Stanford 40 v 0 Westcliff
STANFORD u15s had a chance to redeem themselves after lack of performance the weekend before, the team most certainly looked much more focused during the warm up.
Stanford kicked off and gave a good chase putting pressure of the Westcliff catcher. Westcliff went to move the ball out to their backs but with a strong defence from Stanford the ball was spilled. The first scrum was awarded to Stanford and they drove Westcliff back giving Matthew Hook at scrum half a good base to set his backs on the attack. Stanford moved the ball wide but couldn’t find a way through the strong Westcliff defence.
A ruck followed and Westcliff were pulled up for illegal use of the hands. Instead of taking the points on offer Stanford decided to go for the line out on the Westcliff 5 metre line. With the line out throw not straight Westcliff were handed back the advantage to clear the lines from the next scrum. Stanford forwards had a very different idea in mind. The pack stood solid and drove the Westcliff 8 backwards allowing Sean Loughran to win the first a many against the head. This time the Stanford back line made better use of the ball moving it wide across the pitch. Westcliff were holding firm and a fumbled ball spilled backwards from their pressure. Flanker Jack Knight had followed the play across the pitch and ran in picked up and scored Stanford’s first try.
Stanford was up for the game and moved the ball well between forwards and backs. Only minutes later Joe Duligall had the pace and strength to break through a determined Westcliff line, he showed a clean pair of heels to the cover defence and touched down out wide.
The forwards were making their presences felt with Marcus Edgeway and Jake Tottman hitting hard tackles and making good yards, with their fellow pack members backing them up. The centre pairing of Duligall and Jamie Wooffitt were feeding off each other extremely well. Ben Kelly returning from injury gave a controlled and mature performance at fly half and his reading of the game was very good setting Wooffitt off and away to the Westcliff’s try line for Stanford’s 3rd try of the half.
The game despite the 3 nil score line didn’t really tell the story and Stanford knew that Westcliff are a very good side and if they let up their visitors would punish them. Fresh legs were brought on at half time with Jarrad Williams giving way for Jake Lane after Williams had been a total tower of strength in the front row. Jack Bridgland-Clifford was ready to prove his worth by taking over from Tottman and Daniel Davidson swapping out for Ross Gale to make his mark on the game. In the backs Peter Colbert stepped aside for Rhys Dell to enter the affray.
The 2nd half started off perfect for Stanford. Full Back Zack Burdett made the most of an excellent tactical kick from Kelly, chasing down his opposite number, the fullback tried to step Burdett and kick to clear, but Burdett hooked onto the Westcliff player dragging him off balance collecting the loose ball, he then handed off the last ditch attempted from a Westcliff defender to go in under the posts after just 2 minutes of play. Duligall had been extremely close with his previous kicks but without success this time he made short work of the conversion.
Stanford was in control of the game with their visitors still battling hard. The scrums had become much more competitive in the 2nd half and two players for Westcliff (their number 6 & 10) stood out as giving everything for their side. Despite their gutsy determined efforts Stanford started to vary their lines of attack. Marcus Edgeway finished off a good forwards move that had seen Kieran Claydon power his way through the defensive line. Edgeway saw his chance and with just metres to go he put his head down and drove for the line.
Minutes later Duligall was back behind the Westcliff line after he linked up with Wooffitt and Dell to put the Westcliff backline on the back foot. Minutes later Dell was again playing a supporting role when he cut back in side and popped the ball to Burdett on the outside, who made sure of the try with a splash down.
Stanford were trying slightly too hard to get the next try and could be accused of white line fever. Despite the score line Westcliff were still battling and on a different day their moves would have resulted in more but it just wasn’t to be for them.
Dell had been part of the last two tries and now was his turn to score, with Burdett repaying the favour he held the Westcliff wing up and passed onto Dell who used his pace to touch down for Stanford’s last try of the day.
Stanford knows only too well how it feels to have an off day and Westcliff are a good side and will bounce back from today’s game. Stanford’s man of the match was a very hard decision but was given to Jamie Wooffitt for his all-round performance.
