Victory for Cranleigh U14’s against a tough Cobham side

Cranleigh u14s v Cobham U14s

16th Nov 2024-Cobham RFC

Sunday saw us take on Cobham for  a chilly but pleasant lunchtime kick off.

Cranleigh were under pressure from the off with Cobham launching a series of attacks in our half.  Pinning us back we showed great defence in our 22 epitomised by a superb big hit from Finley.

From turnover ball Jared nicely got away a pressure relieving exit from our line but good hands from Cobham saw us pinned back again. A few minutes of back and forth and a return kick from Cobham saw us get the ball wide down the line to Finn who made a break up the touchline.  Sound Cobham defence bundled him into touch.

From open play,  a pick and go penalty to us resulted in a strong carry into contact by Finley and 5 minutes of back and forth in midfield with neither side gaining a decisive advantage.  But we were pushed back slowly into our 22.

In broken play a clearance from Arlo and great chase and tackle to touch from Joel gave us a good exit and relieved the pressure on our line. 

From a resulting Cranleigh line out the ball went nicely through the backs hands and a good break from Riley gained the boys ground in midfield.  2nd phase ball through the hands and great footwork from our champion finisher Finn resulted in the first try of the game.  Johnny was unlucky with the conversion, but we had 5 points on the board.

From the restart kick into touch our line out meant quick ball and strong running from Elliot and Ethan through the gain line.  2nd phase ball and some dancing feet and a break from Johnny with great support from Alex gained us more yards.  But from from turnover ball and one phase, Cobham went through the hands to score after some very sloppy defence from us.  A conversion in front of the posts made it 7-5.

From the restart and open play we found ourselves under pressure on our line again.  Strong defence once again from George and a great jackle from Arlo gave Cranleigh a penalty which Jared cleared nicely to touch. Solid throwing in from Aden again this week gave us lineout possession, but a penalty in open play meant we had to defend hard with decent tackles from Johnny, Finn, Alex and Jack. But with a few handling errors from both sides we coughed up ball and a second phase move led us to concede a second try.  The missed conversion took the score to 12-5. The restart gave Cobham a lengthy period of possession and we had to defend our 22 again. We put in some good efforts at the breakdown with Vinn, Aden, Arlo and Ethan working hard. Some scrambling defence with a missed touch finder brought half time from a Cobham knock on.

Cobham were the better side in the first half and our defence was erratic….. Excellent and poor in equal measure.

With renewed purpose Cranleigh started the second half brightly.  A Cranleigh free kick for numbers in the lineout gave Finley a really bullocking run into the Cobham line.  More back and forth resulted in our line out on the oppo 5yd line and a catch and drive. Great defence from Cobham and really punchy carries by our forwards peppered the Cobham line.  The pressure told and we gained advantage for off side.  We took the tap and go but dropped the ball over the line.  Cobham fluffed the resulting 22 drop out and Riley gathered cleanly and a cracking,  jinking run took him over the line 15 yards in for 5 points.  A successful conversion from Johnny made it 12-12.

A high tackle by Cobham gave us advantage and when none came and with Cobham expecting a kick to touch Johnny went for a tap and go down the blind side from our 10yd line.  Arlo made a good flat pass to Finisher Finn who ran in down the left wing from half way beating defenders with ease to score 10m in. Johnny made the conversion to give us a 12-19 lead.

From  the kick off strong runs from our forwards in particular from Will and Vinny gave us momentum and ground but we knocked on 5 yards out. Cobham cleared with a kick from the scrum.  Joel gathered nicely and ran a great line back at Cobham and was well tackled 5 yards out.  Cobham jackled,  but a turnover and another strong run by Will and a darting run by Evs saw us make yards again.  From more broken play  we had a scrum 10 yds out.  A hefty strike meant the ball shot out past our 8 and 9 and luckily straight to Johnny who went right and popped the ball to Harry who blazed over the line at pace to score a lovely try…..his first try for Cranleigh….well done.  Johnny was short with the conversion but Cranleigh now led by a dozen.  12-24.

Will took the restart and made another strong carry into contact.

From here on the game was a bit to and fro with neither side getting the upper hand.  But we stuck to the task with our forwards carrying well into contact and the backs linking nicely to keep probing at the good Cobham defence.  With neither side scoring any more points the game ended with a 24-12 win for Cranleigh.

This was an enjoyable well contested game with some good skills on show from both sides.  Cranleigh gave a much better account of themselves in the second half.  If we can iron out a few defensive lapses we will go into next week’s match in good form.

Man of the match – Will.  His best game in a Cranleigh shirt.