Broad Plain RFC vs Midsomer Norton RFC 24/03/24

And so, at one win a piece, this was going to be a winner takes all performance for one of the teams today. With 16 players at their disposal with Connor sadly ruled out with a knee injury, but new-boy Jacob joining at half time, the stage was set for hopefully an evenly contested match.

With an extended warm up period due to the BP U12's game running over, the tension in the air started to build (well it did with the parents on the sideline) as all knew that Midsomer Norton were a well-organised and big/strong team (I was tempted to ask to see some of their passports!).

But finally we got to kick off at around 11:45am on what was a lovely sunny morning (for most of the time), and with the teams swapping ends, it was Broad Plain to get the proceedings underway. Up stepped Josh, with the team chomping at the bit behind him, and with the sound of the piercing whistle from the Ref (Kyle), he sent the kick high up through the morning air.

Immediately the intent from Broad Plain was there, with Zayd charging down the receiving Midsomer Norton player, albeit his keenness resulted in the first penalty of the game with a slightly high tackle. With Josh and Max dropping into position for the penalty, the kick from Midsomer Norton didn't make touch, and Josh collected the ball dropping over his shoulder and set off on his first run to test their defence. Having made it from one side of the pitch to the other, he then kicked over the top to chase onto, and although he raced past three players in pursuit, the Midsomer Norton Fullback was in the right place to collect, and off they set in a counter attack. Passing it along their line, it all look quite promising, until Aaron put in his first big hit of the afternoon, and forced a knock on, with the ball going into touch for a line out. Ryan's throw was true and straight, and collected by Harvey, they set the driving maul, and started their charge towards the 22. An infringement in the maul presented a penalty to Broad Plain, and although Josh didn't get much on the kick, it was still a line out deep in Midsomer Norton's half, and a great chance to capitalise. Again, the line out from Ryan was on point, but Midsomer Norton were ready for the maul this time, and in the collapsing maul, Henry got it to Max, but then a series of bobbling short passes led to a turnover with a penalty awarded to Midsomer Norton. From a tap penalty, Midsomer Norton tried to go through the middle, but Leo was on hand to stop their first charge, ably backed up Aaron and then Zayd. From the ruck, Midsomer Norton came away with the ball, but Iori put in a fantastic tackle on a particularly big lad, and then picked from the ruck and fed Zayd who set off across the pitch before he was felled. However, he popped the ball up to Ollie, who quickly fed Henry and then to Josh, and hugging the line, the foot-race was on and we all knew the outcome and Josh was able to find his way under the posts to touchdown for the first try. Kicking an easy conversion, Broad Plain were 7-0 after 7mins of game time.

Midsomer's restart dropped between the two front line of players, but Sam was alive to it, and collected the bouncing ball and charged forward, taking two players to drag him down. Aaron then followed up and also made good ground before being taken to ground. Jude's quick ball then released Leo, who set off through the middle, but from the resulting ruck Midsomer Norton charged us off the ball and were able to turn it over. However, this was short-lived as Zayd turned over the next ruck and charged forward making an excellent gain. Iori then broke free and fed the ball to Josh, but it was lost again in the ruck, and all of a sudden they were away, and it took a try-saving tackle from Max to stop them breaking down the wing. Massive tackles then rained in from Rhys, Harvey and Antos, and their advancements came to an end. A penalty was awarded along the way, and playing the advantage, Midsomer Norton were able to press with no pressure on losing the ball, and even though tackles kept flying in from the same trio, they finally broke through the middle and went over for their first try after 10mins. With the grounded ball between the sticks, the conversion was duly dispatched, and it was 7-7 in an already absorbing game.

With Mckenzie replacing Ollie, Josh's restart was well received, but after a tackle from the oncoming Mckenzie, Midsomer Norton knocked on and presented Broad Plain with an early scrum in the middle of the pitch. With a re-set following Midsomer Norton pushing too early, Harvey came away with the ball, and then Rhys collected from the ruck, and it was all Broad Plain again. However, Midsomer Norton turned over the next ruck, and within a blink of an eye, they broke through the middle again, and save a valiant attempt from Leo and Mckenzie to stop them, they dropped over under the posts for their 2nd try. With the simple conversion taken, it was now 7-14 after 15mins.

From the restart, Midsomer Norton knocked on following a great double tackle from Henry and Ryan, and playing the advantage, Antos set off, but In being taken down quickly, Kyle brought it back for the knock on, and a scrum to Broad Plain. Jude collected quickly at the back, and fed Aaron, who broke through a couple of tackles to crash down over for Broad Plain's 2nd try. Although it was a bit out wide, Josh's conversion kick was good, and after 17mins it was all square at 14-14.

Midsomer Norton's kick once again dropped between the two front lines, but Antos was quick to it, and set off with Leo in support. A penalty was then awarded, and Josh made good ground, making touch over the halfway line. With Ryan 2 out of 2 in the line outs, this one was also on the money, and Harvey fed back to Jude who fed Zayd, but in going to ground, it was Midsomer Norton who once again came away with the ball. However, as good as Midsomer Norton were at turning it over in the rucks, we were doing the same when they went to ground, and it was Rhys this time who came away with the ball, and then fed it to Leo who charged forward. From the ruck, Iori broke through which then led to one of the tries of the season, and undoubtedly led to Max being awarded Player of Steel. In breaking with the ball from just inside our own half, Iori fed Max who tiptoed along the touchline (not crossing or touching it) racing past three players, and then the commentator (me dictating for the match report) screamed 'GO ON MAX' eight times in a row for the following 15 seconds as Max continued to evade all tackles, jinking and swerving, but still racing forward towards the line. With only about 5 metres to go, Max was finally caught, but he still had the speed of thought to see Josh racing up on his left shoulder, and popped it to him at the last second for Josh then to dive over the line for his 2nd, and more importantly, Broad Plain's 3rd try, with only 4 minutes left before half time. Being right under the posts, Josh popped the conversion over easily, and it was 21-14.

From the restart, Antos collected the bobbling ball, and raced forward, but was somewhat isolated and so Midsomer Norton easily stole it back. They were then awarded a penalty for Harvey going into the ruck off his feet, and from the quick tap, it looked a dead cert for them to score back quickly, but Mckenzie got across quickly as they kicked to the corner to chase onto, and knocked out the ball for a Midsomer Norton line out on our 5m line. With only a minute left on the clock, their line out was good, and drove their maul close to the try line. They then fed it out the back, and had two attempts at the crash ball, with the Broad Plain forwards holding out valiantly until on the third attempted, then broke through the line and touched down for their 3rd try. With the conversion taken, it was 21-21 in what was turning out to be one of the games of the season, and to be honest, the scoreline probably reflected the play on the field with two very evenly-matched teams.

Following a very buoyant and rousing half time talk from Graeme and Kyle, the boys took to the field again, with Midsomer Norton waiting to take the restart kick. Broad Plain were also joined on the field by their debutant player, Jacob, who had only been to a couple of training sessions so far, but there was already a sense that he could massively add to the team.

As had happened on a number of occasions in the first half, the ball landed in front of Antos, and collecting well, he fed Rhys on the charge and broke through a few tackles before finally being pushed into touch. With Midsomer Norton attempting a cheeky quick line out to the front player, it was penalised for not being straight, and so it was given over to Ryan to take a Broad Plain line out. Sadly Ryan sent it a bit long over Harvey's head, and Midsomer Norton were able to collect at the end of the line. As they went wide, tackles flew in from Ollie, Sam and Mckenzie, and then Zayd put in a cruncher as they tried to break back through the middle. They then knocked on in a string of passes as they tried to get it wide again, and from our scrum Jude popped it to Max who fed it to Jacob for his first run. From the ruck, Aaron got it out to Josh, who set off and he almost got away, but in being grounded he was too isolated and Midsomer Norton stole from the ruck. However, it was short-lived again for them, as Broad Plain stole back, and Jacob had his second break, but this time was crunched by two big Midsomer Norton players and lost the ball forward to present Midsomer Norton a chance to get up the field. However, Antos was on hand to stop their advances, backed ably by Aaron, and then with the advantage called as over, Leo stole back and charged forwards through the middle and over the half way line. Once again sadly, Broad Plain lost it in the ruck, but Zayd quickly won it back in a counter ruck, and fed Iori who was able to break, then feeding Leo, then Aaron and finally to Rhys, who made excellent ground before being felled. Jacob then broke again, and fed it to Josh who got away on the touchline, but in being crowded out, he kicked over to chase onto, but it went a bit long and so Midsomer Norton collected easily. Ryan and Antos were equally quick to it, but a penalty was awarded for some infringement and Midsomer Norton tapped and drove quickly, but once again they lost it forward in their (mis)passing, and Freddie was able to collect and fed Josh who got out wide and charged along the line. It looked like he was clear, but as the Midsomer Norton players got across to him, Josh put a foot into touch, and so even though he grounded the ball over the try line, it was brought back for a line out on the 22 line. From the line out, Harvey put in a big hit on their scrum half, but was penalised for going high (quite hard to stay low when you mismatch a 6'2" Harvey with a 5' scrum half!). The quick tap penalty saw Midsomer Norton break, but Zayd and Rhys were alive to it, with Harvey back in the action too, and Broad Plain came away with the ball, and Mckenzie almost got to the try line, but in trying to feed Josh the ball dropped short and Midsomer Norton were able to collect. In driving through the middle with some of the Broad Plain players out of position, it took a great tackle from Leo to foil this next attack. Jude and Antos then also put in great tackles, but a penalty was awarded to Midsomer Norton, and taking the quick tap again, they almost broke free, but Aaron and Antos double tackled the breaking player and again it was slow ball for Midsomer Norton. In this continued brutal phase of play from Midsomer Norton with Broad Plain bravely defending their line, they looked to go wide, but checked back and straightened up to charge through and over for the first try of the second half after 12mins. With the conversion successful, it was now 21-28, but there was a lot of this game still to play, and Broad Plain were certainly not out of this.

Josh's restart kick landed perfectly between the lines, and in trying to collect the bouncing ball, Midsomer Norton knocked on, and Broad Plain had a scrum in a good position. Feeding and collecting quickly, Jude fed the ball to Zayd, who broke through three tackles, and almost got it out to Josh, but in holding on Midsomer Norton stole in the ruck and cleared their lines with a kick. As it dropped over Josh's shoulder, he timed the pick up well, and set off round the back of his teammates towards the far side of the pitch, and more importantly, towards the try line. When finally caught, he stayed on his feet and laid it off to Max, who in turn fed Jacob, and the debutant did well to crash through the defensive line to score his first try for the club, and more importantly to hopefully bring the scores level. However, with the ball being touched down out wide, it was a tricky conversion kick for Josh to take on, and sadly he pulled it wide. However, it was now 26-28 after only 14mins, and so still a lot of gametime to play.

The restart went straight to the try-scorer, and Jacob charged forward making good yardage before being taken down by two Midsomer Norton players. Jacob successfully fed the ball back in the ruck, and Zayd saw a gap to pick up quickly and break through, although was grounded on the second attempt. Antos was quickest to get to him and fed it to Josh, who broke at speed, before popping it to Iori, who also made great ground before feeding Mckenzie at full speed out on the wing, and evaded two players before diving over in the corner. With the valiant attempt at the conversion kick just falling short, the score was now 31-28 on 19mins, and so with only 6 mins left, this was a great chance for Broad Plain to manage the game through to what would be a fantastic win.

The restart kick was allowed to hit the ground, and Midsomer Norton were quickest to react and collected their own kick. In getting it wide, Ollie and Sam stole in a ruck, and with Jude feeding it back to Josh, he kicked it way down the line and into touch from within our 22, and so running the clock down even further. From the line out, Midsomer Norton broke through the middle to the half way line, but Jacob put in a great tackle, albeit illegally without wrapping properly. Unsure of whether it was a penalty, a scrum was awarded and when it popped out the back Mckenzie was on the scrum half before he knew it, and in knocking on, Josh collected the ball in playing the advantage and with most of the Midsomer Norton players in front of him, he turned them all inside out before getting free. It looked a dead cert for another try, but a last-ditch ankle tap almost put a stop it, but as Josh kicked up his heals to evade it, he then taunted the player on the ground by looking back at him as he lay despairingly in the mud (to a volley of obscenities from said player in mud), adding even more salt into the wound as he took his merry old time to place the ball down over the line and dead middle between the sticks. The conversion was a given, and at 23:30mins the score was now 38-28, and everyone (parents, coaches and players) could now believe that this was going to be a very convincing and well-deserved win.

The (final) restart was collected well by Ollie, who popped it back to Aaron, and in having been told that the clock was now in the red, kicked it with absolute gusto into touch. With the final whistle piercing the air, it was quickly followed by whoops and hollers of joy from the Broad Plain team, who jumped around clapping each other on the back and falling into hugs of complete ecstasy.

With this win comes the bragging rights in winning 2:1 in a three-game thriller with this good Midsomer Norton team, but actually, there was only one team out there today that really wanted that win, and bodies were literally thrown on the line to stop the other in their tracks. There was also only one team that showed real flair with the ball, and Max's try will be talked about for a very long time, and he has every right to be very very proud of the 'try of the season'. Each to a player, the Broad Plain boys were brilliant, and if this was to be the last game of the season, there would be no better way to sign off. Although there have been a lot of ups and downs this year, there is no doubting that this performance is up there with the best of them, if not THE BEST.

Boys, we salute you all... you did yourselves, your coaches and your parents proud!

#WHOAREWE