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The Cranbrook ChronicleSports pagesU14BRugby Reports1st XV lost 10-29Cranbrook’s 1st XV ran out on Hordern,facing an undefeated Waverley outfit. Thefirst half commenced with the ‘Brook Pen’bellowing ‘Scholar’, revving up the men inwhite. Waverley was shocked at the confidenceand determination displayed throughCranbrook’s fast ball, and hard and directrunning. Subsequently Cranbrook pushedforward into Waverly’s 22, where two penaltieswere earned. Unfortunately both attemptsat points were narrowly missed, and by nowWaverley’s temporary shock had passed. Afew high tackles and poor lineouts later ouropposition was over the line with a 7 pointadvantage. Cranbrook’s momentum was lost ina succession of basic errors and concentrationlapses. Waverley continued to push overthe advantage line through aggression andexecution of basic rugby to jump out to a 22 –0 lead at the break.During half-time the boys pulled togetherand decided they were going to give it anothercrack. All injuries and unavailability were putaside, and digging deep the team managedto score twice through Oliver De Lorenzoon the wing. It seemed as if Cranbrook weregoing to redeem their first half however thegame ended with a score of 10-29 to Waverley.It was a disappointing loss but the 1sts and2nds squad look forward to the return of key28players in coming weeks as they face Trinityand Knox before the long weekend.Harry MacGibbon and Turner Hancock2nd XV won 34-5The Second XV had a fantastic win overWaverley, going up 34 points to 5, despitewhat looked like an initially threatening side.The outside backs of Waverley were unableto match an impressive Cranbrook backline,allowing two tries early on in the game.Cranbrook’s line speed and physicality provedtoo much for Waverley, forcing a poor passeswhich allowed the Second XV to dominatepossession. Solid work by Cranbrook’stight five at the rucks, along with Number 6Jacob Leak’s ball running, helped to draw indefenders, contributing to the poor defenceout wide.Fullback Nick Carroll also had an impressivegame, returning all of Waverley’s kicks withaggressive running, often resulting in a linebreak. Waverley’s back three had a muchtougher day at the office, coming underpressure from the effective kick chase andconsistent tackling of the Cranbrook side.3rd XV lost 12-19With some changes to our line up during theweek our game saw us relying on the basics.Casey Writer had a fantastic game at halfbackgiving excellent service to Angus Reynolds.Brady Noak was once again a powerful forceU14Cin the centres and made many yards in attack.Mackenzie Baran was the best forward for theday. During the second half this team showedsome fantastic passages of play, unfortunatelywe couldn’t quite get the points on the boardneeded for victory.4th XV draw 12-12Waverly got away to a cracking start putting12 points on us in the first half. However theteam showed great character and courageputting 12 points on the score board in thesecond half and coming within metres of thewinning try in the dying seconds. Jordan Rubymade several great hit ups well supportedby Andrew Crone. Mark Roppolo had astrong game at number 10 and Jack Morgan’srunaway try down the sideline got everyoneon their feet. A strong performance.16A won 34-5The 16As proved they are definite competitioncontenders after a convincing 34-7 victoryover Waverly who was a team Cranbrook hasnever beaten in the As. Cranbrook startedthe game with real purpose as they scored abrilliant try off set piece to Declan Quin to seta strong platform of hard running and goodball security. Reuben Antico and Beau Mayercontinued to run strongly with the ball tomake great gains around the ruck area, whilstexciting support play and continuity displayedby the backs lead to impressive tries out wide.Great defence was shown by Matt Tierneywho produced two try saving tackles which