Black come alive in second half to come back and win

Ipswich Black U14s 25 v 24 Stowmarket U14s ( Tries Fin, Arch, Gibbo, Hazza, Joe F )

Stowmarket were the first visitors of the 2018/19 season at the Lane on a grey and blowy October morning.

Following last weeks defeat we urged the boys to start quicker and try and play the game at our pace, our way. We seem to struggle early on in games and told the boys that they need to start believing in their ability and trust the players next to them. We had lost Ollie Saddleton overnight with a stomach bug (get well soon young man), Rory also having been concussed at school and are still without the likes of Harris and Fred von Moll who together do nothing but make this squad stronger. Ollie Wroe answered a very early call to join the squad at HDL and didn't disappoint when he took the field.

Unfortunately our slow start to matches continued and we conceded early on following pressure from the kick off and Stow then scored again shortly afterwards to make the score 0-12. Finn was nursing an injury he picked up in the warm up but showed great strength to burst through their defence and score before Stowmarket increased their lead to make it 5-19 at the break.

To say the boys were playing below their best would be an understatement and following a lively team talk at half time the boys took to the pitch to set about the job in hand!

Arch sent the Stow line the wrong way with a dummy to power over the line following some great work from the pack to cut the gap to 9 only for Stowmarket to battle back and restore their 14 point lead.

Cue a very exciting last 15 minutes. The boys showed us that when it all comes together they are truly box office! First Gibbo showed great strength to break their line and go over in the corner and then after a great overlap and some very tidy footwork from Hazza we went over again to set up a grandstand finish!

Joe Fairbrother returned to the field following an injury to Ollie Wroe and the boys showed great discipline to go through the phases from left to right and with the last action of the game he burst over the Stowmarket line with 3 defenders hanging off him to make it 25-24 and record the first win of the season.

Some real positives this week with the forwards again very strong The front 8 tackled hard and put in a real shift, the backs worked tirelessly and a special mention to Finn for putting in a brilliant shift while not feeling 100%.

Man of the match was a really tough decision with Vic, Arch, Will, Fin and fun Freddy Hudson in the running but it deservedly goes to Fred Hudson who was brilliant from start to finish with some outstanding tackling and hold up play.

Overall far from perfect but if we all keep working hard in training and at home we wont be far away when the business starts after Christmas.

Remember boys, believe in yourselves, trust the man beside you and keep working on the basics!

Great to see Nick, Rory and Bill supporting the boys this morning whilst injured. Looking forward to seeing you all out there again soon (school permitting !) and of course thank you to our wonderful parents, siblings and grandparents.

Great game boys for the neutral but not for the coach team.