The Ospreys, Cockermouth and Keswick Rugby Club’s joint colts team, soared to an impressive victory on Sunday at Davidson Park, writes Ben Challis.
They delivered a commanding performance against Stockton RFC in the North Colts Typhoon League and the Ospreys squad showed skill, determination and teamwork throughout the game, securing a 53-12 win in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
The Ospreys started brightly, but it took the home side seven minutes to crack the Stockton defence and get on the scoresheet.
That score seemed inevitable after sustained pressure on the Stockton try line, and Oscar Butler set up a charging Joe Tyson who barrelled through the Stockton defence and twisted himself over the line.
This unleashed a flurry of tries with Owen Ackerley kicking forwards and managing to dive onto his own kick three minutes later, and then three minutes after that a superb 50-metre sprint forwards from Robbie Johnson set up Matthew Megan who sprinted clear to run in unchallenged for the Ospreys third try.
Next it was Butler’s turn, and another sprint to the Stockton try line from the restart, and Keswick were four tries up and just 16 minutes in.
After a brief interlude when referee Martin Maughan had to stop the game to cool some heated tempers, and with both sides temporarily down to 14 men, 10 minutes later Man of the Match Josh Wilson put the result beyond doubt with the try of the game, setting off on a jinking run from deep inside his own half, neatly avoiding two Stockton defenders and then feigning a dummy pass to sidestep the last remaining defender in his path before cruising in to score under the sticks.
And the Ospreys were not done: as the first half came to a close, Beau Hyslop set up Logan Fowler who took advantage of a disorganised Stockton defence to power down the field of play and dive over just to the left of the sticks.
The second half started with an immediate score for the Opreys when Ashton Quigley broke through the Stockton line and charged up the left wing before heading to right to touch down beside the sticks.
With captain Jamie Black making a number of barnstorming runs through the Stockton defence, Alfie Wright then repeated the move on the right wing, outpacing three chasing defenders to again head in and dot down under the sticks.
Stockton had some big and powerful forwards, and the visitors crashed over for their second try to give the scoreboard some respectability, but the game was gone for Stockton, and Keswick’s ninth and final try came from Rory Muir, with Muir sprinting in with his fist raised above his head. A final conversion from Bobby Bell sealed the score line at 53-12.
It was a fantastic result that highlights the strength and spirit of this young squad.
With the win in the bag early on, the coaching staff had the chance to give the junior colts (U17 players) a lot more game time.
The attacking objective were connection and working as a team, and some good and well thought out moves led to nine tries scored by nine different players.
The match was a joy to watch at times and it was gratifying that the defence was as impressive as the attack with the Ospreys only conceding just two tries against a very big Stockton squad who tried to use their size and scrum advantage to score, but only made the Ospreys’ try line twice.
After this convincing win, the Ospreys now sit in fourth spot in the North Colts Typhoon League table, with three wins out of five games played.
