SUB 14: JEREZ V ESTRECHO. SCORE: WON 12-14. 11TH NOV

Match Report

Sub 14: Jerez v Estrecho
Date: 11th November 2017
Ground: Equestrian School of Chapin, Jerez
Conditions: Sunny (24) windy, blowing left to right

Referee: Enrique Guzmán Espresati

Estrecho won the toss and elected to play down the slope in the first half.

Jerez kicked off to Estrecho and straight away Estrecho attacked Jerez with some strong running from Danny and Mateo which ended with a scrum inside the Jerez 22.

Estrecho scrummaged strongly against a big Jerez pack and pushed Jerez back, but some bad handling errors and some strong Jerez tackling prevented Estrecho scoring.

Twice the try line was at Estrecho’s mercy but dropped passes prevented Estrecho from going over.

In the 9th minute some great driving play by Carlos, Jose, Victor, Ignacio and Cassius saw Mateo go over and Charlie added the extras.

From the restart Jerez used their big powerful forwards to force Estrecho back, they kept driving time after time and when Estrecho eventually won the ball they failed to clear their lines by using the wind and slope to their advantage.

Instead of kicking the ball to relieve the pressure they decided to run the ball out of defence which ultimately was their downfall and in the 26th minute one of the big Jerez forwards drove over the line to score. They failed to convert the extras leaving the score 5-7 to Estrecho.

From the restart Estrecho immediately went back on the attack again but failed to convert 3 or 4 good scoring chances due to sloppy play and handling errors.

In the second half Jerez had all the elements, slope, wind and strong forwards. However Estrechos’ defence and tackling was fierce and they stopped all the attacks that Jerez threw at them, even when their strong running fullback broke our defence with the line at his mercy, Spike put in a strong cover tackle to stop a certain try.

The forward battle was immense and eventually the Estrecho forwards started to use their speed and offloading game and after a strong forward drive from Carlos, Ignacio, Cassius and Jose, Spike broke to the blind side, drew two defenders, putting in Fran who used his power and thinking to run round under the posts so that Manu had an easy conversion. 5-14 Estrecho.

The remainder of the game was generally spent in the Estrecho half and even though Jerez attacked time after time, their only score came in the 51st minute which was converted. The last 9 minutes were chaotic but the Estrecho boys showed what a team spirit they are developing and the will to win they now have and held out for a hard fought victory.

Final Score: Jerez 12 Estrecho 14

Well done Estrecho very proud of you and looking forward to our top of the table clash with Marbella next weekend at Estrecho.