Hull (U14) vs Hull Ionians (U14) Sunday 1st March 2009

Hull (U14) vs Hull Ionians (U14) Sunday 1st March 2009
Responding to a call from their coaches for an improved performance Ionians U14s responded in style with a return to the quality of rugby they are capable of for much of this game.
Ionians started the game clearly ‘up for it’ with committed controlled forward play putting Hulls dangerous backs on the back foot and with the backs tackling now putting opponents down Hull struggled to make ground when they did have possession.
The first 15 minutes definitely belonged to Ionians, time and again forwards were at the breakdown in numbers to win good quick ruck ball usually resulted in ground being gained with Peter Ferguson at No 8 probably having his most effective game of the season until after 15 minutes Olly Norton went over wide out to put the first points on the board.
The rest of the first half followed the same pattern with Ionians having the majority of possession and restricting Hull to scrappy untidy ball, although a foolish penalty given away just before half time for handling on the ground when there had been a clear ‘hands off’ call from the referee resulted in Hull kicking the resulting penalty to give a half time score of 5 -3.
A pulled muscle meant the Ionians full back Pat Johnson was unable to start the second half. Possibly due to this change to the back line or forwards being unable to keep up the intensity of first half but the second half started with 14 minutes in which Hull upped their performance, Ionians reverted back to the sloppy rugby and missed tackles of recent weeks and Hulls powerful backs were able to run in 5 tries four of which were converted by their excellent number 10 – surely the best under 14s kicker in the county.
The last 10 minutes showed Ionians raising their game again to the level of the first half with Jack Stansfield defending admirably out of position on the wing but without a cutting edge to convert possession into points there was no further scoring resulting in a 34-5 final score in favour of Hull.
Overall this was a much improved performance by Ionians and should give them confidence for their Yorkshire Cup – Plate semi final this coming week end.