Last Sunday Kendal welcomed 3 teams from Fleetwood, which is the first time the two clubs have played each other at mini and youth level. The U16s kicked off proceedings on the main pitch whilst the U13s played on the 3G, followed by the U14s on the lower pitch.
Kendal’s U16s have had a difficult start to the season, having to cope with losing players during the off-season and then several injuries during the pre-season tour and first fixture, so it was a relief to be able to put that behind them and have an almost full squad available. They also took the opportunity to give some of the U15s squad the chance of game time and all three of Joe, Connor and Ben gave strong accounts of themselves.
The game itself was well controlled throughout by Kendal who were on top for the majority of the game and dug deep on the occasions when Fleetwood threatened the try line.
The opening 10 mins were played largely inside the Fleetwood 22 and Kendal could have had 2 early tries, were it not for the referee being unsighted in denying Iestyn a sniping try down the side of the ruck and then a slight knock on prior to grounding by Leon after good recycling work by the forwards. The first try came in the 11th minute when after more good work by the forwards with strong carries from props Will D and Kurt making good yards and the back row of Will T, Joe and Harry working in sync to secure quick ruck ball, it was passed quickly along the back line to allow Caleb to make the scoring pass to Olly to dot down on the right wing. With both of Kendal’s goal kickers from last season having left the team, that position is still being decided and it was Kurt that stepped up on this occasion for a well taken conversion. Further tries then came at regular intervals allowing Kendal to make lots of changes and give new players plenty of game time, Joseph was always prominent and keen to carry the ball whenever he could, Jake showed good strength and speed to always make good ground and Will O chased down everything to make countless tackles. The next 3 tries were all scored down the left wing, two for Tyler and one for Roan; Caleb had obviously taken on the advice from the coaches and was now pulling in defenders and getting the ball out to the speedsters. The final try of the half was the most spectacular; Fleetwood had enjoyed some good possession in and around the Kendal try line, but when they had been pushed back towards the 22 by strong tackles and good counter rucking from Leon and Harry, they put in a chip over the top, which was gathered by Casper on his own try line before setting off on an arcing run on the outside of the chasing Fleetwood defenders to race the full length of the pitch to score under the posts; Kurt again converting. Half time score 31-0.
The second half was more of a scrappy affair as lots of changes were made and Kendal loaned a few players to Fleetwood to cover for injuries but Iestyn, Dylan and Alex still managed to shepherd the forwards well to again dominate territory and possession. This resulted in 4 further tries for Kendal before the game was halted. The first two were for Roan and Kurt who both showed good strength to fend off several tackles before scoring and then Jake linking well with Olly to pop up in the backs and carry a would-be tackler over the try line to score on debut. The final try was scored by Tyler as he took advantage of an overlap on the right wing before cutting in to score under the posts for a final score of 51-0. Fleetwood were hindered by unavailability and injuries during the game and so I’m sure the Kendal lads can look forward to a much tougher contest when they make their first trip to play the away game at Melbourne Avenue.