Depleted U17 squad suffer defeat at Chingford

Buzzard U17s / U16s continued to play new teams outside their region with a visit to Chingford RFC. With a depleted squad due to injuries and other commitments, Chingford immediately offered to fill the gaps so a full team game was possible. Buzzards immediately put on a defensive foot, in very muddy and heavy conditions, with the forwards Julian Gallie, George Burr, Todd Carmichael and Hayden Jones all tackling and rucking vigorously. After sustained pressure Chingford found the gap in the backs.

A second try soon followed as Chingford outflanked the backs.But Buzzards bounced back, with multiple phases involving forwards and backs resulted in captain Louis Beer using his his strength and power to shrug off the defenders to score. Scrum half George Pratt kept the ball moving for the backs Beer, Max Green, LJ Green, Harry Eacott, Rhys and Dane Richards all had opportunities to make penetrating runs but Chingford had a strong defence and were very quick to counter-attack

.In the second half, Chingford were fast to act on Buzzard mistakes in defence, racking up a further 3 tries but there were many positive points in the Buzzard game. Certain Buzzards played in alternative positions.Pratt, LJ Green and Eacott fitted well into the backs, tackling well and Gallie as scrum half was continually harassing the Chingford players. Burr, Carmichael, Jones and M Green were aggressive in the breakdown. Burr also jumped superbly in the line-out against a difficult opponent. Beer led from the front, tackling hard, and tried innovative plays to break the Chingford defence.

Final score 27-7.