Match Reports
Under 16s Report
Tadley Tigers U16s 7 Abbey U16s 10
Tadley took on Berkshire neighbours Reading Abbey in a hard fought match that could have gone either way till a late try for the visitors saw them take the spoils.
With both sides hit by withdrawals due to Berks training and other reasons gone were the giddy heights of last weeks 20 man squad. Thanks to debutant Liam Williams Tadley still managed 16 and after a good training session Thursday went into the game in good spirits
It was a bit of a reshuffle Flanker Dom Alwood filled in at centre, Jamie Lyons moved to 8 and Liam Williams came into flanker. Tadley started well some good strike moves orchestrated by 10 Pat Kelly saw Alwood making ground. When Abbey attacked the aggressive backs defence worked well Kelly & Harry Williams bringing the line up well, when they kicked Full back Tom Kinsella tidied well and his tactical kicking was very impressive. Abbey had the advantage in the scrums with their big pack but Tadley lineout went well, Struan Coddington having a great match with some great catches even stealing opposition ball at times. It was against the run of play when from a rare visit to the Tadley 22 Abbey scored out wide for 5-0 lead.
The rest of the half was evenly contested Abbey went close again late in the half and Tadley were pleased to hang on when down to 14 after Liam Williams was sin binned.
After the break Tadley really raised their game the forwards carrying the ball well now Kearney was in the thick of everything and Lyons carried a lot of yards, the rucking improved and with the fast ball the backs made inroads, a great pass from Kinsella put Winger Matt Randell in space and Tadley were in the Abbey 22 as the play switched Dom alwood came close. Drives from Skipper Ed Fry, L Williams, Matt Parsons & Kearney saw Tadley go close and Kelly was held up over the line but Tadley had a 5m penalty. Kelly called for the ball and dived over. Kinsella converted and Tadley had the lead.7-5
With 15 mins to go it was Abbeys turn to raise their game and using their big forwards they drove forward, Tadleys effort in defence couldn’t be faulted with everyone doing their share of tackling particularly noticeable were Winger Ben Mills, Fry, Kearney & Lyons.
Much to the consternation of the Abbey coaching team, they ran a penalty in front of the posts where Prop Matt Parsons put in a great tackle, the pressure was relentless and though Tadley had a chance to clear their lines a scrum against the head saw them go close and from the resulting scrum good blindside play saw the full back go in for an unconverted try.
With only minutes left Tadley pushed for the score they needed but Abbey were able to hang on.
Though understandably disappointed to lose this was another great effort from the Tigers, Abbey won the corresponding fixture last season by 30 points so it shows the team is on an upward curve, if they want to improve further and compete well in the league the hard work at training will have to continue so the critical moments in games can be seized and narrow losses become great wins.
Tigers- Tom Kinsella, Matt Randall, Dom Alwood, Harry Williams, Ben Mills, Pat Kelly, Ed Fry, Matt Parsons, Luke Duberry, Will Molton, Liam Murphy, Matt Bradshaw, Struan Coddington, Liam Williams, Joe Kearney, Jamie Lyons
Tiger of the Match- lots of contenders but Jamie Lyons takes it.
