With our visitors short on numbers we agreed on a 12-a-side contest and got underway in the drizzle. Right from the first whistle, despite clearly evident ring rust, it was clear that we are the more powerful side as we dominated rucks and scrums with relative ease.

We open the scoring early with a lung busting break from Lewis T whose blistering pace proves too much for our visitors, this is closely followed by tries from Ryan, Dylan, Will T and Jordan and with just 20 minutes gone, this is looking like a one-sided contest.

With the score at 31 – 0 at half time we agree to loan our guests a couple of players to even things up a little, and we kick off with 14 Beccehamians playing 12 Crusaders, but how much of a difference would it make?

It’s much more even, but despite the numerical advantage our guests are still struggling to quell the tide. 10 minutes into the second period and Dylan adds to his tally before Tom also goes over for a score; it’s 43 – 0. Having been on the wrong end of a comprehensive beating ourselves recently, and conscious of how miserable that feels, we decide to do the right thing and strengthen our opponents even more by giving them our Captain Tom and our stand-in scrum half Jordan.

The impact of the Crusaders duo on our opponents is quickly evident and with Tom and Jordan at the heart of it, Beccehamians begin to put together some great phases of rugby. With 10 minutes left on the clock our challengers open their account with some great forward play. In the closing minutes, and against some fearsome Crusaders pressure, Jordan shows great pace and agility to take Beccehamians tally to a respectable 10 just before the final whistle blows.

A great 43 – 10 victory for the U14s and an absolute pleasure to host our touring visitors. Our man of the match was nominated by the visiting coaches, presumably for his efforts in Green and Gold rather than in a Beccehamians shirt!

Man of the Match – Thomas Beuttell