Eastmoor Dragons U9s v Stanley Rangers U9s
29.03.09

Stanley faced their sternest test of the season so far as they travelled to local rivals Eastmoor Dragons. Stanley still remain unbeaten this season after edging Eastmoor in a closely fought encounter, having to come from behind twice.

Stanley started uncharacteristically quietly, and conceded early to a good try from Eastmoor. Stanley started to get into the game a bit more and managed to level the scores through a fine individual try from Alfie Goddard, who also converted. Stanley went in front through another good individual finish from Jake Smith, on the back of some great work by Owen Trout and Declan Honeyman, as both attacks dictated the game and both defence's continued to miss tackles. Jake converted to level the scores only for both teams to trade tries again before half time, with the impressive Owen Trout going over in the corner for Stanley and converting himself.

As the second half started, both teams continued to cause each other problems with some strong running and nice passing. Stanley fell behind to a well worked try by Eastmoor, as a couple of missed tackles allowed them to sneak over in the corner. But Stanley showed their desire and resilience to respond almost immediately through Man of Steel winner Cameron Lees. There was some lovely passing and movement in the build up to Cameron's try especially the off load from Man of the Match Ryan Snowdon, one of several by him. After Cameron converted himself Stanley seemed to step up a gear and really started to put the Dragons under pressure, this culminating in a score for Stephen Gibbs whose powerful run could not be stopped by the Dragons defence. When Stephen converted with only a minute to go Stanley knew the game was won, but credit to the Dragons they managed to go over again to narrow the final score line.

Ben Green again showed what an excellent player he is with some superb one on one tackles which earned him the Top Tackler award, Outstanding Effort went to Liam Brady for a tackle on the Eastmoor prop that saw him have to leave the field injured, away team Man of the Match went to Jake Smith. Well done to Stanley - the improvement is there for all to see, the way we tried to pass the ball today is a testament to how much you have all improved..keep it up!

Tries: Alfie Goddard, Jake Smith, Owen Trout, Cameron Lees, Stephen Gibbs.

Kicks:Alfie Goddard, Jake Smith, Owen Trout, Cameron Lees, Stephen Gibbs