Maldon RFC U16 v Thurrock RFC U16

Maldon RFC U16 v Thurrock RFC U16 (Friendly), 22.01.17

Despite a heavy frost Ts travelled to Maldon hopeful of a game. The sun was out and the thawing process was underway and Ts warmed up on hard-ish pitches which were getting better as the day went on. The referee checked the pitches prior to start and was happy that it was not unsafe to play, and the game could go ahead.
Ts had a strong squad of 25 boys, and the starting 15 got to work straight away probing with runs and kicks for the fast backs to chase down. Equally their defence was much stronger making good tackles and forcing turnovers. The pack were strong going forward and the support play was phenomenal as Maldon’s tackling was good, but the Ts support play would prove too much for Maldon’s wavering defence.
Ts backs were equally splendiferous, despite a couple of line breaks by Maldon, the cover tackling was superb and their going forward was brilliant with the overall game reading by the whole team sublime.

Despite several changes on/off, on/off Ts kept their form and even a run of 3 penalties against them for infringements, they defended and constantly turned defence into attack.
Although Ts scored 14 tries, the best & most remarkable statistic was the points against which was nil, which was testament to the will of the team to come back from 2 heavy defeats in recent games.

All the scorers listed below took their tries/points well, either through some fantastic support play or some brilliant running, but other noteworthy mentions should be made;
Jack Carter – made an impressive lunge to grab one of Maldon’s would be try scorers, and tackle them to the ground, then bounce to his feet, “jackal-ed” the ball and took it on 5m until support came back and helped relieve the pressure.
Papa Yeboah – As well as scoring his first try for TRFC, Papa’s controlled aggression in going forward was impressive, and showed some great determination.
Mahamuud “Moh” Ibrahim – Again, scored his first try for TRFC but played with vigour and determination and was not afraid to put in a hard tackle at the breakdown.
Vladislav Vladimirov – Worked hard in the pack, but will not be with us for a while, but will always be welcomed back when he can make it.
Finally a welcome back to Jimmy Moore, who played his first competitive game since recovering from a horrific shoulder injury back in September, slotted back in well and had the last kick of the match with a successful conversion.
A few names not mentioned above/below, but the whole team played fantastically well and are now hopefully back on track. They have 1 or 2 more development games before League and Cup games come back in to the mix.
Well done boys, the positivity was flowing through the team today, let’s keep that going,

Result;
Maldon RFC U16s 0 - 84 Thurrock RFC U16s
Tries: 0
Cons: 0

Thurrock RFC U16s
Tries;
Elonas Butrimas x 4
Jake Martin x 3
Luke Sinclair x 2
Brendan Lynas
Jack Cowman
Miles Davies
Mahamuud Ibrahim
Papa Yeboah
Cons:
Harry Edmunds 6 cons
Jimmy Moore 1 con

Next week, Ts have an away game against Chingford, which is another Development/Friendly game