Kendal U15s 24 - Preston U15s 17

Kendal U15s continued with their improved performances of late with a gritty win over a good Preston side, in which they were forced to work very hard in the second half to hang on for the win.
Kendal started the game strongly and were able to make good yards though aggressive carries from Will D and Nathan and industrious work from Joe and Harry helping to secure good ruck ball that Iestyn used well to put the team in good positions and after 5 mins forced Preston back to a line out on their 5 metre line and good pressure from Leo forced a poor kick from their fly half that went straight to Ollie, who took a clean catch and barged his way over for the try next to the sticks that Tristan converted for an early 7-0 lead.
Preston were looking to move the ball at every opportunity and making good ground from quick taps, although Kendal were still managing to win the territory battle, forcing Preston to run from deep in their own half and when Tyler forced a handling error 10 metres from their try line that gave Kendal an attacking scrum, Will T was able to break from the base of the scrum quickly and with speed and aggression barge his was over for an unconverted try after 16 mins; 12-0.
5 mins later Kendal extended their lead, following a pinpoint cross field kick from Alfie, found Tristan in space who was able to stretch out for another unconverted try; 17-0.
From the restart though, Kendal weren’t able to secure the possession and after conceding a penalty just inside their 22, Penrith took the quick tap and ran in to score down the left wing to narrow the score to 17-5.
For the first time in many weeks, Kendal were able to field a squad with 5 subs and the introduction of fresh legs helped them maintain their superiority, with Dylan and Cam coming into the backs and Hashim and Caleb into the forwards where they were straight into action with some dominant tackles.
The final score of the half came after 29 minutes when following a good counter ruck from Will T and Casper that secured a turnover, the ball was moved right and an accurate chip over the top from Alfie found Roan sprinting through and holding off the cover defence to score in the corner with Tristan slotting the difficulty conversion for a 24-5 half time lead.
Preston themselves had brought a large squad, and made several changes at half time, which appeared to strengthen their team and they certainly had the lion’s share of territory and possession in the second half and made Kendal work extremely hard to maintain their lead.
It was only 5 mins into the second half when Preston started to claw back the lead; Kendal conceded several penalties resulting in a tap and go in front of the posts and although Preston’s captain was stopped just short, it was shipped wide for a try on the left; 24-10. A period of stalemate then ensued with both teams maintaining possession well without any real cutting edge, but with just over 10 mins to go, Preston narrowed the gap to one score as they moved the ball from the back of a line out through some weak Kendal tackling for a converted try on the right. The final 10 mins were littered with mistakes from both sides as neither team threatened the try line, but Kendal maintained the advantage in the set piece, with several scrums against the head and Alex and Hashim both secure in finding George at the line out, as Kendal managed to hold on for the win; 24-17.