The last time these two sides met in the Grove festival it was a very one sided affair. I think I’m right in saying the match was ended early on the grounds of, no one being allowed to lose by more than six tries. The only Gosford try was unfortunately scored at the wrong end of the pitch and Gosford’s attacks were heavily impeded by a tendency to tackle our own players, I think they call it tag happy! Gosford therefore went to Witney with a lot to put right.
Skippered by Mackensie Morton in the first game against Witney B Gosford played very entertaining rugby to come out 7-5 winners. Support was excellent The zig zag running went generally forward and some of the tackling was inspired, Mortons try saving full length dive tag in 3 “ of standing water would have been memorable under any circumstances ,the fact that he then repeated it two further times spoke volumes not only about his commitment but the total disregard for the interior of his dad’s car.
One advantage of the small Gosford squad is that at least everyone gets lots of match practise. After a short break of five minutes Gosford then faced the Witney A team. However just as at Banbury Gosford then sat back on their laurels. The huge Gosford following could only look on in horror as the distracted and unfocused U7’s conducted a shockingly poor defence. Thanks to some excellent running by Witney they were soon down to 3-1. However cometh the hour cometh the man . Skipper Freddy Cooke led from the front and combined with some superb support and passing from the whole squad was key to every one of the tries which brought the game to 5 -4 in Witney’s favour with one minute to go. Witney were given the free pass from the centre but lost possession thanks to good pressure, 3ft from the Gosford try line. Cooke then did a heart in the mouth run up the pitch to score a much deserved equalising try. Good to see people learning from their mistakes Joseph Forbes was very cool under pressure and despite being steered virtually onto the touchline by good Witney defence kept his head, got tagged but retained possession for Gosford by not going into touch .
Game no 3 against Wheatley was a much more relaxed affair after the pace of the last one, Noah Drew leading the side this time. Unfortunately this coach can’t recall the result and neither could co-coach Arthur Mcgrory, he did however say that he thought rugby was the winner so we should all be content with that.
Many thanks to all the parents who helped out and especially to Malachi’s mum for offering to take the shirts off for washing. Training next Sunday at Ten. Look forward to seeing everyone there