The Junior Colts A XV finished the first half of their campaign with victory at Dauntsey’s on Thursday. In a game in which the boys were dominant for large periods, it nonetheless took four tries after the interval to fully assert themselves and to seal a victory which – in truth – might have been considerably more comfortable.

The first half was an interesting study in contrasts as Sherborne’s ambition to play with ball in hand was undermined by a high error count and by some excellent game management from the Dauntsey’s fly-half. Time and again, promising attacks foundered and we found ourselves pinned back. At half time, Sherborne only had Jack M’s try to show for all their possession and territory, whilst our hosts had moved out to a 16-5 lead.

Some strong words in the huddle, focusing on the need to eradicate errors and to be much more physical at the breakdown, quickly produced the desired result. First Sherborne weathered the storm in a tremendous, sustained period of defence from which Dauntsey’s could only gain a penalty. Undoubtedly, this goal line stand was the turning point

as two quick tries from Harry B and Christian P, both converted by Teddy C, brought the scores level at 19 all. Suddenly the momentum was all with Sherborne, winning the collisions, playing at pace, and looking threatening across the backline. Two more tries followed – a second for Christian and a short-range drive from George E – and we looked to be nicely placed to finish with a bang. Sadly, it wasn’t to be as an error-strewn final couple of minutes allowed Dauntsey’s to finish a bit closer on the scoreboard than, perhaps, was justified.

It is a mark of the progress that the team has made this term that the win felt rather more like a loss, but there were nonetheless plenty of positives on the day. The return of Cyrus J added ballast at the set piece and go-forward in the loose, Jamie H produced another livewire performance, and Fin G was again massive in all areas of the game. Although the backline wasn’t quite as clinical as in some previous matches, there is genuine strike power and pace to burn in the wider channels.

A tough second half of term beckons but, before then, the team has definitely earned a good rest (although not to the complete detriment of their fitness!), as the boys look back with genuine pride on a record of six wins and a draw from their nine matches thus far. They will next be in action, away at Marlborough, on Saturday 9th November; do join us if you can.