Under 17s undone on the counter

Bees kicked off but there wasn’t much of a reaction from the Guisborough forwards. Ryan Wilson was allowed to sneak up the wing and claim possession before gliding through a pretty statuesque defence for what would surely have been one of the quickest tries of all time. Unfortunately for Bees, the linesman was flagging for a foot in touch. Bees strayed offside at the line out and Guisborough cleared the ball downfield but Bees claimed the next line out and good driving by Soddy followed by a break from the back of the maul by Sam Jeffrey got us back into opposition territory. Brooky and then Ex took it on but we lost it in contact, Guisborough countered at pace, slinging it wide and crossing for the first try. From the restart, Guisborough ran back at Bees as we remained pinned in our half. We were getting our fair share of possession but progress was slow. Our backs were static with players having to check to take passes. The forwards were fairing a little better. Pete Booth and Dom Walker were diving on loose balls and Soddy and Corey were showing plenty of aggression. But play was still on the Bees 22 until a slick pass from Sam Jeffrey found the backs in a bit more space. Jack Meggitt joined the line and released Ryan Wilson for a burst down the wing. Ryan made it to the Guisborough 22 before being stopped and the penalty came as the retreating forwards came in from the wrong side. A further 10m was awarded for some dissent amongst the Guisborough ranks but a fumble by Bees gave the visitors a scrum and they were able to clear to touch. Bees won the line out and this time it was Harry Collis making ground down the right wing before being bundled into touch. Dom Walker stole the line out and it was Andy’s turn to run at Guisborough. Another penalty to Bees; this time for not rolling away. We’d just had a decent spell of attack and we were 30 odd metres out and into a stiff breeze. Was a kick for goal really the right option? It missed but the Guisborough drop out went straight into touch and we had a scrum back on the 22. We were still looking good for a score until another spilled ball by Bees fell nicely for Guisborough, they found a gap and despite a great chase from Andy, his tackle was just too late to prevent a second converted try for the visitors. Bees continued to match Guisborough in open play – other notable moments in the first half included a deft chip and chase from Harry Collis and a great rip from Ryan Wilson. Bees could count themselves a little unfortunate to be 0-14 down at half time.
Guisborough got the second half under way – Bees claimed the kick off but lost it again in contact and suddenly Guisborough had an overlap on the short side. Tony Butterworth, who had just come on for Harry Collis on the right wing had little chance as the whole of the Guisborough back row bore down on him – the score came and we were 0-19 down. From the Bees kick off, Guisborough ran back at us and too easily they broke our defence – we wondered if the floodgates were about to open but Nick Gore had other ideas and gave chase, hauling the Guisborough attacker down just short of the line. A knock to Matt Dilworth enforced a change – Sam went to centre, Tony to scrum half and Harry came back on the wing. And as is often the way with such things, Bees fortunes changed too. A clearing kick by Guisborough was well taken by Jack Meggitt, who pirouetted his way through a couple of tackles and looked to be going all the way. But he saw the tackle coming and had the presence of mind to look for support – it came in the form of Andy Nicz who finished the job with a well deserved try for the home side. From the restart Bees took play back to the opposition and a good kick from Nick Gore got us well into Guisborough territory. We stole the line out and a perfectly placed chip from Nick had Guisborough scurrying back to their own line. Great pressure from Matt (back on after treatment) then Sam followed by a crunching tackle and the ball was bouncing loose. Tony Butterworth was first to react, and crossed for another Bees score. Bees continued to play well but some late pressure from Guisborough saw them increase their lead to 10-24 on the final whistle.
Lots of positives in this game – accurate throws from Pete Booth along with good jumping from Liam Hagerty and Dom Walker meant we dominated the line-outs and in the scrums we pretty much held our own. It was good to see Soddy get a full game under his belt with plenty of impact from him, Corey and James Exley. Brooky made a couple of telling runs from the back of the scrum and Joe “wanna buy a window?” Bashforth looked more like his old self. In the backs Matt Dilworth looked more comfortable in the familiar role of centre and Harry Collis had a good game on the wing. But it was Jack Meggitt who won man of the match for another good shift at full back – effective in defence and attack and making a telling break that led to the first try. It was a little carelessness with the ball in hand that proved to be our undoing with three of Guisborough’s tries coming when we lost possession going forward. But most of all, we put the memories of last week’s performance at Sandal behind us and can look forward with more confidence to next week’s trip to Ripon.