Dunstablians 0 - 31 BERFC

A chilly, clear but blustery day as we headed north for our penultimate league fixture as U15s – to face Dunstablians. The Dunstable pitches had dried out nicely in the wind, with the going good underfoot – a far cry from the Somme like conditions we’d left behind at Barnet.

Dunstable opted to play with the wind behind them in the first half, which looked a good choice as our kick off hung in the wind, and failed to go ten metres – so we were back for a scrum. First scrum, and the Barnet pack drove hard, but Dunstable had won the hook, and sent up a spiralling kick that made good use of the elements – and landed square on Pav’s head!

The first ten minutes saw a lot of mistakes from both sides, but slowly Barnet started to turn the screw. Harry crossed the line from 5 yards out, the decision was held up, but with the Barnet pack driving forward from the ensuing scrum and the Dunstable back line straying offside, a quick tap by Cuddles and we were 5-0 to the good.

With the breakthrough made, Barnet settled down, and 5 minutes later Liam was on hand to snaffle up a loose ball and double the advantage, 10-0.

Dunstable sensibly continued to make use of the elements and propel the ball down the pitch, but Barnet secured, then worked their way back up –and with a move straight off of the training ground – stretched their lead to 17-0.

The back line continued to attempt to run through set moves, despite the blustery conditions, and were rewarded for their perseverance before the half came to an end to turn around with the score at 24-0.

The second half was slightly disappointing from a Barnet perspective as white, dropped over the, and in once case missed line fever took over, with only one further scorer, debut boy Louis W charging over under the posts to bring the scoring to a close at 31-0.

Credit to Dunstable for digging in during the second half and refusing to roll over.

The last 20 minutes of the first half was a great example of team work – the final 30 minutes less so, but we’ll put that down to the disruption caused by the coaches’ rotation policy.

It was good to be able to give league debuts to Big Joel and Louis W – two guys who’ve impressed in recent B team outings and earned themselves the opportunity to make the 22.

Mention in despatches:
The Louisnator - back in his cage by half-time
Lawrence – we’ll have to find out what he had for breakfast
Zac - for an aggressive performance
Louis W - debut try

....also worth a mention
Clean Joel...stop when you're over the try line
Pav... if you are gonna head it, head it forwards