Eighty minutes of grit and powerful play saw the Holt Owls dominate the penultimate game of the season against the third in league - Southwold Jacks. The Jacks refused to give away the win easily and remained powerful until the final whistle. It was an extremely physical game for every player involved with impressive tackling coming from both sides. It was by no means a walk in the park for the Owls.

The Holt forwards helped the backs create excellent phases of play. Captain and try-scorer Samuel Wright led an aggressive pack which had solid momentum and advanced effectively throughout. With seasoned players Stuart Moyse at three, Tommy Rathleff at five and Tom Godwin at four mixed with the young talent of Henry Perowne at one, the scrum was an area of brilliance for the Owls. The Jacks were hungry for the ball but this led to a lapse in discipline and two yellow cards in quick succession. The Owls exploited this and went on to dominate the first half.

Early on try-scorer Iain Young got the ball out wide and created brilliant opportunities for the Backs including the likes of Ben Halton-Farrow and young talent Aaron Tagg, who racked up twenty-one points between them. Tagg powerfully broke through the Jacks wall and sprinted their entire half to touchdown under posts. The towering number twelve went on to claim three conversions. Claiming two tries for Holt, Halton-Farrow received the ball from Tagg on the half-way line and after handing-off Southwolds winger, their fullback and side-stepping their centre - got tackled over the line and planted the ball earning five points which were neatly converted. The second was a clean off-load from number eight Samuel Wright which Ben placed between the posts, seeing Holt take a convincing lead. The Backs really put their stamp on the game with wicked fast phases of play complimented by the hands of Sol Barker who gained a lot of ground for the Owls.

Southwold challenged Holt lineouts smartly, but the skills of Samuel Hayes in the air were too seasoned for the Jacks. The Owls found themselves constantly winning the aerial battle with Richard Player at fifteen dominating Holts fullback position and returning the ball with quick precision. Despite the Jacks occasional break through the Holt defence Jake Blackmur put in the work with some impressive tackling.

Even with injuries including key players; Stuart Robinson and Iain Young, the second half saw an even more intense attack from the Owls. With number one substitute Sam Moffat’s aggression at the breakdown the ball was rarely in Southwold hands.
Joint men of the match and try-scorers were Ben Girling and Sam Heath. Ben was faultlessly at every breakdown and gave his team countless opportunities for points, including a quick tap and off-load to try-scorer number two Alex Phillip-Pritchard. Ben’s quick ball from the scrums constantly enabled the Owls to use their full line across the pitch. Sam read the game impeccably from start to finish, gave a great performance at flanker and was incredibly effective in the air at lineouts.

In the last fifteen minutes the victors invited Southwold into their own twenty-two metere space, but the defence stood strong and the Jacks left High Kelling without a single point.

Holt presented a rich vein of young talent with; Henry Perowne, Aaron Tagg, Ryan Walpole and Lee Ruddock all representing the Owl with great skill, discipline and respect for the game. Special thanks to coach Lee Bradshaw.

FT
Holt 48 – 0 Southwold