Under-14s lift Cup at Boston

Sunday April 24

Newark Under-14s 24 Stamford Under-14s 14

Congratulations to all the gang…

Report from Spencer Stevenson

The under-14s came up against a strong determined Stamford team on a glorious sunny day yet blustery conditions. Newark won the toss and decided to play with the wind. The opening three minutes resulted in a very intense number of phases led by Stamford’s forwards who maintained possession well yet they couldn’t penetrate Newark’s formidable defence.

The relentless spell of aggressive defending sadly resulted in Newark losing playmaker Griff Morgan James who had to leave the field with a broken collar bone.

This was a devastating blow to Newark as it came within seconds of the kick off and the back line had to adapt to the incredibly unfortunate situation.

Newark’s versatile backline maintained their composure and adapted quickly under pressure and were soon able to gather momentum after relaxing into the match and ran a precise move, enabling sharp handling down the back line.

This enabled Jack Taylor on the wing to get into his unrivalled stride, who ran in Newark’s first try from the halfway line in thrilling style. Due to the blustering wind the try wasn’t converted, but Newark led 5-0.

The momentum and confidence grew within the Newark side who maintained possession well for a period, yet Stamford were soon on the attack again.

Newark were clearly easing into the match after another tough spell of defending. Regardless of Stamford’s further attempts to hit the ball up through their powerful fast attacking play they simply couldn’t find a way through thanks to Charlie Chamberlin, who made a number of intimidating tackles.

Newark continued to dominate with their solid set piece and their ball retention was excellent. They persevered and their team mentality and cohesion shone through.

Newark’s forwards continued to dominate the midfield providing Will Coen lovely quick ball whose fast and accurate service enabled Alfie Stevenson (who had moved into the 10 shirt) to execute a thrilling loop play through the backs.

The move ended in Josh Parsons putting Taylor into space once more to score his second for Newark. This was then converted by Evan Marshall. (12-0).

Newark were now clearly moving up the gears and gaining in confidence and clearly settling into the match and despite a couple of injuries remained focused and disciplined.

Stamford were not done yet and vigilantly continued to try their very best to get back into the game. They worked tirelessly up the pitch through a number of phases and back plays in attempt to get through the Newark defence.

Stamford were determined to test Newark. After several powerful attempts, just before half time, they were clearly eager to get on the score board. Newark remained determined too to maintain their lead and continued their well drilled defence with a number of dominate tackles from both forwards and backs keeping Stamford out. This clearly helped maintain the high spirits going into the half-time break.

The second half started very well for Newark even though they were against the strong wind. The fresh legs of Lenny Coen and Monty Mullins helped provide the forwards support and their strong running tested a now tiring Stamford.

Newark were now getting into their stride and continued to manage the game well maintaining possession and running through a number set piece drills with cohesion off the line outs led excellently through Finn Charles.

Newark continued to dominate through their forward strike runners. A key turning point came from Jaime Sanders who punched up on a yet another determined run putting the Stamford defenders on the back foot, gaining Newark valuable territory in a key area of the field.

After a perfectly executed set piece scrum through Charles again, Coen set Stevenson up down the blind side who put James Flint in the far corner for Newark’s third try, which due to its location wasn’t converted (17-0)

Stamford were now against it but continued to keep the pressure on Newark and after a deep kick off to Newark they applied some quality pressure which put Newark’s back line against the wall, yet after a clever kick through on the full by Flint he gathered his own kick and was gifted a chance to test the Stamford fullback for pace.

Flint got into full stride and in a thrilling run from the half way line, in front of a roaring side line, he ran the ball home for Newark’s forth excellent try under the posts, which was again converted by Marshall (24- 0).

With 10 minutes to play Newark were becoming weary and unfortunately Parsons took a big blow to his ankle.

Newark were hopeful they had done enough for victory as the clocked ticked down. However, Stamford came back yet determined and continued to fight hard with 2 converted tries. Unfortunately for them, this was too little too late and through a collective push and clever game management, Newark became the U14 NLD Champions 2022 with the final whistle blowing 24-12.

It was a truly fantastic display of rugby from both sides with excellent sportsmanship. Well done to the entire Newark U14 squad who have had a fantastic season and worked tremendously hard all year. A well-deserved title for an excellent group of young men. A special thank you to all the Newark squad members and parents who attending and supported the players.