Holt v West Norfolk 02.02.14

The boys striding out with purpose. Rob striding out.

Sunday was one of those sunny, blustery days of which AA Milne used to write. The club decided that the match should be played on the 2nd XV pitch - a good plan as the first pitch looked a little like Ypres after 60 hours of allied shelling. Holt turned out with a match squad of 18 and pre-match training was a full 90 minutes and - most unusually - it looked as though we meant it. West Norfolk has come with their 5 Eastern counties players and it was Norfolk Cup Semi-Final day.

Top lifting. And great line-out all day.

Speedy gonzales looks to get away. Alex looks to keep up.

West Kicked off and Theo caught, beat a couple of tackles and made 15 metres.  Great start from Holt. Both sides showed commitment from the start. The game ebbed and flowed mainly between the two ten metre lines, tremendous tackling and hard running on show. From very early it was clear our scrum had the upper hand in the set piece - some good turnovers at line out time but in the set scrum we were magnificent.  All four lads who played in our from row - George, Robin, Dean and Alexander - gave West a torrid time all match.  Several scrums were won against the head and I lost count of the number of times the scrum had to be re-set because we had pushed them back over 1.5m. Incredible, as I reckon we were conceding at least a stone per man.

Lower than the rest. Technique over size winning the day.

Front row dominance. Who says the pretty ones are in the backs?

Our put in, your put in. Our shove. Our ball.

West were playing with the wind in the first half and made good use of the kicking game.  For the first 30 minutes there was no score, but some terrific tackling from Holt kept them out - a try saving tackle from Ali near our line sticks in the memory. Matti and Callum were very strong in defence in midfield and the back row of Jenks, Oli B and Jacko made hits, won turn overs and generally harassed the West half backs. Eventually the big no12 from West got up a head of steam and crashed over after some fine play through the phases. 5-0 West. After such resolute defence, conceding on the half hour was a big test of character for our lads.  Would they fold and the floodgates open?  Not a bit of it.  From the kick off we rampaging into the West 22 for the first time all game, repeatedly going close to scoring until West were pinged for killing it 5 metres from their line. Ali took a quick one, passed to Jacko who, instead of putting his head down and charging, nearly threw a dummy. West defence was so surprised he crossed the whitewash to touch down unopposed. 5-5.

This is not a still picture but a quicktime movie. Notice how slow it plays. Amazing.

Just a slight difference in size. Titus gets away.

West stormed back from the kick off and desperate Holt defence kept them out. Robin and Oli B contested vigorously for the ball and Alec on the right wing made at least two full throttle try saving tackles. Alexander was immense. Eventually our back row nicked it and Ali cleared to touch.  Half time had arrived.

Jenks into the fray. Well, into the West players.

Some might say he is the most versatile player in the team.
All we know is wherever Shed plays he makes time stand still.

Ally steps up to the mark.
Well, I say steps but looks more like a mince.

Half time team talks. West and Holt side by side. Just look at the size difference.

The intensity did not let up in the second half. Titus had departed fairly early in proceedings in the first half with a twisted ankle, meaning Shed had to step in as scrum half.  How versatile is he?  Fullback, No.8, scrum half and able to slow down time. In any case Titus returned to the fray for the second half and was soon into the action. breaking round the fringes and trying to hand off the West Second Row who is 6'5", weighs in at 17 stone and has just been selected for Leicester Academy. The could only be one ending to this confrontation and Titus duly sailed through the air, but only after putting up a terrific fight. The set scrum was dominant and we were knocking them over round the fringes and in midfield.  Then disaster struck - the first missed tackle and West's winger ran in from half way to score under the posts. 12-5 West. From the kick off West again broke free and only a tremendous covering tackle by Matti prevented another score.  Holt were galvanised into action and Oli B, Jenks and Ali made good ground up the middle of the park. We drove into West's 22 and were turned over. West charged forward.  Jacko ripped the ball off the West flanker, passed to Ali who slipped it to the blur that is Callum.  He scorched up the touchline to score in the corner! 12-10 West, with about 15 minutes to go.

"What me officer?"

Rolly polly time.
Either that or the result of another one of Alec's try stopping head on tackles.

The ecstatic crowd eagerly watch on, barely able to control themselves.

What a contest ensued. Dean came on for Robin at Hooker and Sam Crafer slotted into the blindside berth, with Tommy T taking a breather. Holt were on the attack, repeatedly battering the West defence. We were turned over again, groan, but almost a carbon copy of events leading to Holt's second try ensued. Jacko ripped and Callum scored in the corner! 15-12 Holt. 

10 minutes left. Astonishing resilience by our lads who all looked to be playing 2 years up in terms of relative size.

Nabil makes a break.

Alex and Jenks try to stretch on of the West players.

One of the West players meets a wall of Holt.

The story of the last 10 minutes was painful and should serve as an object lesson.  West took a quick kick off, their winger gathered totally unopposed on the 10 metre line and scored direct from the kick off. Holt had relaxed, with fatal consequences. 17-15 West. This was a mortal blow to our morale and unfortunately West scored two more tries to earn a highly flattering 31-15 victory.

Slightly one-sided line out. Which Holt were dominant all morning.

Hair in place. Check. Ball tucked under arm. Check. About to be caught by West. err, probably not checked...

Slightly over the vertical... fortunately he was put down safe and sound.

It takes two. Or sometimes more to stop Callum, if you can catch him first.

Heads were down at the end.  Holt gave it their all and came up short, due principally to a lapse in concentration. it was a very painful lesson that you do not win matches after 70 minutes. Nevertheless, it had been a titanic game and the elation showed by West at the end demonstrates that Holt gave them a real scare.

Holt MEN of the match. The four who played in the front row. Awesome.

And they won the post-match drink off.
Just orange juice, obviously, these boys (men..) are athletes.

Men of the match for Holt - the four lads who played in the front row.  George had 5 different opponents at set scrum time. Says it all.

A big thank you, post-match, to Jimmy Gray for being our sponsor for this and next season.
The boys did him proud, really showed Jimmy and Carol how good this age group is and what potential they have over the next few years to go on and represent Holt RFC.

A big thank you to Geoff Webster for providing the wonderful prose and Amelia Ghanbouri for the gorgeous pics.