Match report U14 v Keighley 5th October 2008

Hull Ionians (U14) vs Keighley (U14) Sunday 5th October

The saying goes that rugby and soccer are both games played with the head; soccer with the outside of the head and rugby with the inside.
That is a lesson which Ionians learned harshly today as they crashed 5-60 to Keighley in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup at Brantingham Park.
For the first 20 minutes this was a match which could have gone either way, but thereafter Ionians switched off, missed too many tackles, and as a consequence paid a very severe penalty as they allowed Keighley to run away with a match which should have been far more closely contested .
Even though they were without some first choice players, those who are selected still owe it to their coaches and their club to switch on from the first whistle, and stay switched on for the whole game.
On the positive side,the season is only just under way. There is plenty of time to turn things around, and this team has an abundance of talent in both forwards and backs. However talent without cool heads will not win matches, so they need to tackle, deny the opposition the ball, get on the front foot, and begin to take the right options in attack.
There is no bigger incentive than the next match against local rivals Beverley, so heads up and “lights on”.