In their run in to the BJC cup, Dings U15s take on the combined might of Midsomer Norton, Corsham and Bradford on Avon. The first half would be against the MSN team, and the second half would be against the amalgamated Corsham BoA team.
Dings kicked off and immediately took charge of the game. Once in possession, some slick handling and strong direct running put Dings firmly in the driver’s seat. MSN defended well but eventually the pressure became too much and a series of quick off loads between the forwards put Jaylen over for the first try. Archie converted to make it 0 – 7.

It wasn’t long before Dings were yet again threatening the MSN line. Some excellent phase play and quick off loads kept MSN on the back foot until from the breakdown, Archie fed the ball to Tom Garland who ran a perfect line to score under the posts. Archie converted making it 0 – 14

Despite some strong MSN runs from deep Dings maintained the pressure with a high tempo, quick off load game that pushed MSN back into their own 22 again. More quick off loads and pop passes put Ethan Hunt over for the third, and Archie converted to make it an emphatic 0 – 21 at half time.

Corsham/BoA kicked off the second half with fresh legs and intensity and immediately Dings found themselves deep in their own half struggling to exit. The warm conditions and a tough first half had taken its toll and Dings were struggling to stay in the game against the fresh Corsham/BoA side. As the pressure mounted so did the penalty count and it wasn’t long before Corsham/BoA scored two tries in quick succession. 10 – 0.

Frustration was mounting for Dings at not being able to exit and fatigue was now starting to set in with tackles being missed, and possession being lost. Corsham/BoA drove over the line to score again making it 15 – 0 in the second half.

Dings needed to dig deep now and started to gain a little more possession as Corsham/BoA also began to tire in the warm conditions. But the traffic still seemed to be one way with Corsham/BoA scoring yet again and adding the extras this time to make it 22 – 0 for the half.
Into the last 10 minutes of the game and Dings continued to battle on despite the second half score line. Now that Corsham/BoA were getting tired, Dings were able to secure more quality possession and were able to break out of their own half for the first time. Some excellent ball handling, moved the ball quickly wide to Seb who sprinted in to score under the posts. 22 – 5.

As the Corsham/BoA energy levels continued to drop, Dings took full advantage, but the clock was against them. The Ref had called last play from the restart, so Dings maintained possession to work to within striking distance of the Corsham/BoA line. Then Dylan made a break down the touch line and confronted with the Corsham/BoA defence chipped over and won the foot race to score the final try. 22 – 10 for the half, making the overall score 22 – 31.

This was a tough test for the Dings to play two fresh sides in one game in the warm conditions, and despite a loss of structure and tempo at the beginning of the second half, the Dings players showed some real grit against a very tough opposition.