Mixed results for Crawley

Crawley made the early morning trip to Bognor looking to build on their continued improvement in the last month. It was a bright and breezy morning at Bognor and the firm grassy pitch looked perfect for Crawley's runners to excel. The pre match training was attacked busily with with a squad of 12 flying into the tackle bags and looking in particularly determined mood. Crawley were able to line up with an almost full strength team with Jay and Alex returning although the wily activity of George was missing.
The first match saw Crawley take on Bognor A team, who have improved greatly since Crawley played them last over 12 months ago. Crawley attacked first and were able to apply pressure in all parts of the game, particularly from Harry and Ewan's power resulting in a slick breakaway try as Connor passed to Brandon to score. Bognor slowly gained a foothold and were able to force an equalising try just on half time through their strong running centre. Bognor's scrum half was beginning to cause problems but good tackling from Brandon enabled repeated turnovers at the breakdown to keep the scores level to half-time. In the second half, Crawley should have scored twice more as first, Brandon broke several tackles down the left wing but the support was slow in arriving allowing Bognor to recover. Then moments later, a strong scrum from Crawley gave quick ball and Ewan attacked the Bognor line but he was tracked all the way by Bognor's strong centre and was bundled into touch just short. Fraser and Archie both made a last ditch attempt to score but this was denied by fierce Bognor defending moments before the final whistle. A stirring display from both teams ended 1-1.
After a short break, Crawley then played Bognor B at 11-a-side to allow their new recruits to participate. Bognor had 2 strong runners who Crawley eventually came to terms with good double tackling. Once again, Brandon, Jay and Ewan turned ball over at the tackle and Crawley scored 3 quick tries from Connor, Ewan and the 'flying Chris Ashton impressionist' Brandon. It had been a very good half from Crawley and they continued in the second, Oscar, Alex and and Katie almost adding to further tries from Ewan and Brandon to make the final score 5-0...!
Crawley were in bullish mood after this but did not expect a returning Bognor A team in determined mood to gain some revenge. The early minutes were close but again missed tackles on Bognor's small, fast scrum half and powerful centre suddenly left Crawley 2-0 down. Ewan managed to break through to score and reduce the game to 2-1 and it looked as though crawley had weathered the storm but after good work in their own half, poor decision making and passing allowed Bognor to fall on the loose ball in the Crawley in goal area to make it 3-1 right on half time.
Crawly were looking tired for the first time and changes were made to put some energy back into the legs at the expense of some strength and power and for a few minutes it was working. Cameron and Alex both made breaks but the lack of support allowed Bognor to recover each time. Bognor were targeting Ewan and Brandon with double tacklers to keep Crawley contained and the ball was becoming lost in the resulting rucks. Eventually the missed tackles began to rack up and Bognor added a fourth and fifth try much to the delight of the home crowd. Crawley managed a consolation in the final seconds from Connor to make the final score 5-2.
It had been a good display from Crawley overall and the post game talk was aimed at ensuring we continue to work as a team when defending and build more trust between the players to make the right choices when in possession of the ball.
Well done to all that attended, Fraser, Harry B, Jay, Oscar, Meg, Connor, Alex, Ewan, Brandon, Cameron, Archie and Katie. Player of the Day was awarded to Ewan for a good all round display including 3 tries.