|
A large crowd gathered at Wyeside to watch the Midlands final of the Daily Mail Vase. Hereford Cathedral School chose to play with the slight breeze and were soon exerting pressure on the KES Birmingham pack.
The first ten minutes were spent in the KES half and eventually the pressure paid off, a penalty in front of the posts, Olly Cross obliged with the kick, 3-0 the Cathedral School. HCS continued to dominate, the pack was getting the upper hand and an excellent break from George Hanks got HCS to within 6 metres of the try line. KES managed to clear but from the line out, the Cathedral School drove to within centimetres of the try line, the ball was recycled and Sam Davies dummied his pass and dived over for a classic scrum half try. The score was 8-0 with half time approaching, but with the whistle about to go, Cross went blind, a pass to Walne who off loaded to Max Foster who beat his man and dived for the corner, try? So close, he just lost control of the ball before grounding. Half time 8-0.
The boys looked in control and started the second half extremely well, more forward domination propelled Hereford Cathedral School to the try line, Cross and Jones crashed over, but the ball was held up, 5 metre try, HCS put in. Sam Jones picked up from the base, he crashed over with 3 KES players trying to stop him, Cross kicked the conversion, 15-0.
The Cathedral School were now totally dominant, Robinson, Walker and Lort were punching holes in the KES Birmingham defence and Foster was denied again in the corner. Skipper Matt Walne almost scored but KES cleared to relieve the pressure.
KES won a line out on their ‘22’ and tried to run the ball, their centre ran into Jones, who turned him, pinched the ball and passed to Cross, a quick off load to the skipper and Walne scored for the killer blow. KES did not give up and they pressed hard, Johnston and Williams held up their winger and from the 5 metre scrum, Hereford Cathedral School were penalised, 2 more quick penalties were conceded and the ref ran out of patience, penalty try. The conversion was added and the final 5 minutes went without a score, the final whistle blew and the crowd erupted, a fantastic 23-7 win, now the squad travel to Yorkshire next Wednesday (February 16) to play Woodhouse Grove.
To visit the Daily Mail Vase website please CLICK HERE or visit http://www.schoolsrugby.co.uk/tnt_DailyMail.asp?R=3
Report by: Mr R Skyrme, Hereford Cathedral School’s Director of Games
|
