This was our final match being played out of Hamilton. Unfortunately Hillcrest U14 lost to Forest View 5 -46.
Sickness again played a major part , as we only had 1 reserve. It also meant that we had a lot of the team playing out of position, including 2 forwards playing in the backs for their first time.
Forest View had 3 or 4 good runners with the ball and it was only poor tackling by Hillcrest that saw these players make a lot of ground. Forest View seemed to have more hunger for the ball as on many occasions, Hillcrest looked as thought they were waiting for the opposition to pick it up.
Our only try came when Gordon Pearson scored after some great follow-up forward play, which made the half time score 17 – 5 to Forest View.
Unfortunately the try was our only points and although there was some promising forward play, Hillcrest had a couple of unsuccessful chances to score. Standout players were Josh Edwards, Sonny Rau and Gordon Pearson.
A big thanks to the parents who transported the boys to and from the match.
The next game is against Hamilton Boys High School B at Hillcrest on Saturday. None of the remaining 5 matches will be easy, but in our favour is that the next 4 games are being played at Hillcrest.
Mark Eldridge