U13s host Ilkeston

Max leading the team out as captain, the match was looking like it was going to be a very physical game, and because of the wind and lack of Charlie (who is off sick, but still wanted to do the last 5 minutes of the match) very little kicking would be taking place.

The first try came from Felix D after several minutes of intense play. With a war cry of “COME ON PANTHERS!” after scoring. Zane got in on the action scoring his first of the day, with Lewis managing to get over the line without falling over his own feet, although it was touch and go for a while. Max scored a blistering try off a ruck, meters from the line in comparison to Tom S “walking” it in the 2nd quarter. Matt did have a few choice words about that one!

Ilkeston fought the Panthers at the 5-meter line for each of their try’s, with some really good offensive and defensive rugby being shown.
Hoping Ethan and Noah are feeling better after injuries sustained in defending the Panthers.

Thoughts from the trenches:

Andy:
I thought today the boys fronted up well and, in the end, got their rewards against a physical Ilkeston side. We still need to work on game management & intensity levels going forward because at times it became very laboured. I was very impressed with Jack’s performance at scrum half. He controlled most of the breakdowns and put his teammates on the front foot numerous times throughout the game. Max was captain today and lead the team superbly. Overall, a good game and work in progress as always.

Ben:
Tough run out today with a few bumps and bruises picked up along the way, but the boys fitness showed through in the end. Will need to step it up again for next week. Will be looking to sharpen up on a few things on Tuesday ready for the run out at Thorne next Sunday.

Dave:
A good intense game and a lot of physicality, which we were excepting. Tempers were a little bit frayed at times. But everybody managed to play a clean game, as far as possible. In the end it was a reasonable performance, but it did flatter us a little bit. Looking for another step up next week in what I’m sure will be another challenging contest.

Josh:
They played really well, In the first ¼ they were a little trapped in but were scoring try’s by running though. In the ¾ they dropped off, and in final ¼ they started to pick it up and bought it out to the wings giving them a clear gap giving them overlaps.

Matt:
A hard worked out win in the end, we had brought extra gears to Ilkeston, and I think we could use them. We are starting to repeat ourselves a little bit on going forward. We have a team of individuals, who are some solid rugby players, we just need a couple of more leaders on this team to bring it back together and sort it out. The commitment is getting there, people are improving individually all the time. Ultimately, we had a good game against Ilkeston, we just need to work on that teamwork, that situational awareness, and overall understanding of the game in order to up those gears and progress.

Thanks to the Ilkeston team and their coaches for another great game.

Thanks to Andy, Ben, Matt, Dave, and Josh (1st team hooker) for the tactical support to the team and the reiterating of pods, one day the lads might listen.

Our next game is Thornensians away on the 20/03/2022 we played them last at home on the 05/09/21.

D.A. Cooke (Roving Match Reporter, U13(s) proof-reading Rachel Cooke any comments please email: Rugby@dacfox.com.