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Under 15s - Northampton Knights V Highfield Hawks

Kindly sponsored by William Sutton Homes

Northampton Knights U15’s hit top form this weekend against Highfield Hawks with a crushing 58-6 win, taking them to the top of the Chilterns League for the first time. Missing a whopping 7 players the Knights still managed to field a strong 17 man squad and once more played against the 11 man Highfield squad. This week was to be no repeat of the lacklustre display of the previous week though as the determined Knights side went to town on the Hawks. Things started positively for the Knights as they started with a strong exit set from the kick off before defending a Highfield set very strongly, limiting the opposition to very few meters. This defence was set to be the story of the day and the most pleasing factor in the Knights performance.

Next attacking set for the Knights and they were doing what they do best, playing some footie, using the forwards pace and power to get into an attacking position before using the backs pace and handling skills to get the ball out to the fringes, Greg Wood was on the end of a smooth Knights move and went over on the left hand side for the first Knights try of the game and fifth of the season. The Knights were soon on the ball and in the oppositions red zone. Feeling confident from the first try the Knights rumbled into a fine attacking position before Ben Hanger put Josh Dawes in space. Josh dummied, took on the defensive line and went over the line despite the attentions of the Hawks defender.

At this point in the match the Knights were dominating possession and field position and the Hawks were struggling to cling on to the strong running Knights. The Knights props Power and Bailey were in devastating form and making inroads each time they got the ball. Lewis Bailey was soon rewarded for his hard work with a try after bursting onto a short pass from the impressive Ben Hanger and going over for his first try of the day. Confidence was starting to ooze through the veins of the Northampton players in both attack and defence and the Hawks just couldn’t get close to the Knights line with the ball, the nearest they could get was with a long kick into the in goal area. Josh Dawes picked it up and started the counter attack. The Hawks looked to have had it covered before Dawes slipped out an offload to Tino Decaro. Tino found some space and a gap and went through, racing 90 meters for a fantastic try, almost a dead ball to dead ball effort! Josh Dawes added the extras, 18-0

More fine defence repelled the Hawks and meant the Knights received the ball on half way, setting a platform for an attacking set of 6. Knights used the full set of 6 in their favour, getting down on to the Hawks line on the last tackle before going down the blindside with the team wrecking ball Aidan Power who barged over the line for his 3rd try of the season and reward for another powerful display. Ben Harman stepped up and kicked a fantastic conversion, taking the score to 24-0. Next up for the Knights was what can now only be described as a trademark Knights try. After a couple of strong drives to get us into position the ball was worked to the left with some crisp passing and Greg Wood got his hands on the ball and went over the line for his second four pointer.

Again Northampton were in top form defensively as attack after attack from Highfield struggled to get anywhere near the Knights half. The Knights were again in possession high in the opposition half and strong running from Aidan Power forced his opposite number to give away a penalty. From the resulting tap kick Lewis Bailey got onto a Scott Martindale pass and used his pace and power to get his second try. Northampton Knights were then delighted to welcome back Callum Jackson who has been out after a double leg break. Callum came back into the action 2 months ahead of schedule and was straight back into the thick of things, putting in an impressive display in his return game. After a strong defensive set on their own line the half time whistle went and the score was 32-0.

It is always difficult to motivate yourself to get back to the same level in the second half when you are running away with a game and about five minutes after half time, after a repeat set, it looked as though the demons of last week were returning, the Knights conceding an extremely soft try close to their line. The try was converted to take the scores to 32-6. This seemed to give Highfield a boost as they started to get a bit more possession and pressure in the Knights half. Despite this pressure Northampton responded with a try of their own, Scott Martindale again involved, providing the final pass to the returning Jordan Butlin who went over on the left. Ben Harman again stepped up and knocked a fine kick over.

Jordan Butlin also had a hand in the next Knights try. Again in the Hawks half, the ball was fed out to the left hand side, Butlin created the space and found the supporting Tino Decaro who crossed for his second of the match. Josh Dawes added the extras to take the score to 44-6. Tino didn’t have to wait too long for another try either. After the Hawks camped on the Knights line for a set only to come away with nothing, a combination of Lewis Bailey and Greg Wood put the Knights back into Highfield’s territory before the ball was given to Josh Dawes who fed Decaro to go in for his hat-trick, making it two hat-tricks in two games. The scoring wasn’t finished though and it was that man again, Tino Decaro who burst onto the ball from short range and spun over the line to register his 4th try of the day and that’s the second time he has scored 4 in one game for the club. Tino and Lewis certainly earn their tries with all their hard work in defence. Sam Dawes added the extras to make the score 54-6 with 5 minutes to go.

Despite not having long to go the ruthless Knights didn’t ease off with the defence having been challenged to keep it up. The Hawks again couldn’t find a way through the brick wall with Dan Jones amongst other putting in some textbook shots. Jones was soon rewarded for this with his first try for the club after a typical Knights passing move. This was to be the final score of the day, 58-6. U15’s Coach Patrick Wilson said “That was a fantastic display, each and every player should be proud of that and looking to back it up with another strong performance next week. It is rare that any one of 17 players could have been given the man of the match award but that was one of those games. The most pleasing aspect of the teams game was the defence today which was much better than it has been for a few weeks. As I’ve said to the players we really need to back that up in the next two weeks in what will be extremely difficult games. Both teams have strong runners and we will need to defend well against them."

"It was great to see Callum back in a Knights shirt. Callum is a great lad who has been missed around the club whilst out injured. To have him back 2 months ahead of schedule is a testament to Callum's determination and hard work to get back onto the pitch." "It is hard to single out individuals for praise from that game. The props Power and Bailey were terrific and that laid a platform for the halfbacks Harman and Josh Dawes played really well and constantly caused problems. Sam Dawes played as a back rower and was asked to provide us with strength and mobility in the middle defence and he did that and more. Dan Jones was fantastic in defence today and put in some bone crunchers. Tino was also superb and got 4 tries as well as defending very well once more. Ben Hanger got through a ton of work, especially in the first half in both attack and defence and deserves a lot of credit for his display. The list of standout players is endless, a great display as individuals and as a team."

Team; Scott Martindale, Jack Debenham, Alex Combes, Greg Wood, Will Thornton, Josh Dawes, Ben Harman, Aidan Power, Ben Hanger, Lewis Bailey, Sam Dawes, Tino Decaro, Tom Wilkinson, Dan Jones, Jordan Butlin, Harry Mosdell, Callum Jackson

Tries - Greg Wood (2), Josh Dawes, Lewis Bailey (2), Tino Decaro (4), Aidan Power, Jordan Butlin, Dan Jones

Goals - Josh Dawes (2), Ben Harman (2), Sam Dawes

Next week the Knights travel away to play New Green Gladiators, St. Albans