Dorset & Wilts U17 Bowl Final
Strength in Depth
Minety Academy 17 pts – Swanage & Wareham 14 pts
On Sunday Minety played host to Swanage and Wareham in the Dorset and Wilts U17 Bowl Final.
From the start it was clear that the state of the pitch would prevent both teams from playing their customarily expansive games. In the event, it was the Minety pack who quickly gained the upper hand with a strong driving style that suited the conditions.
Despite dominating territorially, however, Minety initially went behind thanks to a well-worked break-away try that was converted from in front of the posts.
Minety renewed their pressure on the Swans’ line and were finally rewarded with a try from Rob Hinwood, who was driven over in the corner by team-mates Tom Windle and Harry Sharpe.
At the interval Minety trailed 5-7.
The second half mirrored the first with more pressure from Minety and a second break-away try and conversion for Swans that extended their lead to 5 – 14.
Minety, playing in front of a large home crowd, dug deep and with 10 minutes left on the clock eschewed a kick at goal, opting instead for position within the Swans’ 22. From the ensuing lineout and driving maul the ball was spun out to Elis Garland who crashed over for a try which was then converted by Ben Thomas.
Still two points adrift, Minety refused to give up. The forwards drove deep into the heart of the Swans’ defence and something had to give. With only seconds left on the clock, play switched to the blind side and a determined Josh Bull dived over in the corner to secure victory for Minety.
A crowd in excess of 100 had witnessed two teams give everything they had to make a match worthy of a final.
Minety now go on to represent Dorset and Wilts in the South-West Regional Shield, the next rung on the ladder in the RFU’s National U17 Cup Competition.
Minety U17s: Joe Kidner, Reece Kinnet, Tom Windle (C), Josh Gainey, Harry Sharpe, James Bayes, Rob Hinwood, Josh Bull, Ben Thomas, Elis Garland, Ollie Thomas, Sam Johnson, Alex Miriam, Jordan Wilcox, Kieran Evett, Alex Fraser, Callum Hartford, Jim New, Will Hinton, Max Rawlings, Mike New, Dave Cooke.
Minety Academy accommodate U16, U17 and U18 boys and girls. For further details contact Cliff Garland (07903 816386) or Dan Thomas (07784 943000).
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