spirit throughout, the conditions giving the Matlock side excellent practice in camouflage techniques in readiness for the end-of-season paint-balling event in May.

Matlock U12's returned from a successful day at Derby Rugby Club having topped the group with wins against Southwell, Grimsby and Belper and a crutial draw against Sleaford. The squad scored 12 tries and conceded only one in the process, going on to win a very close final against Glossop.

With the weather and pitch size more to Matlock's liking than last week Matlock fancied their chances against a strong Ilkeston team. The pack, led by Thomas Cruttenden and Harry Spencer hit the rucks well right from the kick-off to give the visitors possession but failure to use feet effectively meant that scrum-half Philip Eastwood had difficulty getting the ball away quickly and his backs struggled to make use of the ball against a side defending well. It eventually took a superb dummy from fly-half Drew Mullaney to break the dead-lock and dive over for the first try. A classy catch and run from Liam Naylor at the re-start put the home side under pressure and his off-load to Jim Neil in the tackle kept the momentum going. Ilkeston could not cope with the balanced running of Neil who made his way up to their twenty-two with ease before being stopped by two defenders. Slow ball at the maul again allowed Ilkeston to re-group but this time frustration at the lack of progress inspired Curtis Bolam to rip the ball from the grasp of the other six players with hands on it and he span away before touching down for five more points.

Half time saw the introduction of fresh legs and positional changes for Matlock with Charlie Short and Joe Goodridge both starting their first match for the club. Short immediately impressed the crowd with his aggression the contact area declaring afterwards the he " just loves taking people out" whilst Goodridge displayed the slick handling and decision making of a natural rugby player. Both made an immediate impact on the game which moved into the Ilkeston half once more. Harry Spencer, the Matlock maul technician set up a drive which fellow forwards, Harry Stevenson, Harry Mellor and Luke Evans joined to ensure that it rumbled inexorably towards the try-line until Eastwood spun the ball away from the forwards. Quick hands from Bolam meant that it found its way into the hands of Captain, Daniel Ryde who was too strong for his opposite number as he dived over. Despite some excellent tackling from Ella Ritchie and Liam Naylor Ilkeston capitalised from an overlap at a penalty to score wide on the left but this was against the run of play and Harvey Hosein was unlucky not to score in kind when a mazy run took him almost to the try line. Thomas Parkin was on hand to lend support but the tackler bundled him into touch. Mullaney kicked six further points to complete the scoring for Matlock.

On a perfect day for running Matlock started the game determined to make use of space. Cutis Bolam set things off by catching the kick off, and committing two defenders before off-loading to Daniel Ryde who sent it straight to Jim Neil in the centres. Neil forced his way past two defenders and immediately Matlock were camped out in the Ilkeston twenty-two. They rarely left this territory and the first score came after a only a few seconds as Drew Mullaney sold the dummy to two defenders at a five-meter scrum and dived under the posts. Captain Ryde scored the second when he took the ball at pace in a switch move and raced through the wrong-footed defence. Winger Ella Ritchie used her blistering pace to evade several chasing defenders and claim tries three and four, whilst Rydes excellent support play allowed him to capitalise on a storming run by Bolam as the captain took the ball at the break-down and reached for the line. Soon afterwards Prop Forward Harry Stevenson, determined to get in on the action, brushed a-side half a dozen defenders and seeing no good reason to stop rumbled all the way to the try line to take his five points.

Consistently strong scrummaging throughout the game gave Matlock a good platform for attack with Harry Mellor, Luke Evans and Stevenson and making an excellent contribution and it was from this effort that Matlock were able to win a scrum against the head deep in the home sides half. Quick thinking scrum-half Philip Eastwood saw a gap down the blind side and sped through it to claim another five points. Later the ever consistent Thomas Cruttenden got tangible reward for his aggressive work rate in the contact area all morning when he ripped the ball off the opposition and went all the way himself. Full-back Harvey Hosein was unlucky not to add another try as his illusive side-stepping left would-be tacklers clutching at thin air but he simply an out of room and was pushed into touch. The next try came when outside centre Joe Goodridge showed great presence of mind to draw the last defender before passing neatly to Thomas Parkin who went over in the corner.Seven conversions were scored by Mullaney in what was an impressive performance by Matlock and with Charlie Short putting in a superb display of tackling and rucking on his debut for the club, the future looks bright for this team.

Matlock U12s 42

In this second game of the morning it was the home team which started the well whilst a severe attack of "ball greed" in the Matlock forwards meant that a great-deal of their possession was wasted. However, the shining light in the Matlock pack, Harry Spencer, showed his maturity by simply playing good rugby and several times Spencer bailed his team mates out with a tremendous display of tackling, rucking and mauling. Spencer was ably assisted at crucial times by Jim Neil, coming up from full-back , and this allowed the Matlock backs at last some sight of the ball. Harvey Hosein, Philip Eastwood, Daniel Ryde and Ben Slack then passed the ball beautifully between them to try to generate some attack and Liam Naylor made sure the opportunity wasn't wasted by pushing his way through the Bridgford defence to score in the corner. Drew Mullaney, at No8, then added a second just before half-time by selling the dummy to two defenders and diving under the third. Stern words at half-time seemed to help the Matlock team regain their
teamwork skills and with half-backs Eastwood and Mullaney back in their usual positions normal service was resumed. Thomas Cruttenden, Harry Stephenson, Harry Mellor and Luke Evans committed to the break-down and ensured that Matlock could keep phases of possession going and soon the game was mostly being played in the Bridgford half. Only a minute or so after the restart Hosein was stopped just short on the wing and quick thinking Curtis Bolam took the ball from him as he fell and dived over for five points. Daniel Ryde who had an outstanding morning at inside centre then added another try with a solo run from deep whilst a further try came when a rolling maul was brought to ground over the try-line and Mullaney emerged from under a pile of bodies with the ball in his possession. Matlock's final try came from Thomas Parkin who had worked tirelessly all morning without success, he cleverly spotted a gap in the home defence and dived over the line to claim a deserved five points. Mullaney (2) and Bolam (4) maintained the mornings 100% record with the boot to make it almost two points a minute scored during the mornings forty minutes of rugby.

Matlock U 12s 35

With the kick-off unexpectedly brought forward the Matlock players were required to focus immediately on arrival, but the lack of preparation did not appear to dampen spirits and inside centre Daniel Ryde was able to collect a well-timed pass from full back Jim Neil to score the first try within 25 seconds of the whistle. Sleaford began an attack from the restart but Matlock's in-form hooker Curtis Bolam was quick to spot that the runner had failed to protect the ball. Bolam cheekily relieved the unsuspecting opponent of the ball as he ran past, charged through two tackles and passed to Ryde who sped over the line for his second try. Understandably upbeat at half-time the forwards stuck to their task well with Harry Stephenson and Harry Mellor causing mayhem in the scrums and line-outs, whilst Thomas Cruttenden, Harry Spencer and Luke Evans rucked and mauled superbly to give the backs quick ball. With half-backs Philip Eastwood and Drew Mullaney combining well Ella Ritchie, Thomas Parkin and Liam Naylor saw plenty of ball out wide and with full-back Neil consistently collecting any loose kicks from the opposition all four speedsters made plenty of ground in attack. The narrow pitch and a good defensive effort from Sleaford frustrated their try scoring attempts however, and it was prop Stephenson who scored next from an unstoppable Matlock maul. Towards the end of the match the constant tackling took its toll on Sleaford and the Matlock backs enjoyed a bit more space. Outside centre Ben Slack was the first to take advantage by outpacing their defence and touching down in the corner, then the elusive Harvey Hosein dodged several tacklers with his trademark side-step to complete the scoring. Mullaney added a further ten points with the boot to give a convincing score-line in what was only a 20 minute match.