North Midlands Merit

Ross on Wye 2nds 0 - Old Halesonians 2nds 36

A young and inexperienced Ross side found life very difficult against a well drilled and experienced Halesonians side last Saturday and were well beaten 36-0.Halesonians started the strongest dominated possession and territory and putting the defence under enormous pressure,initially Ross held out with some strong tackling from Paul Hayward,Luke Ward and Matty Russell,however after 10 minutes of resolute defence Halesonians finally open the scoring with a try wide out on the left,over the next 10 minutes injuries to 3 players reduced Ross to 13 men and Halesonians ruthlessly exploited this adding another 3 scores taking them to a 26-0 lead.this young Ross team however did not buckle and they finished the half strongly with Luke Gray and Grant Holdsworth going close,but at half time the score remained 26-0 to Halesonians

As in the first half Halesonians scored early taking them 31-0 clear with 35 minutes to play,however Ross redoubled their efforts and with new recruit PJ finally getting some decent ball,the Ross midfield of Tom Harris,Grant Holdsworth and Luke Gray started to look dangerous,however they were not able to find that scoring pass that would have opened their account.The Ross set piece was much improved in the 2^nd half with hooker Craig Robertshaw regularly finding his jumpers,with Pete Smith taking some great ball at the front of the lineout,at scrum time again there was an huge improvement with front rowers Dave Lawrence,Craig Robertshaw and Tim Morgan finding parity against a huge Halesonians front row,however further injuries to scrum half PJ disrupted the Ross attack and the final play saw Luke Gray held up over the line denying Ross a well deserved score for a much improved second half display.

  The Drop inn man of the match for Ross was Luke Gray for his attacking running and tackle count.Next Saturday 1^st Oct Ross are at home to Stourbridge Lions kick off 3pm.