Index

A 18 man Northampton squad travelled to the new home of St Albans Centurions RLFC for Round 4 of the Chiltern League Under 15's competition for a fixture against New Green Gladiators Under 15's knowing that a win would keep them top of the league table. The first few sets of tackles saw no real pattern to the game develop. Northampton were forced to turn over the ball to the opposition and in the resultant set of 6 tackles Northampton were awarded a penalty for a high tackle. Stand off Harman placed a neat kick in the New Green half but Lewis Bailey was pinned by the referee for offside. Shortly afterwards a scrum was awarded to Norths when the New Green team were forced into touch. From the ensuing scrum Aidan Power made a break and Lewis Bailey scorched half the length of the pitch for try in the corner to make the score 4 - 0 in the Knights favour.

Next up the Knights put pressure on themselves when the referee penalised the Knights for not being square at the play the ball. New Green were unable to take advantage of this and turned over the ball to the Knights. The ebb of the game turned when the Knights were awarded a penalty and Lewis Bailey scored his second try of the day to make the score 8 - 0 to the Knights. Prop forward Power made a crunching tackle and forced a turnover in the Knights favour. Glyn Roff made a break and the ball went along the line in a sweet passing move. Gregor Wood was on hand to score the third try of the game in the corner.

Trying to put further pressure on New Green the Knights put in a short kick off which the opposition knocked on in the second tackle of the set. Again the ball went through quite a number of pairs of hands and Jack Debenham finished off with a try in the corner. This made the half time score 16 - 0 in the Knights favour despite the fact they were playing up the slope. The start of the second half saw an excellent set if 6 by the Knights with Glyn Roff making a break and being supported by Ben Harman with a mazy run. This was followed by a great pass by Ben Hanger to Roff who ended the set with a try to the Knights. Harman converted this try to make the score 22 - 0. This try galvanised the New Green side and they began to exert pressure on the Knights defensive line. Their persistence paid off with a try under the posts which they converted to make the score 22 - 6. The Knights had to make two try saving tackles but the pressure told with a second try to the Gladiators soon after their first. The Knights responded with pressure on the New Green defence. Harman put in a high kick and they knocked on in their set of tackles. Lewis Bailey was denied his hat trick when following his customary break from half way he was tackled in the corner with the try line begging.

The tide of the game had turned in Norths' favour. Full back Martindale made a break and was denied a certain try with a New Green tackle. Next up Hanger passed to Wood and Sam Dawes followed it up up with a pass to Sam Martindale. Lewis Bailey was on hand to score a try in the corner to seal the game for the Knights. The final score was New Green Gladiators 10 Northampton Knights 26.

After the game Under 15 Coach Wilson commented, "I am absolutely delighted with how we played today especially in the first half. Pure guts, determination and desire to win got us through the tough patches in the game. Each week we are improving on areas of our game and that is down to the players wanting to be the best they can be and their desire to get to the final of this competition. I was very happy with our defence in the first half, to nil a team on their patch in the first half is very impressive. Our execution was also very good and we took the few opportunities that we had."

"The team performance was again fantastic and it is difficult to pick out single shining lights, highlighted by 4 men of the match. Glyn Roff returned today and looked like he had never been away, leading from the front in attack and defence and defying his small frame time and time again. Aidan Power played through the pain barrier today after picking up an early knock but was outstanding again giving us phenomenal go forward, playing the full 60 minutes in the process. Sam Dawes ran his blood to water especially in defence. He played second row again today and didn't look out of place one bit making stacks of tackles whilst looking sharp in attack whenever he got the ball. Lewis Bailey was also fantastic today. I think we take him for granted a little bit as he goes about his business in a quiet but industrious way before exploding onto the scene with blockbusting runs. Lewis again played 60 minutes at prop making some crucial runs as well as being the reliable rock in our defence."

Well done to everyone that played today, another fantastic performance from everyone. Lets strive to back that up in St. Albans again next week! Come on the Knights!"

Next up for the Knights is a match against St Albans based Hatfield Comets. The Comets are the team that the Knights beat in the Chiltern 9's Tournament final. The Comets will be up for revenge with the Knights determined to prove their tournament victory can be repeated in a League fixture. The game is on Saturday Novemnber 22nd at Verulamians Rugby Union club with a 10.30am kick off.