Match Report 10-09-2017 by Matt Cameron
Southwold v Bury St Edmunds U13

Bury travelled to Southwold on a windy day on their first morning of matches as U13s. It was agreed to play three periods of rugby, given this was the opening game for both sides.
The home side on the day included some large young players, and it was clear from the start that they were well drilled in using these as ball carriers, working tight to the ruck.
Bury had realised before the start the importance of moving the ball away from the contact area, and this worked very early on when Seb B, the usual Southwold strong wind behind him, kicked through behind the defenders, for Will C to retrieve and touch down.
Yet from that early score Southwold ran three easy tries by attacking tight lines occasionally moving the ball all the way out to the Inside Centre. But Bury did not give up, and eventually awoke to start attacking again. On a Bury attack, Sol M tok a quick penalty that ran the visitors almost to the try line. Southwold retrieved through a scrum, but good tackling led to a turn-over when Southwold were penalised. From the penalty Seb B's lateral run led to a pass to Riley A to score.
15-10 at that point was probably a fair reflection of the game so far, although it could quite easily have been different where simple, quick passing through the backs freed Will C to run down the wing, only to be caught by an excellent tackle.
15-10 to Southwold at the end of the first period.
The second period saw Bury statr to show a little more fire. The forwards had started picking up their work rate, and good scrummaging from replacement Hooker Freddie B helped to provide a solid platform.
A tap penalty from Rhys J released Sol M, who was stopped illegally. Seb B stormed through from that penalty to score, to level the score.
The coaches normally look to award one player for 'Support of the Day'; they decided against this today though, as indicated when Seb B kicked through and retrieved, only to be penalised for holding - there was nobody in support to assist him.
However they regrouped, and a good pass out to Will C allowed him to run around the defence to touch down in the corner.
Still, though, defensive frailities were apparent, with one Southwold runner charging through six players before being brought down.
This was Bury's best period of the whole game, although a Southwold interception try left the score at the end of the period as 20-20.
The third period started with some good defence and tackling, keeping the pressure on Southwold. One penalty led to a kick through that Riley A touched down.
Unfortunately in the last few minutes Southwold were able to score two final tries, one an interception, one a simple final effort of hard running.
Overall, not a bad start to the season - much to work on, but lots of positives to take as well.
Tackle of the day went to Rhys J, for several text-book efforts.