It's not often that a defeat feels like a victory, but today certainly did. There had been some concern of the squad that the recent tough friendlies meant we were going into this game with low morale - but team spirit was never, not for one moment, in question today. Thanks once again to Badger and Gareth for giving up their time, apologies and thanks to the squad members who travelled and didn't get onto the pitch. It was also particularly good to see injured teammates down to support the squad; we may be seeing James McGrath again soon, but Nick is definitely out for the season unfortunately. A big welcome back to Mike Edwards, it seemed like old times on the sidelines.

The game began well for Wimbledon, when Lucas chased up the first kick and was unlucky not to break through. More early pressure forced a penalty on the half way line, which is extreme range for u17 rugby and Archie did well to get very close. Ruts began to come back strongly, but we more than held our own in the scrums and lineouts which is great progress. Having taken a penalty on our 22 to go 3-0 up, Ruts continued to build momentum and forced some great defensive play from Wimbledon, in particular a steal 10 yards from our line by Aidan and a try-saving tackle on the wing from Sam. But the pressure was piled on when Wimbledon lost a player to a yellow card for offences around the ruck. That pressure was temporarily released by a breakaway involving Dom Suckling and Aidan, and the game settled down into a very even contest.

A kick and chase by Cameron was unlucky not to result in a score, but Ruts retaliated when our defensive line was dragged out of shape by a sideways run. Over in the corner for an unconverted try to take the score to 8 - 0. The Wimbledon response was immediate - a great kick up field by Max was chased up by Sam, who made the most of the bounce to race in under the posts with the Ruts defence trailing in his wake. Cleanly converted by Archie to take us to within a point. Wimbledon were soon back to full strength, having outscored the opposition 7-5 while a man down. A good move from Ruts could have resulted in another score just before time, but more resolute defence meant we went in almost even: Ruts 7 - 8 Wimbledon.

The coaches had a few things to say at half time, but there was a watershed moment when we were able to step back and let the players themselves take the lead. It was all positive team-building stuff and we began the second half on a surge. A couple of thumping runs from Aidan and Conor took us to the Ruts line, and only some handling errors kept us from scoring. That soon cost us however, as Ruts drove us back to our own line soon afterwards. Some resolute defending kept Ruts at bay for a couple of minutes, but we had over-committed and they were able to sweep the ball out to the left and go over; converted to leave us 7-15 down. We were temporarily on the back foot for a few minutes after that, but Ruts missed a chance to score from a penalty near our line; from there it was constant Wimbledon pressure. Our rucking was much improved, with James Hole again outstanding in his determination and aggression.

There were some good attacking kicks from Cameron and Max, with Sam particularly unlucky when the bounce did not run for him. A good move between Aidan and Conor took us into the Ruts 22, and continued good work by Jack and Charlie took us to their line where we were held up. Camped in the Ruts half, we lost the ball from a scrum 5 yards out but continued to exert pressure and were unlucky to score from a lineout again 5 yards out. A great move on the left saw the ball move several times between Sam, Aidan and Dom only for Cameron to be pushed out near the line. We were not to be denied though, and our best move of the game was completed when Chris Robinson ran a great line and crashed through the Ruts defence to score. Converted by Archie to bring us within a point again: Ruts 15 - 14 Wimbledon. It could well have been a loss of concentration that then allowed Ruts to come back almost immediately, pushing us back to our line (great defence again) and then switching the ball out to the left to go over. Ruts 20 - 14 Wimbledon.

The game seemed to get more intense as the clock ran down; Ruts put us under a lot of pressure again, with some great defensive work in our 22 keeping them out and a near-thing breakaway try as Rory Merz chased down a kick. But we knew we were only 6 points down, and heads never dropped - soon we were back in the Ruts 22, and came close to scoring from a scrum. The belief remained even after losing a player to our second yellow card, and from a Ruts lineout out on the right Dom Suckling stole the ball, managing to feed Charlie to go over. The stage was set for the most dramatic of finales, and you could have heard a pin drop in the ground as Archie stepped up to take the conversion. The kick was just wide, so we ended up losing by a point on the last kick of the game. If you all remember were on the opposite end of an almost identical result against Haslemere a couple of seasons ago. Well done Archie for stepping up to take the responsibility and coming so close.

A bonus point, a great team performance, boosted morale and not least, a fantastic game of rugby played in good spirit that was appreciated by all spectators. The best loss we've ever had :)

See you all next Sunday for training.
Regards
Martin