Crewe & Nantwich RUFC Academy Colts welcomed Sedgley Park RUFC Colts to the Vagrants on Sunday the 9th, game 5 of 7 in the Preliminary stage of the Halbro NW Colts league. Currently playing in group 3 of 5, going into the game C&N had the chance to go joint top with a win.

Sedgley may have been short on substitutes, but having a full squad of U18’s meant that the mixed U17’s & U18’s of C&N were up against an experienced and well drilled side.

The opening exchanges set the tone for the game, with a fast tempo and plenty of enthusiasm from both sides. C&N had the stronger start, carrying well and coming close when Ben Digby volleyed a Sedgley clearance and narrowly missed dotting it down for what would have been a contender for the try of the season.

Sedgley soon came back at C&N and put the first points on the board, a well worked try that went through the hands to find space on the wing to lead by 7 points.
C&N went back to work and again carried well into the Sedgley half. Strong work by second row Thomas Hollins and flanker Robert Hough put C&N in striking distance of the try line. However, the ball did not go to hand for C&N and from the resulting kick chase Sedgley established territory that lead to their second try of the day to lead by 12 at the break.

From the kick off both sides working hard to play the game in the opponents’ half, and it was C&N who made the next break through. Working the ball wide, C&N went up field and had a ruck 10 out on the left side. An excellent carry by Bill Putt saw him step through the defence before popping a sweet offload to a charging Ted Mottram who went over for the score. With Toby Evans taking the extras the score was seven to twelve.

C&N came straight back at Sedgley from the re start and kept the pressure on. A Sedgley clearance from their own line was picked up by C&N 22 out. 10 phases later, Jacob Belfield-Upton was in the right place at the right time to finish off a great team try to see the scores level at twelve each.

With the game opening up C&N should have taken the lead when the backs worked the ball wide and found space, but a hard running Dan Applin on the wing could not be found and an easy try went missing. To add insult to injury, C&N soon found themselves 5 behind as Sedgley found space on the wing, and that score was quickly followed by another when a C&N knock on bounced kindly for Sedgley to pick up and run in.

With the score at 12 – 22, C&N could have begun to let the game slip, but the lads stood strong and took the game back up to Sedgley’s 22. A well won scrum penalty was quickly picked up by Olli Griffiths, with Sedgley not 10 back another penalty set Jordan Pepper up for a charge. From a fast ruck, the ball went wide to Luke Thomas who forced over for a try in the corner to C&N trail 17 – 22.

With the clock running down, the next store was crucial and it was Sedgley who struck the final blow. From a centre of the pitch scrum on the C&N 22, they moved wide into space to get over and extend to a 17 – 27 lead that they held to the finish.

Not the result we hoped for, but a great game played with a great attitude by both teams and lots of positives for C&N.

With all the scores in at the end of weekend, C&N are fifth in the league but only four points from first. With two games left, the league is wide open and our aim of a top three finish is very much in our hands.