July 30h TSRFC U-18’s v Markham U-18’s
The Scottish came into tonight’s game having played Markham in the opening game of the season where the Scottish lost 34-17. The boys new they would have to be more assured in defense and with greater control and accuracy in attack. Straight from the kick off Markham got stuck into the Scottish, immediately putting us on the back foot and showing no signs of letting up. The Scottish, showing some uncharacteristic handling errors compared to recent weeks were unable to get out of the red zone and the 15 minutes of pressure finally told with Markham running in a well deserved try close to the post, conversion successful. Markham 7 Scottish 0
With a few stern words from their coach and captain the Scottish finally started to gain some parity in the match, however not before Markham had managed to stretch the lead to 10-0 from a penalty. With the forward park getting strong contributions from Geoff Handley and Ryan Miller and the defense tightening up around the ruck thanks to pint sized winger come flanker Stephen Daniels, second row Alex Gill and well lead by Captain Matt Barnes the Scottish looked to get back into the match, however continued lack of ball retention and control at the break down cost the team any chance of a score prior to half time.
Half Time: Markham 10 Scottish 0
The Second half was a pleasure to watch from a Scottish point of view, playing a team we know will qualify for the playoffs the Scottish came into the half looking a completely different team, committed at the break down, powerful in defense and with aggression on attack. The Scottish dominated possession and field position for much of the half. There were strong performances from the ever improving midfield paring of Rajevaan and Jamie Noskiewicz who both showed powerful running and an ‘in your face defense’ that suffocated the Markham backline for 99% of the match. The Scottish pressure finally told 20 minutes into the half when Geoff Handley, backing up from some great play from his forwards, raced down the touch reminiscent of Senior team speedster Jamie Orr, going over, through and around a few would be tacklers and showing his full array of skills to chip over the fullback and outpace the cover defense to score the try. Can someone tell this guy he is a prop! Markham 10 Scottish 7
Straight from the kick off the Scottish found themselves again camped in the Markham half. With some more powerful runs from Handley (now proving near impossible to put down) and well supported by Miller and Matt Barnes the Scottish surged onto the Markham try line and finally, showing good composure and ball control, Scrum half Nick Hails managed to direct his powerful forwards around the ruck until none other than the hooker Ryan Miller slid over to cap a great all round individual performance. Conversion unsuccessful. Scottish 12 Markham 10
The last 5 minutes of the match was an end to end affair, with both teams making telling runs into their opposition half only to see handling errors cost them. It was Markham , however, through great individual play from their fly half who managed to slice through the usually very strong Scottish backline to score the decisive go ahead try that would inevitably win the match.
Final Score: Markham 15 Scottish 12
There are a number of players that showed their hand tonight including Fullback john Bangay with his powerful running from the back, continuously breaking the first tackle to get the Scottish back to good field position, and powerful running and tackling from too many forwards to mention. However a special thank you must go to Mike Adair, our usual number 6 who had to play prop today, with out fuss and who ensured the Scottish would get the go forward from set piece. Also congratulations to both Nigel Reid and Gareth Matthews who both saw their first extensive piece of action on the field. Man of the Match however goes to the biggest improver within the squad this season, and again, having a great game on both attack and defense and committing himself to everything, winger Ben Walmsley.
Next match Thursday July 31st: Nomads at Sunnybrook, 6:30pm kick off. COME OUT AND SUPPORT THE BOYS…..
KD