U13s March on to the Final

Market Harborough u13s kept their rich vein of form going with a semi-final victory over a strong Loughborough side, pushing on to the County Cup showdown.

The two sides have met on several occasions in recent years and it has often been a well-matched contest. Early runs came from James Melody and Ross Primrose, keeping play in the Loughborough half, but uncharacteristic handling errors on a bitingly cold morning meant the final ball just wasn’t there. Harborough were being robbed of the ball in the rucks for the second week running, but still kept their opponents under pressure. A chargedown by Adam Stamp and some carries from Huw Davies finally got Melody to the try line, but not yet to score. Loughborough showed their determination in defence and held him up, despite the continued pressure.

Melody finally crashed it over from short range to take the first score. Harborough were leading 5 – 0. A fumbled take from the restart resulted in an attacking scrum for Loughborough. They released their rapid winger who broke through a series of attempted tackles and scored under the posts for a straightforward conversion. Loughborough took the lead at 5 – 7.

Harborough were dominant in the scrums all game. Henry Povoas took advantage of the platform to pick up from the base and complete a trademark bullocking run to the line. Max Dalby converted to put Harborough ahead 12 – 7. Povoas repeated the move before half time to make the score 17 – 7 at the break.

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing again. Povoas was the first to score in the second half with another pick up from the base of a strong scrum. Loughborough were certainly not a spent force, though. They continued to put Harborough under pressure, but strong defence from Sam Pindling and Dalby in the centre kept the threat at bay and Jo Summers marshalled his back line effectively from Fly Half.

Cameron Jordan claimed the next try, following more hard work from the pack. Captain Will Hallam popped up from his position on the flank to make an excellent conversion, taking the score to 29 – 7.

Matthew Stamp at Scrum Half took the initiative from the next scrum, using his speed and agility to score another try, which Hallam again converted.

The last try was the best of the day, with the ball coming from a set piece right along the line for Kieran Silcott to score on the right wing. Final score 41 – 7 and Harborough laid down a marker for the final.