Huntingdon & District Rugby

Another new starter for the U13’s as we welcomed Reggie to the team to face Shelford at Hinchingbrooke.

A good amount of early intent from the Stags as an early score in the corner was just missed in the first minute.

Shelford had a strong field kicking game which Stags took a while to adapt to. Stags defence was again strong in the middle and turnovers were won at ruck time. However, we continued to lose our own ball at ruck time from a lack of support play, this also contributed to a missed opportunities due to no one on the shoulder of the multiple breaks that were made.

Shelford replicated the scoring pattern of St Neots the week prior and exploited the Stags defensive reluctance to shut down space by moving forward with some good tries being scored on either wing.

The second quarter showed good grit from Dylan T (Stags MoM) and Tristan in turning over multiple rucks that resulted in a good passing try scored by Joe G, and a great line break from Dylan T that led to a try deep in the in-goal.

The second half started with a drop in energy from the stags however there were some bright moments with new players James and Reggie along with Logan K and Joe constructing some good runs.

Stags showed good urgency and intensity in the fourth quarter of the game with a number of decisive line breaks that led to two tries from Torsten A.

Positives: New players continue to contribute strongly to the team, the centre line again held strong, there was good urgency by the ball carriers notably Ellis, Torsten & Tristan.

Final score: Stags 20 – Shelford 30

Opportunities for improvement: Closing down space on defence, supporting the ball carrier and consistency of effort.

A good step up from last week with encouraging signs as we move on to host Rushden next Sunday at the Clubhouse.