TEN try Saints didn’t really get out of second gear on Friday and yet still managed to beat the Bulls 50-20, writes Graham Henthone.
However, the magnitude of the win belies the standard of the performance which in all truth would not be good enough to progress further when the season gets to the business end.
I’m sure you’re as sick reading what I’m about to say as I am writing it but as has been their wont of late, three tries in the opening quarter of an hour put the Saints in total control before they switched off allowing the opposition back into the game.
All three were long range efforts and scored due to individual brilliance and sheer naked speed.
Ricky Bailey opened the scoring returning a poor last tackle kick, rounding the chasers before feeding Regan Grace outside him. The Welsh speedster scorched past his opposite numbers took it on to the full back before sensibly passing back inside for Bailey to finish what he started.
He then scored two of his own to improve his growing reputation as a finisher. The first came courtesy of an Olly Davies break again taking it to the full back before feeding Grace who strolled into the left corner.
His second was started by a great pass around the man from Lewis Fairhurst which put Davies away. He fed it out to Calvin Wellington. The centre was caught from behind but gave his winger another stroll in to score.
But then the wheels came off. Liam Cooper knocked on from the kick off and four tackles later the Bulls are going under the posts for their opening try.
String defence from the Saints forced the error on the Bulls 40 and from the scrum Jake Spedding put fellow centre Wellington away and the long striding Welshman beat the cover to the line to restore the margin.
But on the stroke of half time the Bulls took advantage of the Saints sloppy play scoring on the overlap in the left corner.
A few home truths were spoken at the break and they seemed to have had the desired effect as the Saints finally showed some spark putting the visitors under extreme pressure from the whistle. A pressure they frequently found too hard to handle.
Morgan Knowles broke through the line and the flailing tackle of the increasingly despairing Bulls full back to run around to the posts for the Saints fifth try.
The Saints were managing to break the Bulls line and the latest to do so was Davies who had Lewis Fairhurst chomping at the bit in support but he chose to go himself and was easily tackled. Jake Spedding spared his blushes moments later going in from a scrum.
A fabulous Fairhurst kick and chase got the Saints a repeat set from which Knowles got his brace and a great defensive effort forced the error from which Grace got his hat-trick scooting into the corner.
The game looked so easy now as Danny Richardson got lucky regathering a ricochet to score the Saints fifth try of the half.
As Wellington got his brace from a Cooper break the scoreboard finally seemed to be reaching a level it should have done but then the demons returned, the completion rate plummeted and the visitors made the score seem respectable with two late tries.
As has been intimated this was not a vintage Saints performance but it was good enough for the two points and to cement the Saints position in the top seven for the mid-season split.
Match Summary:
Saints U19s:
Tries: Ricky Bailey, Calvin Wellington 2, Regan Grace 3, Danny Richardson, Morgan Knowles 2, Jake Spedding.
Goals: Lewis Fairhurst 5.
Bulls U19s:
Tries: Isaac Farrell 2, Macauley Barron, Jack Georgiou.
Goals: Luke Hooley 2.
Half Time: 20-10
Full Time: 50-20
Teams:
Saints:
18. Ricky Bailey; 2. Lewis Furlong, 3. Jake Spedding, 4. Calvin Wellington, 5. Regan Grace; 6. Danny Richardson, 7. Lewis Fairhurst; 8. Ross McCauley, 9. Josh Eaves, 10. Joe Ryan, 11. Olly Davies, 12. Liam Cooper, 13. Morgan Knowles.
Subs: 14. Brad Billsborough, 15. Phil Atherton, 16. Ben Morris, 17. Matty Lees.
Bulls:
1. Brandon Pickersgill; 2. Luke Hooley, 3. Ethan Ryan, 4. Ross Oakes, 5. Isaac Farrell; 6. Cameron Connelly, 7. Macauley Barron; 8. Liam Kirk, 9. Callum Ogden, 10. Brad Hill, 11. James Thornton, 12. Matthew Stableford, 13. Niadh Currie-Clarke.
Subs: 14. Jack Georgiou, 16. James Bentley, 17. Matthew Chrimes, 21. James Harrison.
Thanks to Brian King for the pic.
