Ashford U13s 41 – Aylesford U13s 5
Earlier in the season Ashford put more than 50 points on an inexperienced Aylesford side. For the return visit to Kinney’s Field, a larger and much improved Aylesford team arrived with several wins under their belt and a degree of new found belief.
The early exchanges were tense and Ashford took some time to impose themselves on the match. After 5 minutes, pressure from the Ashford back row forced the Aylesford backline to knock-on. Playing advantage, Ashford’s midfield gathered the loose ball and outside centre Grant Noremac broke through the defence to touch down in the corner. Two minutes later Ashford resumed the attack and this time winger Gareth Jenner brushed aside his opposite number and dotted down under the posts.
The score gave Ashford the confidence to take the game to Aylesford. Ashford threw long at a lineout, wing forward Rory Beech gathered the ball and offloaded to prop Billy Stevens, who crashed over near the posts. With 19 points on the board in just 12 minutes, Ashford rang the changes in team selection. With the introduction of some less experienced players, the Ashford’s momentum was halted and the match became more competitive. Just before half-time, hooker George Morgan barged his way over in the corner to make the score 24-0 in Ashford’s favour.
Normal service resumed 4 minutes into the second half, when winger Jenner sprinted outside the defensive cover and scored under the posts. This was followed 5 minutes later by a try from inside centre Adam Batt who sprinted in from half way. At this point Ashford’s momentum faltered. The Aylesford restart kick only went 8 metres but it was knocked on by the Ashford defence. An Aylesford lock, playing advantage, gathered the loose ball and charged through some weak tackling to score a consolation try.
Ashford then reintroduced some of their more experienced players. This was sufficient to regain the upper hand. The final score of the match came when prop Billy Stevens charged over from a tap penalty. Final score 41-5. Fly half Louis Burdon scored 3 conversions. Winger Gareth Jenner was player of the week.
The match was more competitive than the score suggests. And Aylesford should take comfort from their improvement.
The Ashford Under 13s have reached the halfway stage of the season in satisfactory shape. 14 straight wins from 14 outings and an aggregate scoring record of 549 points for and 64 against. Their next match is at home against Medway on 8th January.
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