Rugby Union
/ˌrʌɡbɪ ˈjuːnɪən/ - noun
a form of rugby played in teams of fifteen...not necessarily!

Stortford took to the field at OV's with a reduced squad of just fourteen players due to call ups to the A-team squad or last minute withdrawals, but with a few changes to regular playing positions and the loan of a willing winger from the opposition the game started 15-a-side.
Our lads soaked up some strong early pressure but the home team broke the deadlock after eleven minutes with a converted try from their big forward pack. Stortford responded positively with some lovely attacking play, Henry C revelling in his opportunity to play at outside centre making ground and Nathan digging the ball tenaciously from the base of the ruck eventually getting the ball into the hands of Jacob, who with a lot of work still to do, ducked inside to make himself some space to run into and score our first try. An injury to Tom N meant we were down to fourteen after twenty minutes, but the boys rallied and got the next score through a try from Ali O to take us into the lead 7-10. OV's took advantage of the extra man getting a second try to retake the lead but it is fair to say that the rest of the half was Stortford's and the lads played some of the best rugby we have seen in a while.
Nathan was rewarded for his tireless efforts at scrum-half with a brilliantly worked try beneath the posts which Jacob was able to convert before getting the opportunity to score and subsequently convert his second try of the match to make the score 12-24 at half time.
Two tries and one conversion in the first ten minutes of the second half made honours even again, but another injury - Ali O - meant that briefly Stortford had to borrow another player and scrums became uncontested whilst our prop got treatment. But once again we responded positively and Ellis broke free, after more great play from Henry C and Jacob, and was able to evade the OV defenders to dive over the line beside the posts, a well deserved reward for his excellent play throughout the game. The conversion from Jacob saw us take a 24-31 lead and Ali O was able to return to the pitch before yet another equalising try from OVs - 31-31. With just five minutes to go, a draw would have been the perfect scoreline for what had been a fantastic game to watch but another injury - Dylan S - disrupted the flow and despite OVs player, Harry, taking to the field for us for the second time the tiring 12 Stortford lads and 2 OV loanees were unable to stop the home team taking the lead and finally finishing us off with a try from a well timed interception in the middle of the pitch to give them the win.
The lads did us proud today, to not only be in the match playing with just fourteen players for over fifty minutes, but to be leading it for the majority of the game shows what a great effort they all put in. Every player stepped up to produce a performance they can all be very proud of, it was great to see Henry back in blue, Ellis caught every ball, Nathan had a great game at scrum-half, Jacob and Dillon were unstoppable in attack, our forwards worked out how to play as forwards and Caleb was having the time of his life let loose on the wing...imagine what we could have done with fifteen players in their strongest positions!
A very special mention has to go to Sonny, thrown in as No8 from the start, Sonny showed how far he has come as a player in the last two years, he was first to every ruck and back on his feet after every tackle to set himself for more contact, a fantastic performance which is all we ever ask for as coaches!
Henry was awarded star player in the bar post-match and Jacob was awarded his own special nomination too ;)