Match Report – Cornwall U18’s 10 v Gloucestershire 25
7th January 2024 @ Hartpury College, by Oscar Marr
Cornwall U18’s played their final game of the South West tournament this weekend. A highly anticipated game against Gloucestershire was all that was between Cornwall and an unbeaten run in the tournament.
The first half started solidly with a pointless first 15 minutes. Gloucestershire then began to build some momentum and broke the deadlock with the first score of the match. Cornwall continued to probe and test the Gloucester defence, but they could not end with a score.
Gloucester started to pounce on Cornwall’s mistakes and added two quick scores, but Cornwall were determined not to go into the break empty handed and sustained pressure through direct running from Olly Pellow led to a line break and an easy score in the corner from Bailey Hadfield to end the half.
Down at the break Cornwall were determined to make inroads on Gloucester’s lead early in the second half. However, the mistakes continued to keep them on the wrong side of momentum and Gloucester capitalised once again to start the half.
The next 20 minutes were Cornwall’s most positive of the day. Strong defence led to lots of attacking pressure but a lack of criticality meant they failed to score as many as they should. The pressure was not for nothing though as a slick move to access the wide channels was finished with a quick pick around the ruck from Kaea Griffiths.
Back in the game Cornwall hoped to find an extra score and push for the win. However, that was not the case and Gloucester finished the game with another score ending the game 5 tries to 2.
Squad: Dan Bennett, Charles Byron, Sam Vickery, Pierce Ford, Jack Jenkin, Bailey Hadfield, Issac Jago (Capt), Kaea Griffiths, Idris Logan, Oscar Marr, Ted Kullich, Olly Pellow, Harry Rigg, Jowan Wilding, Ross McKnight, Aaron Jones, Joe Court, Seb Dash, Jude Hardy, Ashton Rowe, Callum Phillips, Fin Stuart.
Tries: Hadfield, Griffiths.
Coaches: Andy Hawken, LJ Colick.
7 Cornwall U18’s selected to trial for the South West Combined side
After some very enjoyable games at Hartpury, where all our players were accessed across the games, congratulations to the following who have been selected to attend the trial for the combined South West U18 side:
Dan Bennett Truro RFC
Sam Vickery Launceston RC
Issac Jago Wadebridge Camels RFC
Kaea Griffiths Penzance & Newlyn RFC
Idris Logan Helston RFC
Ted Kullich Penzance & Newlyn RFC
Callum Phillips Wadebridge Camels RFC
Best of luck all for the 28th January.
