BERFC U15s Vs Watford

After yesterdays fog and rain Byng Rd was surprisingly in excellent condition today . We were in no doubt that Watford would be short of players and so it was decided to play 3 shorter coached games this morning . Its always tricky lending players to don the oppositions strip but given our long relationship with Watford and that they are a thoroughly nice group of lads Barnet had no shortage of boys willing to step up . And step up they did , not giving their team - mates any leeway . All of those who helped out should be thoroughly proud of themselves and it was really rewarding to have so many parents congratulating all the boys on their sportsmanship .

With our county boys away and 2 new players making their debut Barnet were certainly not at full strength today and looked a little untidy with a lot of dropped and turn over balls . Additionally Mostyn as ref was quite correctly not giving Barnet any leeway today with a number of offside rulings against the Blues as well as penalties given for high tackles and talking back.Our boys would all do well to remember that the ref is always right !

Play was quite intense from the whistle with Harry and Leevin making good ground for Watford . One of the highlights of the first game was Leeving making a break after a pick and go and looking up whist at full pace was heard saying " oh God" as Parsa bore down on him ! Zane , our newest player , made some good runs and his input in the scrum really showed . Al on the wing also made some good runs chasing down a clearance by Ted . Whilst Barnet's shape wasn't great it was good to see some good rucking and better comms . Noah Bernhard back at centre after injury also showed he has lost none of his tackling flair .

Reece ( also in a stint at centre for Watford ) ran some really great lines today made a lot of ground for the oppo and they were unlucky not to have scored more especially given some bungled exit stategies by Barnet .

Given the mix up of teams both teams took a lot away from today , and it allowed players to try some new positions and moves without the worry of it being a critical game . Player of the match could have gone to a few boys . Noah for a solid return and great tackling , Al for some good runs and handling , Zane for a great debut for Barnet but in the end Maurice decided to award it to Usman for getting really stuck in and making some great tackles in what was his first game of rugby , which at this level is a fantastic achievement .