The annual King William’s College v Castle Rushen High School 1st XV fixture took place on Thursday 20th September on King William College’s famous ‘Bigside’ pitch. A large crowd of near 1000 people gathered for the event, including pupils, teachers, parents and people from the local community.
The game started with its usual high intensity but with nervous energy at a high both teams made mistakes and struggled to gain any rhythm. Persistent infringements at the break down led to a series of Castle Rushen penalties, and when Sam Kebbel kicked one inches wide of the posts it was a let off for King William’s College and spurred them into life. Some good phases of play saw Prop Forward Oliver Mealin in a bit of space down the right hand side. He used his strength and pace to ride three tackles on his way to grounding the ball in the corner for the first score of the game. This did not deter Castle Rushen: in fact they responded very well and used their strong forwards to run tight around the breakdown and gain ground inside the opposition’s 22. Castle Rushen kept the ball well and some quick thinking by Jack Newbury saw him crossing the whitewash to make it 5-5.
Stephen Bradley had Castle Rushen under pressure at the lineout all afternoon and when an error was caused 10 metres from their own try line King William’s capitalised. The ball was played back into the Castle Rushen try area and when a number of attempted kicks didn’t find a way out, King William’s College scrum half Bradley Martin was first to react and dived on the ball for the team’s second try of the afternoon. Max Morley Green converted and slotted a penalty soon after to leave the scores 15-5 going into half time.
Castle Rushen came out in the second half fighting and they were quick to work their way up the pitch and put pressure on the King William’s College defence. A good period of Castle Rushen possession was matched equally by their purple and black counterpart’s unbreakable defensive will. When the home side finally exited their 22m area with the scores still the same, it gave them a platform to kick on and from there the game opened up. King William’s College went up a gear and started to spread their attacking play across the field well, and when gaps inevitably appeared in the blue defensive line the home side took their opportunity.
Duncan Wilson controlled things well at fly half and some good carries by Captain Declan Horrox and the other King William’s forwards saw Michael Peter force his way over the whitewash. The pressure continued to mount on the visiting team but they showed fantastic levels of effort and commitment in defence and made it difficult for King William’s to convert possession into points. The Burnett twins continued to cause problems with strong carries and good work at the breakdown but it was Oliver Mealin who managed to find the space out wide again and march through two defenders to score his second of the game. The final whistle blew and King William’s College retained their unbeaten record with a 27-5 victory. All boys involved gave it their all and were a credit to themselves and their schools in how they conducted themselves both on and off the field. The Castle Rushen Man of the Match went to David Beggs who was fantastic in both defence and attack for the visitors. King William’s College Man of the Match, and the winner of the Dosch MacLeod Memorial Cup, went to Vice-Captain Duncan Wilson.
It was a great occasion as always and is a proud moment for any schoolboy to be part of. Well done to both teams - we are all looking forward to next year already!
