Droitwich Black U16 25 - Abercynon U16 12

Sunday, 28th November, 2004

Droitwich RFC’s elite ‘Black’ under 16’s squad played host to Abercynon in only their second fixture of the season.

Abercynon arrived at Droitwich with a very good pedigree and an undefeated season to date. They also boasted 10 Cardiff divisional players and 4 Welsh under 16 players.

The game was played in ideal rugby conditions. Droitwich were quickly out of the blocks, scoring an early try out wide by Dave Pitt after a fine interchange between forwards and backs.

Poor ball retention enabled Abercynon to create a series of attacks at the line, with the try eventually being scored by the strong running No. 12 and duly converted by their outside-half, leaving droitwich trailing 5-7. The rest of the half was very level, though towards the end Droitwich began to reassert themselves and right on half time a super individual try from Stefan Buijnsters gave Droitwich a 10-7 half time lead.

The second half began with Droitwich once again regaining forward control, particularly at scrum time with the front row of Matt Newman, Chad Richardson and James Owen dominating this area. A try was inevitable and, after an outstanding drive by the pack, Mike Jones sprinted from the 22 to score a very good try.

With the score at 15-7 Droitwich appeared to be in total control. An outstanding run from centre Scott Morris cut the defence to pieces, but a last gasp tackle prevented the score. Abercynon then showed outstanding commitment and resilience and dominated the next 15 minutes. Good tackling by Droitwich kept Abercynon at bay, but from a catch and drive at a lineout they were not to be denied. The score was now 15-12.

Abercynon immediately returned to the Droitwich 22 and were awarded a very kickable penalty. However, their outside-half missed. This lucky escape, combined with fresh legs coming on to the pitch, provided Droitwich with a fresh impetus to control the game. Further tries came from Paul Byrne and Mike Penn following an excellent passage of handling, leaving the final score at 25-12.

Their were many fine performances from both sides, but the biggest concern is the lack of goalkicking, as 5 tries were scored against a very strong side but the opposition were always in the game as a further 10 points were not taken.

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