After winning their last two games the Kingswood Knights U12’s team came to this match feeling confident on their abilities to win the game. We know the Hornets are a well drilled team and after an hour journey from their nest they would want to sting the Knights and go home with a victory. The conditions were perfect, not too cold, no rain and firm under foot and the Knights were back on home turf.

This was a tough and hard fought match and I am sure the lads will be feeling a few aches and pains for the next few days. What has improved is the Knights passing down the line rather than passing to one player and running in with the ball. The ball moves freely down the line through the hands of three or more players creating spaces for the Knights to break through– keep this up!!

The game started with Hornets pressing but a lovely quick interchange between Jayden and William and back to Jayden again who went over for the first try. Then there was good rucking and stealing in the middle of the pitch from Wilf, Riley M and Charlie but Hornets pressed, Josh made a great tackle defending the Knights try line but hornets managed to score. From the kick off Jack was pressing the defence and then with lovely passing from Yoshi to George to Riley M and Charlie who skipped past the Hornets for a try. Then Riley M broke through with a storming run but the Hornets had a battling defence which saw Jack driving towards the line. Picked up by Yoshi at the breakdown who passed to Jayden for the try. Charlie’s knees were hurting and Samoree came on as sub. That was the end of Charlies game which was a blow for the team. Hornets then came back with a great try cutting through the middle of the Kingswood defence. But Knights returned with a charging powerful run by Jayden who was supported by a host of blue shirts as he went over for another try. Then Knights defended their lines with two crunching tackles from Riley M and a rip from Yoshi. Wilf then did a crunching tackle and bounced off a Hornets player with a groan from the side-lines and Wilf dazed, had to come off. Rocco, and William were pushing the Kingswood defensive line out but under intense pressure the Hornets found a way through to score a try.

Knights just had the upper hand in the first quarter and everyone was glad to see Wilf coming back onto the pitch showing real determination. Knights were soon on the attack and following a crunching tackle by Riley M who then was injured and had to come off the pitch. This was a cruel blow with Knights losing two of their very strong tacklers, and were without any subs for the rest of the game. They would have to show great character to be able to win this match. Hornets had four subs and could bring on fresh pair of legs at any time.

On the left side of the pitch saw Yoshi, Theo and Samoree inter passing and off loading up the wing. Theo had an excellent match and you would have never known this was only his second game. Passing between Jayden, Josh, Wilf, William, George and Rocco saw Kingswood have 5 phases of play driving to the Hornets line for Jayden to score. This was a great team try which saw every player being involved in the action. Hornets then came back with a try of their own. Samoree was seen tackling and bringing down a Hornets player twice his own size and then Yoshi did an amazing one handed over arm pass to Jayden who ran half the pitch taking most of the Hornets players with him for a well-earned try. Jack was then charging through the middle, but Hornets soaked up the pressure and quickly came back with two tries of their own.

In the third quarter Knights cranked up the gears showing great intensity and Jayden running half the pitch saw him go over the Hornets try line. Jayden again was giving the Hornets a lot of problems and every time he was tackled it would take two or three Hornets to get him onto the ground and the away fans would cheer. You should be proud of this Jayden! Then Jayden was across the line again for a try dragging four or five Hornets with him. Then a big Hornets tackle on Jayden put him on the ground but luckily Jayden got back up and carried on. Then Knights were on the ball again and saw passing from Riley K to Wilf who released Yoshi to sidestep and dummy his way through for a try. Then Jayden and Rocco were driving the ball to the Hornets line which allowed Yoshi to run round the Hornets defence for his second.

The fourth and final quarter saw the Knights dig deep and showed tremendous spirit and the game got very intense both in and off the field. Hornets pressed and pressed scoring two tries. There was great tackling from Rocco, Riley K, Josh and then the whole team were all in it together battling on their own try line to try and win the game while Hornets attacked. The team looked tired and had no subs available but showed great spirit and determination to win the game. In the final play of the game Hornets passed along their line to their winger who dived over the Knights try line only to meet with Yoshi who drove him into touch before he could ground the ball. The ref blew his final whistle and the Knights side lines breathed a sigh of relief.

We hope both Riley M and Charlie are both OK and make speedy recoveries and will be able to play soon. What a match, gritty, and swinging between two teams. Lets say thanks to the Hornets for such a great game, they were really competitive. I thought it was a draw but adding up the scores on my notes makes it a well-deserved win for the Knights with the try saving tackle at the end!! Thanks to the coaches for building a really positive team culture, it's great watching all the team develop together.

Yoshi Black - Man of the Match

Try scorers
Jayden – 7
Charlie – 1
Yoshi – 2