Year 9 Rugby Finals – Last Gasp Result
March 25th, 2010 |
Once again set in the heart of the East Somerset countryside, King’s School in Bruton hosted the School Sports Partnership Year 9 Final between Frome and Preston. The Partnership is the largest in the country, which creates a number of challenges, so the presence of Frome College in a rugby final demonstrates that much good work is paying off |
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| During the warm up both sides demonstrated their desire to win this encounter and Preston set the early pace spending much of the first 20 minutes in the Frome half. Against the trend of the modern game, both sides kept the ball to hand and made good attempts to recycle it from the mauls and get it to the backs. Eventually Preston’s pressure paid off and on the stroke of half time they nudged ahead to lead 5-0. |
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| The second half saw Frome balance the possession and the game was played mostly in the middle ground. A break from the 22 lead to quick hands down the line for one of Frome’s centres to score and level the match at 5-5. Passions ran high on the pitch, which were well managed by the referee Andrew Nixon and with only 10 minutes to go Frome, who were beginning to look the fitter of the two teams, managed another break on the left to lead 10-5. |
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| A rare Preston punt up field in the closing minutes led to a chase and scramble in Frome’s 22 which eventually led to the second Preston try to level the score. With the last kick of the match, the Preston kicker – under considerable pressure – converted the try to win the game for the Yeovil school 12-10. |
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| Meanwhile the Year 7 Rugby Festival saw a close match in the semi final between Buckler’s Mead and Maiden Beech, which Buckler’s won 5-0 and in the second semi final Ansford came out winners against Stanchester 30-0. In the final Ansford, who trailed for a long while eventually went on to win 15-10. |
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| Another notable success was the support at the event by rugby coaches from the local clubs, who had turned up to see how well their players performed in the schools environment. Another demonstration of how the work to improve the pathway for young players by linking clubs and schools closer is making a difference. |
