BSB / LEUVEN U14 (25) v (46) Dover U14s
Matched played Saturday 18/04/2009 at Leuven, Belgium.
In this first match of the end of season Tour to Belgium the boys were hosted by the Leuven club and played a mix of British School in Brussels BSB and Leuven RFC. Dover started well as a fumbling defence allowed in Rigden to scramble over, soon followed by Gibbs after a passage good handling, then Dover won a Leuven scrum and Bisset pounced for a 0-17 lead in 12 minutes. The hosts were under the cosh but responded well as Dover paid for a penalty award with a Leuven try. Shortly Dover’s powerful pack stole another Leuven scrum and Gibbs scored again only for Leuven to hit back with good play following another needless penalty award. A breathless half ended with Harper restoring the gap at 10-29.
The second half started with a Dover try from Tonkin’s mazy run but Leuven responded with a score from a penalty throw in. Crush was next on the scoresheet but again Leuven would not lie down and one of their lads burst clear from distance to close the gap once more. Then followed a moment of high drama; play was stopped to allow Luke Rigden to swallow the unluckiest fly in Belgium. In the last minutes good interplay set up Tonkin for his second score but the game ended with a penalty try to Leuven having forced themselves to the Dover line. Final score was 25-46 in an end to end contest of thirteen tries..
KITURO U14 (12) v (3) Dover U14s
Match played Sunday 19/04/2009 at Brussels, Belgium.
The Kituro club hosted the second match in the outskirts of Brussels. The Dover boys looked rather weary as they took the field but they sparked into life as the whistle blew. They worked hard to hold back their determined opponents who were in no mood to be beaten again as the last time they met at Crabble. The midfield deadlock broke as Jack Smith tried to sprint clear but hesitated and was halted in his search for back up close to the try line. Harper’s resulting penalty kick gave Dover a 0-3 lead.
Dover had the majority of possession until a Kituro breakaway try gave them a 7-3 lead. The uncontested scrum rule for this game did not help as it denied Dover use of their forward power to full advantage. Dover pressed the hosts back time and again spurning chances with poor passing and increasingly poor discipline. Kituro sealed the win as they grabbed another breakaway try with 5 minutes remaining. Dover kept up the pressure to the end but the game finished short of the Kituro try line just before tempers flared again in a match the Sharks could and should have won but for dogged defending by the now-delighted hosts.
SQUAD: C.ALLEN / L.ALLEN / BISSET / BRYAN / CALDWELL / CLARK / CRUSH / DEANE / DUFFY / GEOGHEGAN / GIBBS / HARPER / HARRISON / JOHNSTONE / KILLICK-BAKER / MOYNAN / RIGDEN / SAUNDERS / SMITH / SPURGEON / TONKIN /
Report by
Report by: Edward Duffy
(Internationl Correspondent)
Photos by Dave Allen
back to Under
14s Home Page
