Lewes RFC

Sun 17 Nov 2024, 11:00

Lewes U15

22 - 12

Crawley U15

Lewes U15

Crawley U15

The Lewes Lions U15s played at home on Sunday, in their third League 1 match of the season against Crawley. The Raiders were aiming to maintain a clean sheet after continued success in both leagues for the U15 Squad.

From the start Lewes were able to put Crawley under pressure, parking themselves in the Crawley 22 for 5 minutes with numerous phases in attack. Unfortunately, Lewes were not able to convert this pressure into points and slowly Crawley were able to push the Lewes line back onto the halfway line.

After a number of infringements, the larger Crawley pack were able to dominate Lewes in the scrum, slowing the momentum of the Lewes attack. After continued pressure from the Crawley pack, a scrum, on the Lewes try line resulted in the first score of the match, with Crawley placing the ball down between the posts. With a successful conversion this put the scores at Crawley 7, Lewes 0.

Lewes immediately came back at the opposition and mounted numerous phases, pushing into the Crawley 22. Unfortunately, for the Raiders, after sustained pressure from both the forwards and backs, Crawley were able to kick to safety, taking the ball back into the Lewes half. Lewes were quick to run the ball back and over the next 15 minutes dominated Crawley in both attack and defence. The Raiders forward pack were also able to gain dominance in the scrum by making adjustments to counter the superior size of the Crawley pack.

After a tense period of play, where Lewes should have scored on several occasions, Crawley were able to make a break into the Lewes 22, and from a line out, crossed the line for a second try, just on the final whistle for the half. With an unsuccessful conversion, the scores at the end of the half were Lewes Raiders 0, Crawley 12.

At the start of the second half, the Raiders came out determined to cut the deficit, knowing that they could score two quick tries. After two rapid scrums, and sustained pressure in the Crawley half, Charlie Cootes was able to take the ball over in the corner for Lewes. With a missed conversion, this put the scores at Lewes Raiders 5, Crawley 12.

Lewes were quick to return to the Crawley half from the restart and through quick hands and numerous phases in attack continued to push the Crawley line back towards their 22. After another successful scrum, Hayden Bourne was able to cross the line again for Lewes, with a successful conversion, the Raiders had levelled the score at Lewes 12, Crawley 12.

With only eight minutes of the 2^nd half elapsed, Crawley looked shell shocked as their initial lead disappeared, but they still demonstrated great determination, continuing to work through phases and kicks to push Lewes backwards into their own half.

Half way through the half Crawley were able to gain a scrum in the Lewes 22, but with continued dominance in the scrum, the Lewes pack were able to gain the advantage and through some quick hands pass the ball out wide to Henry Crook who was quick to outpace the opposition, running the length of the pitch to score the Raiders third try of the match.  With a missed conversion this put the score at Lewes 17, Crawley 12.

With only one score between the two sides, both Lewes and Crawley knew they had everything to play for. However, it was Lewes who were able to maintain momentum, trapping Crawley in their 22 for most of the quarter and denying them any score in the second half. In the last minutes of the match, this pressure was finally converted into a score. From a scrum in front of the Crawley posts, Reggie Hart was able to gather the ball and take it over the line. With a missed conversion this put the final score at Lewes Raiders 22, Crawley 12.

The coaching staff were immensely proud of the grit, determination and sportsmanship demonstrated by all the Lewes players. They again stuck to their game plan and were not only able to come from behind, but also prevented their opposition from scoring during the second half. The squad are now looking forward to their next league matches where the U15 Warriors play Hove at the Stanley Turner Ground on Sunday 1^st December, and the U15 Raiders play Hove the following Sunday at Hove RFC.