After falling short of a win against the Dragons in their last game, the Ospreys U16s looked for their first win as a combined squad where they took on the combined Blues U16s at St Helens on Tuesday.
- Tries from Morgan Strong, Declan Thomas and a hatrick from Dan Hiscoks kept the young Ospreys in the game
- Despite trailing by a point and being reduced to 14 in the closing stages the Blues were able clinch the victory at the death in an exciting contest
Combined Ospreys U16s 31-37 Combined Blues U16s
The Blues were first off the mark, a strong attack putting them deep in the Ospreys half. From a great position, a driving maul from the pack sent prop Mathew Iles over the line for the opening try to put the Blues ahead 0-5 with no conversion and three minutes on the clock.
Spurred on from their first try, the Blues scored again minutes later, a dominant scrum allowing number 8 Aron Churchill to crash over the line, extending their lead to 0-10 after another missed conversion.
However the Ospreys fought back, after a break from the backs took them out of their own half and deep into the Blues 22. With a scrum in their favour a strong push, set up Morgan Strong for the Ospreys first try of the game. Declan Thomas was just short with the conversion..
Inside two minutes, fast pace from the backs and a break by Thomas sent the fly-half over for the Ospreys second try. The conversion just wide left the scores even with just over quarter of an hour played.
The Blues hit back to retake the lead Ioan Evans to break the defence to put the Blues back ahead and they then claimed a fourth try before the half time whistle, a quick offload to Will Clapham sending the wing over.
Half time Ospreys U16’s 10 - 20 Blues U16’s
Early second half pressure from the Ospreys saw the penalties against the Blues mounting and, eventually, the referee had no option than to go to his pocket and award the Blues lock Morgan Davies a yellow card for an offside.
Scrum half, Dan Hiscoks then too full advantage of the extra man with a try from a quick tap and go, the conversion from Thomas bringing them back to within three.
Fast footwork from Hiscoks sent the scrum-half for his second and the Ospreys fourth try!, and the conversion from Thomas put the Ospreys 24-20 ahead with 50 minutes on the clock.
The Ospreys extended their lead with just two minutes left on the sinbin, a strong scrum providing the platform for Hiscoks to go over for the hatrick, converted by Thomas.
The Ospreys led 31-20, buy as the Blues were restored to 15, home flanker, Daniel Osaragie, was shown a yellow card for going off his feet, leaving the Blues with the one man advantage.
They used it to full effect as Blues flanker Craig Miller spotted a gap in defence, going over for their fifth try of the game. Before Osaragie could rejoin the game, Miller was over for his second try to cut the deficit to a single point at 31-30 with just under 10 minutes left to play.
The two sides were throwing everything at each other with five minutes left to play, when a dangerous neck roll from Blues’ Ioan Evans saw the centre sent to the sin-bin, leaving the Blues to play out the game with 14 men.
However, the Ospreys were unable to keep hold of their lead despite the extra man. A quick break from the Blues saw fly-half Ioan Lloyd break the defence and run in for a try to take the Blues ahead at the death. Slotting his own conversion, Lloyd secured the victory for the Blues leaving the final scores 31-37.
Elsewhere the Ospreys U18s were in action at Llandarcy on Wednesday afternoon in a friendly against Newport Gwent Dragons. After a disappointing result against the Blues on Good Friday, the WRU Age-grade champions bounced back to winning ways with an impressive 48-12 victory over the Dragons squad.
