Redcar U17s v SunderlandU17s 10/4/2005
Redcar welcomed Sunderland to McKinlay Park for their last home match of the season, and with the luxury of a nineteen man squad were looking to cause an upset and bow out in style.
The home team started brightly, putting the visitors under constant pressure, and not allowing them to get any rhythm into their play.
The early enterprise paid off when Andrew Wills took a quick penalty on the Sunderland 10m mark, fed the ball to Dave Brown, running from a deep position, who drove the defence over the line only to be held up at the finish. From the resulting scrum, Michael Tucker released the ball to Silla who scored the opening try in the corner. Liam Rogers added the extras with a perfect kick from the touchline.
10 minutes later Richie Young went on a scintillating, jinking, 20metre run, before releasing the ball to top scorer Mark Ellis 5metres from the line, Mark crossed the try line, but again the Sunderland defence did well, holding him up to prevent the score. As before, Redcar won the resulting scrum, with Richie Young passing to Lee Turner, who added the second try, touching down between the posts to give Liam Rogers an easy kick which he duly dispatched to give Redcar a 14-0 lead.
The remaining 15 minutes of the half continued in the same vein, with Redcar delighting the crowd playing some of the best rugby they have played in their short time together.
With only seconds remaining to half time, Sunderland were awarded a penalty in their own 22, and showing quick thinking took it quickly, giving the ball to the outside center, who proceeded to run the length of the pitch to score a fine individual try.
Half – Time Redcar 14 Sunderland 5
The second half started with confidence high in the home camp, but things started to go wrong when after five minutes 2nd. Row Forward Dave Brown left the field to warm applause following a thumb injury, sustained in the last tackle of the first half. Dan Green took his place in the pack.
Eleven minutes in to the half Sunderland pulled themselves back in to the game, with a converted try, following a good cross field run by the No. 13.
Redcar made another change with Dave Hockney replacing Sean Robson, hoping that fresh legs would help them regain the initiative.
Unfortunately it was Sunderland who were growing in confidence, and it was no surprise, when with 15 minutes remaining, they took the lead with a converted try, after a scrum in the Redcar 10.
Another tactical substitution saw Anthony Wright, replace Habba, hoping once again that fresh legs would make a difference.
Sunderland had other ideas, and their superior fitness saw them score three more tries in the final 10 minutes to end up victors by 36 points to 14.
Redcar can have no complaints, because despite the excellent display in the first half, a game is never won by half time, and Sunderland dished out a lesson in why fitness and team spirit are so important. These were areas where they definitely held the upper hand in the second half, and those qualities enabled them to end up winning the game at a canter, a game Redcar would have won had they shown the same qualities.
Man of the Match: Richie Young for some excellent tackling, good passing, and inspirational runs.