Berkshire County RFU U18 continued where they left off against Dorset Wiltshire RFU (25 – 10) a few weeks ago with another disciplined but exciting performance against the also previously unbeaten GloucestershireRFU U18 (who had beaten Bucks RFU 18 in their first outing 35-10).
19th Dec 2021
In complete contrast to the match played at Hartpury before there were no strong winds to contend with, just a light fog and mist that stayed off the pitch for most of the match but meant that the ball remained greasy to test the handling of both teams.
Berkshire RFU U18 started strong from the first whistle and were very dominant and in the first 15 minutes with Gloucestershire RFU U18s unable to get out of the their own half. Some big pick and goes that Berkshire had been working on enabled them to create a platform to secure good ball but from which they were not able to score despite camping on the Gloucestershire U18 try line. The against the complete run of play it was Gloucestershire RFU U18s who gathered a loose ball and made a clean break from halfway to take a surprising 5-0 lead.
Berkshire RFU U18s regathered themselves from the restart and went back to work. Further good groundwork moved them back into the Gloucestershire RFU U18s 22 . A pressured scrum by Berkshire had Gloucestershire scrambling to get the ball away, with Mikey Duda (Reading Abbey RFC and playing open side flanker) in hot pursuit he not only made a big tackle on the Glos #12 but was back on his feet to steal the ball and dive over for a try to go in at halftime 5-5 (No kicks are taken)
HALFTIME 5 – 5
From the start of the second hall Berkshire once again mounted some sustained pressure with the forwards again setting up good ball. As Gloucestershire cleared the ball and Berkshire running it back throughs some phases was rewarded with a strong run by Jordan Talia (Captain an Oxford College ACE) who made. clean break up the middle and almost made the line only to hauled down a metre short. With the Berkshire players in full support it was left to Max Brown (Park House and Reading Abbey RFC) to pick and score making it 10-5.
Shortly after the the same player was involved in a scrum against the head (just outside the Gloucestershire 22) a quick pick up by Berkshire Number 8 Jordan Talia running blind took three players to bring him down but not before he offloaded to Patch Anderson (Kennet School and Newbury RFC) to take the ball on the outside and score to put Berkshire 15-5 up.
Further pressure followed and in the 55th minute after a clearance was run back by Oskar Browning (Reading Abbey) it eventually ended up with a Berkshire line-out on the Gloucestershire 22. A good lineout thrown by Mikey Duda (now playing at hooker for the second half) resulted in him regaining the ball coming around the lineout .With some good footwork he avoided the Gloucestershire cover before putting Berkshire flyhallf 10 Liam Bulteel (St Crispins and Bracknell RFC) in enough space to step inside the first defender and and then go outside the last man to score under the posts for Berkshire to lead 20-5.
With Gloucestershire now having to throw everything to get back into the game a kick was returned by the Gloucestershire fullback (Gloucestershire MOTM – Josh Maggs) with interest and two quick passes enabled Gloucestershire to score in the corner to bring the match to 20-10
With the Berkshire RFU U18 need to make another enforced change and with the clock showing two mins left a poor kick from within the Berkshire 22 went straight to the Gloucestershire #14 (Johnny Fenley) who made some fast yards in space before passing outside to #12 (Finlay Gwillim) to score and bring the score to Berkshire 20, Gloucestershire15..
With the clock now in the red and Berkshire having no more substitutes and the replacement 9 (Dom Richards) having to go off injured Berkshire had to make some further changes to their shape with players out of position.
Gloucestershire U18s mounted one more challenge to score and draw the match only for Oli Cloherty (Ditton Park Academy and Windsor RFC) playing at 15 holding up the Gloucestershire player over the line. With that the final whistle blew and Berkshire U18s were victorious in what was a very entertaining match.
FULL-TIME BERKSHIRE 20 – 15 GLOUCESTERSHIRE
“The strength of the Berkshire RFU U18 forwards was rewarded with no less than three scrums against the head and great connectivity in defence which created some good turnover and opportunities in attack”
Beki Davies
Berkshire RFU U18s
Forwards Coach
19th Dec 2021
Berkshire will be looking forward to a good Christmas break after their exploits at Hartpury. Well done players, coaches, physios, supporters for making the matches so successful and giving the South West Selectors some more to think about after the two strong performances.
