Fixture

First game of season for the U10's was at RTB Ebbw Vale and what a fine sunny Sunday morning it was! Today we were joined by new players Gabriel Jones and Hudson Mathias.  It was the first opportunity for the boys to play a fixture where they were rucking and jackaling.

The Dale won the toss and started the game with passes between William Morgan, Zac Tucker and Oliver Cooke. Turnover ball gave possession to RTB but we gained it back with William Davey and Jordan Way tackling RTB into touch.  Possession was passed back and fore, RTB were penalised for holding on, the Dale restarted the ball was passed to Oliver Cooke he did a sidestep before passing on to Jordan Way unfortunately a penalty was awarded against the Dale for holding on.  The Dale defence were putting in some great tackles, Gabriel Jones chased and tackled, a forward pass gave the scrum to the Dale, unfortunately a loose ball was picked up by RTB who almost made it in to the try line before they were tackled into touch.  William Davey took the ball made some good ground but was then penalised for holding, RTB persisted and finally found the try line 1-0.  The Dale restarted and there was some quick passing from Jordan Way to Max Rossiter and on to Gabriel Jones he offloaded to Thomas Gregory for him to storm to the try line to equalise,1-1.

First Third 1-1

RTB started the second third. there was some good tackling by the Dale, RTB passed the ball out across the line and scored, 2-1. This was quickly followed by Jordan Way making good ground before passing to Thomas Gregory to score 2-2.  The game restarted and William Morgan made a tackle which forced a knock-on from RTB, Thomas nearly caught it but the Dale were awarded the scrum. The ball was passed out to Connor Thomas but a knock on gave the scrum back to RTB.  Possession passed back and forth resulting with the Dale being awarded a scrum, the ball was passed out to Thomas Gregory he used to speed to get to the try line but dropped the ball over the try line no try awarded.  RTB had the ball Zac Tucker and William Davey put in some excellent tackles Oliver Cooke came in for the jackal and Jordan Way claimed the ball, the Dale were unable to score before the whistle.

Second Third RTB 2 - Oakdale 2

The Dale started the last third RTB picked up a loose ball and gave the scrum to the Dale they were unable to keep possession and RTB picked up another loose ball and scored 3-2.  The Dale restarted and were tackled, RTB picked up the ball, the Dale showed some strong defence but RTB managed to score, 4-2.  The Dale restarted with possession changing. RTB had the ball Zac Tucker tackled and found himself under many boys, he regained composure and as RTB were passing along the line Zac went in for the tackle but it was a bit high. RTB restarted and it looked as though they were going to score, Hudson Mathias got to the player and tackled him into touch on the whistle.

Final score RTB 4  - Oakdale 2

Coaches comments - First game of the season with new rules is always difficult, but the boys did well and tried their best, we have lots to work on but I know the boys will adapt quickly. It's not about the results but the development and the boys will develop and the winning will come later.