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U18 County Cup Final (April 2011)

The hard work and commitment of the 1st XV this season was finally rewarded with some silverware in the Leicestershire Schools U18 Cup. The squad had a great run in the Daily Mail Cup but, losing out to Northampton School for Boys in the last 64, focused their attentions solely on the County Cup. After winning a tough semi-final against Loughborough Grammar the side were confident and prepared going into the final against Leicester Grammar, played at Loughborough University.

Straight from the kick off both sides realised it was going to be a battle. Leicester kept Welbeck pinned in their own half for the first ten minutes of the game, and after many phases the Welbeck defence was stretched and Leicester were able to score in the corner after some quick offloads. Their conversion was unsuccessful and after some wise words under the sticks Welbeck were straight back after them. Some great phases were put together and Welbeck were rewarded with a penalty which was put into the corner by fly-half Max Camozzi and they decided to set a driving maul, which has been very effective throughout the whole campaign. A great amount of ground was made and Welbeck peeled off with Declan Johnson crashing over to get the first score for Welbeck. With a successful conversion by Camozzi Welbeck took the lead for the first time in the game. The rest of the first half was fairly evenly matched with both sides putting in maximum effort and some big hits were made. Leicester again were pressing the Welbeck defence and just before the half they went over again and with a successful conversion that made Leicester take the lead with a score of 12-7.

As the second half started Welbeck had the belief they could pull it back and resume the lead. Some great rugby was played and Welbeck were consistently inside Leicester’s 22 asking questions of their defence. A clever chip over the top by full-back Ryan Walter saw speed man Will Couch touch down for Welbeck’s second score. This time however the conversion was unsuccessful and the game was still for the taking. The fitness of both sides was also being questioned as the intensity of the game hadn’t dropped once. More consistent pressure from Welbeck was taking its toll and prop Sam Wyse found himself in the back line with the ball and a two man overlap, however he did what he knows best and powered over for the third score for Welbeck and for the second time they took the lead. With 5 points in it, going into the final stages of the game both sides were tiring. Welbeck just needed to defend for the last few minutes but Leicester found a second wind from somewhere and were putting immense pressure on Welbeck’s defence and making ground rapidly. Some heroic defence was shown, but it wasn’t enough to stop Leicester’s exploiting an overlap and they went over in the corner to bring the scores level in the last play. Fortunately their conversion was unsuccessful and the final whistle saw the score line 17-17. U18 rules state that no extra time could be played meaning both sides had to share the Cup. This still meant however that Welbeck are current County Champions! An outstanding achievement for both players and coaches after all the hard work that was put in this season and it was a thoroughly deserved result.

Philip Weller, Nelson 09E

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