Guildford Rugby Club
Colts vs Trojans, Sunday 29th October 2023
GRFC Colts vs Trojans, Sunday 29th October 2023
Guildford hosted Trojans for a friendly fixture on Pitch 1 at the club. Trojans, for those of you who are not familiar with them, are a Hampshire team based near Eastleigh. They have two sides entered into the Hampshire league and the team that they brought up to Guildford was a mixed side combining both the 1st and 2nd team. As we wanted to prioritise game time to those who were not getting much exposure to the Cup Competition, this suited us well. The conditions over the weekend were terrible but Pitch 1 was in perfect condition and the rain stopped shortly before kick-off.
The early exchanges showed how even the two teams were. Trojans seemed to have the majority of the possession early on and Guildford did not help themselves by conceding a large number of penalties. Their defence stood firm and even with this Trojans were unable to score any points. Eventually though Trojans got a penalty in a very kickable position and took the three points.
Even though Guildford were behind, they were playing well and communicating better than they had been in previous matches. With a bit of possession, they could start to really attack and Tom Clayden made it over the line to score Guildford’s first points of the game. The angle was difficult, and we were unable to convert leaving the score 5-3. The game was still evenly matched, but Guildford were showing signs of what they are capable of and started getting the ball out wide to our backs. The forwards had done a good job of drawing in their defence leaving open spaces on the wing. Shortly before half-time Finn Jordan delivered on what he had been threatening to do for some time to go through on the wing. Lochy Ellis-Jones then converted to make the half time score 12-3.
As this was a friendly, we let anyone play who was available. Ali Maclenan gave a stirring talk to the boys at half-time and this seemed to inspire them to play well. The second half started with far more possession than the first half and with some determined rucking and some inspired back play, the boys were getting into their rhythm. The set piece forward play was also working well with the team competing well at the lineout and being dominant in scrum. All of this paid off when Freddie Kay went over for Guildford’s third try, nine minutes into the second half. A second try for Finn Jordan and final try for Charlie Brabon, which was converted expertly by Lochy Ellis-Jones, meant that the final score was 29-3.
Trojans were very friendly in the clubhouse and played well. We all felt sorry for one of their coaches whose handbrake had failed, and his car was stuck in the ditch between at the back of the clubhouse. Thank you to all of our parents who tried to tow him out!
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