Old Brod’s U17’s 15 v Wharfedale U17’s 5

On a cold and wet Sunday morning the youthful Brodleian’s Junior Colts faced their toughest test so far this season against an unbeaten Wharfedale side. Their first ever league game had been against Wharfedale back in September when the Dalesmen had taken advantage of the Brod’s sides lack of experience and scored 60 unanswered points. The Brod’s lads were determined that things were going to be different this time and that now they had gelled as a team they feared no-one in this league.
With Wharfedale winning the toss and opting to start playing up the slope Brod’s quickly made their intentions clear when they were awarded a penalty 10m into their opponents half and Max Sheldrake opted to have a go at goal. Despite the difficult conditions the kick was good and Brod’s took a 3-0 lead. Brod’s attack down the hill was intense but the wet muddy conditions made handling difficult and the inevitable errors occurred which denied them several opportunities to extend their lead. Any in-roads Wharfedale made into the Brod’s half were quickly reversed with some fine clearance kicks from Tyler Nicholson and Adam Parkinson. The Brod’s lads knew that they to do more as the much bigger Wharfedale lads would be hard to stop later with the slope in their favour. Eventually the Brod’s backs managed to create some space and Greg Roper touched down in the corner to take them into half time with an 8-0 lead.
With the advantage of the slope in the second half Wharfedale’s large pack were looking to impose themselves on the much smaller Brod’s lads, but this young side showed some grit and determination and tackled everything that the Dalesmen had to throw at them. Issac Cracknel and Brodie Wilson led the pack and were tireless in defence, while Peter Walker and Chester Butler shored up the midfield with some great tackles. Brod’s managed to make some progress out of their 22 and Chester Butler found a gap and sprinted up the slope and scored under the posts, Max Sheldrake added the conversion to give Brod’s a 15-0 lead. Again the Wharfedale forwards attacked and eventually the pressure paid off when a forced knock-on from Brod’s gave them a 5m scrum and their No.8 picked up and drove for the line to get them on the score-sheet. With only a couple of minutes left to play the Brod’s youngsters closed out the game to take a well-deserved victory.