Waid 15-29 Madras

Madras...............................29

Madras 1st XV travelled to meet top of the league table and neighbours Waid FPs.

Waid FPs are having good season with consistent results and team selection.

The game kicked off with the home team receiving from Mark Methven’s kick.

For the first 20 minutes Madras defended ferociously from a very much attacking Waid FP with wave after wave of set moves.

When Madras did get the hands on the ball, there were a number of knock ons, however, even with a changed front row for Madras they were still dominant in the pack and very competitive in the scrummage area.

Set piece was good for both teams and this is where the first try of the game came from.

A good line out from Waid led to the back row and centres working in tandem and driving through a tough defensive line of Madras, however when the ball was spun out to the right wing, Madras could hold no longer and Waid went over for the first try of the day with the kick being converted.

Madras had to pick their game up and started to gain a little more possession with strong attacking runs from Rob Dewey in the centre, but the slippy ball seemed to cause problems.

The ball finally came out from a ruck and passed down the backline from Mark Methven where number 8 Gary Coulthard broke into the line and through Waid’s defence for Madras’s first try of the day which was converted by fly half and skipper Graham Smith.

Waid were not going to be beaten though and came back through their forward play to claw back and another try with the conversion being missed. After some calming words and constructive criticism the boys from Madras knew that they needed to tighten their belts and put in a second half performance that would beat their opponents.

Madras raised the bar in the second half by being more competitive in the breakdowns and scrummage areas and by the time got flung out wide to Rob Dewey who was being heavily marked by the opponents.

It was through good set pieces that further tries were added by Gary Coulthard and Chris Cartmell.

The game however still wasn’t closed off and tensions were riding high especially on the side lines from the many supporters, but following a penalty from out on the far left of the pitch for Waid, the kick was successfully converted bringing the score closer to 15 to 19 to Madras.

Madras were awarded a penalty just slightly to left of the posts and the kick was converted by Graham Smith taking the score to 15 to 22 to Madras.

The visitors closed out the win with further late scoring to secure all three points.