Bees Development squad vs Otleisians

This week saw the development squad away for the first time in the Western Merit League a short trip to Otleisians. we was also in a position of having a squad of twenty to take with us.
On the way i was thinking to myself, yes there was a lot of smoke coming from my car with working the old brain cell! the average age of this squad is no more than twenty years of age, with a lot of the younger U18 Colts making it to senior rugby, having seven player just 17 years old.
You would think the step up to seniors to be a big thing for these lads but to be fair all of them don't look out of place when training or playing open age, it helps when they have a good Captain in Corey Spencer and Vice Luke Peacock to guide them and giving their experience having played for a few seasons at this level.
Ensians was a mix of an older team compared to the Bees and they would put all that experience to good use to test this young side coming into this game unbeaten in the league having some big wins under their belt.
Speaking with the Ensians coach before the match he was saying they was missing a few due to personal commitments and having a mixed start themselves, he was looking for a close game but a good game, and that's what both teams gave us.
It was the Bees to settle first and with pressure telling on the Ensians defense it was our Spanish Pocket rocket and one of our Colts to open the score with what I have come to get used to seeing his ell like moves to slither through the Ensians defense.
Not to be out done the Ensians used their big pack to good effect picking and going using close crash balls to gain yards up field to get to a position to score themselves with the conversion added went into the lead it stayed this way for the best part of the first half with a lot of arm wrestling between the teams for possession with heavy rain at the start of the game making conditions and the ball slippy there was a few knock on's, what was great to see was the way the Bees scrummaged against a heavier side, at time pushing them back forcing Ensians to make decisions they might not of wanted and with handling errors giving the ball back to the Bees, it was Harry Collis that was to score the next try for the Bees with his quick thinking and getting Ensians on the back foot darting through several missed tackles, to go over for the first of two for him. and well deserved to boot the last few games Harry has been the linch pin getting the team on the front foot in attack with quick ball to the back and his searching runs of the break downs. with Dominic Walker adding the conversion the Bees went into half time 12-7 to the good.
with changes made and welcoming back Matthew Dilworth to the back line and a debut to Rhys Holland this was to give the Bees strong running options from deep with Rhys using his size and strength on the crash ball from inside centre and Matty to use his speed out wide this was to be rewarded with a try when Byron Finn making good yards riding a tackle and still getting the ball out to Matthew for him to use his speed against what looked a tied Ensians side to sit the ball under the posts Dominic to add the two points to extend the Bees score.
Ensians was to have a reward for their dogish attitude to keep the ball moving through the forwards for the scrumhalf to pick up a try which was converted.
the bees had seem to let their defense slip at that time allowing Ensians to get under their skin and losing concentration, with Corey and Luke to have sharp word to get the lads back on track to close the defensive doors on Ensians and not allow the to carry on playing in their half it was Harry to pop up again to seal the win for the Bees.
The lads after the match agreed this was a below par performance but Ensians asked questions of this young side, with the Bees able to grind out a bonus point win to help move them up the League to third spot with games in hand on other teams, again their was stand out performances, with Will Broadbent in the line-outs stealing the best part of Ensians ball and at the breakdown, Harry Collis energy all game, Byron Finn and Connor Fry.s defensive work and big tackles Byron's attacking runs, to leadership from Corey and Luke, I could go on and on, but we gave Man of the Match to a young man that for all his hard work on the field the lads know how hard he works but few may not, he's like a sniper it takes a couple of tackle to line the opposition up but once he does for his size can put in some huge hit on players double his size as he did today well done to Sohail Zaffer.
The Bees are back home for another tough game against early league leaders Skipton 2nds next Saturday, would be great to get the numbers down to wagon lane to cheers the boys on and thank you to Olivia Snowden our Physio to get the lads sorted and strapped up for the games and medic to them.
Well Done to everyone on a great game we look forward to the return fixture at home against Otleisans.