After last week’s brilliant comeback from the young Ospreys against the Blues U18s South, the Ospreys looked to make it back to back wins when they faced the Blues U18s North at Sardis Road.
- Tries from Bradley Roderick, Ben Cambriani and a double from Will Barraclough kept the scoreboard rolling over for the visitors
- Despite two second half red cards, the Ospreys dug in deep and defended valiantly to hold on for their second successive win in block 2 of the campaign.
The Ospreys wasted no time in opening the scores, a break by Frankie Jones from the off, and a quick offload to Will Barraclough handed the number 8 the opening try of the game with less than 15 seconds on the clock.
But the Blues did well to answer back, with a try of their own only moments later, the conversion taking them ahead 7-5 with less than 10 minutes played.
Dominating the next few stages of play, the Ospreys made good ground into their hosts half, and a strong run from Garin Lloyd who had support either side brought them further into their oppositions half. Strong carrying and a break by Barraclough secured the Ospreys second try of the game. Again it went unconverted but the Ospreys edged ahead by three points.
The Blues struggled to gain any territory, with the Ospreys proving too strong in defence. Attacking just inside the Blues half, Dan Hiscocks spotted the gap and showed great pace to slice through the Blues defence. With strong support an offload out wide was nicely finished off by Bradley Roderick to give the Ospreys their third try of the game.
Josh Thomas slotted the conversion to take the Ospreys 7-17 ahead at half time.
Half Time Blues U18s North 7-17 Ospreys U18s
Running out for the second half, it was the hosts who opened the scores early, with a break from the pack grounding their second try of the game. The conversion narrowed the scores to 14-17.
Looking for their third, the Blues found themselves back in the Ospreys 22 moments later and another driving maul sent their forwards crashing over the whitewash once again. The conversion missed but the home team led by two.
A penalty against the Ospreys put the Blues back in the Ospreys 22, but the visitors were able to hold firm.
Despite the pressure from the opposition the Ospreys managed to clear up field out of the danger zone. With the Blues running the ball back, a brilliant tackle by Iwan Shenton sent the second row well into touch. A little too far maybe, with the pair landing just short of the barrier, which saw tensions hit boiling point, with a battle erupting between the 15 on each side.
After the heat finally died down, the referee was forced to award two red cards to each side, with Iwan Shenton and Garin Lloyd taking them for the Ospreys, leaving both reduced to 13 men for the rest of the game.
The Ospreys didn’t let it unsettle them as they looked to retake the lead, aking a break from the restart which saw a nicely timed chip over the top from Josh Thomas put them inches of the tryline, only for a knock on before they could finish off.
The Blues looked to capitalise from the scrum, running the ball back up field with good interplay from the backsto taking them into the Ospreys 22. However, a loose pass was nicely picked up by Ben Cambriani, who raced upfield to score under the posts for the Ospreys bonus point try.
Thomas added the conversion to take the Ospreys back ahead by five.
With just five points in the game and five minutes left to play, the Ospreys were forced to defend in the closing minutes as the Blues pressed.
A try saving tackle from Frankie Jones sent the Blues into touch metres from the line. However the Blues managed to turn the Ospreys over in a crucial position to put them back in possession, but an interception from Hiscocks and quick pace from the scrum-half took play just shy of the halfway line. A quick lineout from the Ospreys and kick to touch sealed the win for the young squad as the clock turned red.
Next up for the Ospreys U18’s is the Scarlets U18’s on Tuesday 30th January.
