Ipswich under 15s faced a very strong YM squad for the first time this season and after a typically slow start were on close terms in the first period and just edged the first half with two tries a piece. It was a tough match and with injuries to Josh Le Roux and Henry Williams early in the second period Ipswich exhausted their bench, YM then applied pressure to score well twice and it looked as though they could run away but Ipswich to their credit defended strongly and came very close to scoring themselves at the end. Head Coach Reuben Bolton praised them, “they were awesome in defence at the end and with a chance to score on the whistle, all credit to the Ipswich boys.”

YM started strongly and sustained possession through strong rucking and running to press Ipswich deep in their own half. Ipswich defended well and it was 4 ½ minutes before YM scored the first try, unconverted the score was 0-5. It was 8 minutes before Ipswich won their first possession, Josh Midwood drove forward setting up good ruck ball which Fred Bolton spun quickly left to fly half Sam Donnelly who spotted a gap and accelerated smartly through it to win a 50 metre foot race to the line. With a good conversion Ipswich were 7-5 ahead with very little possession. When Ipswich conceded a scrum in mid-field they gave the YM backs too much space creating the opportunity for a straightforward first phase try. Unconverted it was 7-10 with 15 minutes played. Finally, Ipswich started to play with ball in hand setting up multiple phases of possession and pressing deep in the YM half with strong runs from Dantay Ward and Josh LeRoux in particular and it was fully justified when Ipswich pressed forward before freeing Cameron Knox-Johnston to score a fine try wide left in a pile of bodies. The difficult conversion attempt from Sam Donnelly went marginally wide to finish the first half scoring 12-10 to the home outfit.

With a number of injuries, the depleted Ipswich side had to dig deep to contain a strong running YM squad. YM scored a great team try despite some fantastic Ipswich tackle defence. Unconverted YM were ahead 12-15. YM continued to press as Ipswich tired leaving too much space for a YM side refreshed from a strong bench. YM scored wide right and ominously easily with 20 minutes remaining to move the score on 12-20, it looked as though Ipswich would struggle from this point but to their credit they dug in and tackled everything with immense will and commitment denying further advantage to YM. Indeed, against the odds it was Ipswich who pushed forward strongly at the end, and it was Josh Ball who came within two metres of a final score on the final whistle.

Coach Peter Jordan was justifiably energised by the performance, “to a man they stood up at the end in very challenging circumstances after injuries left them the bare bones of a team, I couldn’t have been more proud of each and every one of them.”