Match report - Wands U13 v Dundee

Dundee arrived with only 12 players whilst Wands had 18. After a discussion with the Dundee Coaches and the offer of sharing some players, it was decided to run a 12 a side game with 2 x 20 minute halves.
Dundee received the ball and played the majority of their rugby through their Loosehead Prop and number 10. It was the former who plowed through a number of Wands tackles to score the first try of the match which was duly converted to give Dundee a 4-0 lead. Our opening 15 minutes of attacking play was littered with knock ons and loose passes as we forced too much with a wet ball. It was a result of this that Dundee picked up a loose ball and ran back 3/4s of the pitch to score again opening up a 7-0 lead, the conversion being missed. A few substitutions saw a change in fortunes for us as Craig Reid collected a pass on the right wing and ran through 4 or 5 tackles to score our first try which was converted by Cam Westwood. Immediately after the restart, a flat pass between Dundee players was intercepted by Cam who outpaced the scrambling defence to score near the posts with Cam converting his own try to make the score 8-7 Wands. At this point of the match, we also dropped to 11 a side as a perfect crunching tackle by Craig on their ball carrying prop saw him leave the field with a dead leg and he was unable to return. Our comeback at the end of the first half was completed with time dying out when Sam Wallis took a pass, hit the left wing and stretched away from the chasing defenders managing to dot down under the posts, Cam once again converting with ease. Half time score 12 - 7 Wands.
At halftime, we spoke we made some more changes to get players game time and spoke about the importance of starting the second half with the same intensity as the end of the first half as Dundee would look to respond. I should look to avoid half time talks in the future as Dundee scored almost immediately after the restart, mainly due to slow line speed and a couple of missed tackles. try converted to leave score 12 - 11.
Dundee then scored again from close range as we stood off on our goal line after a penalty allowing their number 10 to dive over with the conversion made. 12 - 15 Dundee.
This seemed to wake us up and Fergus went on a strong run scoring out wide although the conversion was missed so the scores were then tied at 15-15. A back and forth battle ensured in which Craig ran over for his second try of the match which was converted by Fergus to give us a 19 -15 lead only for Dundee to score again and convert tying us back up at 19 - 19.
We then finished the second half like we did the first with some good interplay resulting in James scoring near the posts which Cam converted to give us a 23 - 19 lead. With time running out, Craig again outran their chasing defence to score with Cam again converting to give us breathing space at 27 - 19. We did let things slip right at the end as Dundee scored a consolation try which was unconverted to leave the full time score 27 -22 Wanderers. A good game played in good spirits and lots of positives. Good start to our League campaign.