Harborough Hurricane

Harborough u13s played fellow County Cup semi-finallists Lutterworth on Sunday. The Harborough boys blew their opposition away with an irresistible force.

It was a familiar story from the outset. The forwards dominated and punched holes in the opposition defence, the ball went through the backs to Thomas Mercer on the wing, who cut inside and found his Number 8 Henry Povoas in support. Once in his hands, Povoas blasted through for the first score.

Lutterworth are a good, well organised side with some impressive results. They were not about to make this easy for the home side. The rucking was competitive from both teams and Harborough gave away a short series of penalties as they fought to hold on to the ball. They steadied themselves with another score from the Number 8, breaking from the base of a scrum.

Max Dalby ran straight and strong all game, often with Keiran Silcott or James Melody on his shoulder to take the ball upfield. It was a Dalby and Melody combination that created the platform for the next try, Melody offloading with a sublime pass behind his back. Sam Pindling, enjoying a rich vein of form, muscled over and took the score to 15 – 0. Povoas bagged another before half time, converted this time by Dalby who was sharing kicking duties with Tom Pope.

Lutterworth’s rucking paid off for them with the last play of the first half. Although Harborough secured the ball in their own half, they were on the back foot and under pressure. With a lack of numbers in midfield, a loose pass was intercepted and Lutterworth scored under the posts. 22 – 7 at half time.

It was Lutterworth on the back foot early in the second half. They had the ball but were flustered in defence. Will Hallam showed off his poaching skills, taking advantage of the confusion and diving on the ball for a try. Tom Pope converted.

Ross Primrose was typically fearless in defence, with a series of immense tackles meaning he took a well earned break in the second half. Joe Summers at Fly Half was distributing well and the open field running was testament to some good quick ball.

Another loose ball in the Lutterworth half was picked up by Povoas, who bashed over the line. Hallam scored again with another close quarters move. By now, all of Harborough’s replacements were on the pitch and Lutterworth were beginning to tire. A couple of scores straight from the restart showed the ball skills in the forwards with Hallam, Cameron Jordan and Huw Davies carrying to feed Povoas for another brace. Dalby now had his kicking boots on and converted three, to make the final score 58 – 7.

This was a tremendous result against one of the better sides in the County. Never less than competitive, Lutterworth came to play and Harborough had to be at the top of their game – they were.