PUBLISHED 09 February 2023
AKS started with a ruthless intensity in defence, which put Stonyhurt on the back foot. Thundering tackles from Tommy and Stan set the tone in the early exchanges. When in possession of the ball, AKS used Harvey and Lucas to carry the ball with good effect, allowing them to get on the front foot and released the ball wide for the backs. The Stonyhurst defence showed good resilience and were strong in the tackle, this kept the AKS advances from crossing the line.
In attack, Stonyhurst looked to send the ball wide and on occasion challenged the AKS defence, but they were unable to venture out of their own half regularly. The AKS pressure eventually bore fruit, after 20 minutes as AKS crashed Sam Li up the midfield from a scrum. Then with quick thinking from Finn and distribution from Ben, the ball went back to the right, beating his defender, Finn then released William, who fixed the final defender and floated a pass to Charlie who dived in the corner. Converted by Toby. From the kick-off Daniel (who had an outstanding first half), received the ball and powered forward. It was again Finn who spotted the gap on the blind, he carried up the left then released Josh, who galloped toward the Stonyhurst line. However, fantastic scramble defence from Stonyhurst, tackled Josh on the line and held the ball up. Stonyhurst continued to look dangerous in broken play and had a productive spell leading a try, with one minute to half time. This came after ill-discipline from AKS around the ruck, and going into the half time score 7.7.
In the second half, Stonyhurst started strong camping in the AKS half. Unable to break the AKS defence the Stonyhurst 10 put in a chip and chase for the centre to dab down and Stonyhurst awarded a try. With Stonyhurst in the lead, AKS leaders calmed the troops and gave orders for the ‘next job’. Within 5 minutes, after powerful running from Jasper and Jack, Stan crashed through to scuttle to the line and bring the 2 teams level following a conversation from Toby. In the final 10 minutes, AKS turned up the heat on Stonyhurst, with strong defence and good line speed, they pressured them in the Stonyhurst attack, which caused the home side to make mistakes in their own 22. Moments later Tommy and Sam pressured the ball as Stonyhurst tried to play out of their try line, then with a fumbled ball, William did not need an invitation to pounce and take AKS ahead to 14.21, as Toby slotted the extra point.
In the final exchanges, Harvey continued to impact on the game through his running with the ball and dominance in the scrum, this won AKS a penalty in front of the posts. With two minutes to go, AKS opted for the corner, but were unsuccessful at the lineout, despite the fantastic acrobatics of Sam Lo in the air. In the dying moments, AKS found themselves on the Stonyhurst 22 and as the brothers at half-back combined, Sammy fed the ball to Toby, who launched the ball into the stands as the visiting supporters went wild.
A fantastic team performance by all, the team now look forward to the Semi-Finals against Standish High School.