Reported by Brad Billam & Matty Norman
Malet had managed to reach the final after a good win against St Marys College the round before, however Malet were going into the game as the underdogs as Hessle had been undefeated the rest of the tournament. This didn’t stop Malet’s enthusiasm as all players arrived with determination and a great mind to work for each other. A lot of talked had been spiralling around school before the game how Malet wasn’t good enough to match Hessle. Before the game you would not believe that Malet were the underdogs, everyone was pumped and the music was flowing, everyone had their mind set on the game.
The team walked out onto Craven Park with nerves running high after just being filled with adrenaline and great speeches from the P.E teachers in the changing room. The whistle blew and Malet kicked off ready for action. The first tackle was full of aggression and power, and Malet soon forced the error in the first set of the game. The Malet players praised one another on their great defence, the team spirit was brilliant, Callum Fletcher placed the ball into the scrum and some quick thinking by Brad Billam earned a penalty. Matty Norman kicked a few metres down field and the forwards Harry Gladstone and Danny Bower did some hard work going forward to gain a good position for a Malet attack. After repeat sets for Malet near Hessle’s line, they finally managed to cross over as Charlie White took advantage of the slow defence, the conversion was missed, and Malet led 4-0. Hessle High picked up their game and came on the attack, however the Malet forwards matched the huge forwards of Hessle, half-back Jez Litten created a lot of space out on the left hand side, however some last ditch defending by Karl Bellis stopped the Hessle attack. Although after 20 minutes of the first half the Malet defence was finally broken with Hessle crossing over, with the kick converted Hessle led 6-4. Malet kicked back to Hessle and instantly Hessle’s spirit had lifted and after a huge line break from Hessle full-back Nick O’Meley, Hessle’s captain Jordan Lane crashed over for a second try, again the conversion was successful and Hessle stretched their lead to 12-4. Just before the Half time break some foul play by Malet second-row Charlie White saw him receive a yellow card and Malet fell to 12 men, however they dug deep and stuck tight together and some strong defence forced Hessle to make a mistake close to their line, a final bit of attack saw Stand-off Matty Norman put a kick over for Karl Bellis however it did not find its target, the Half time whistle blew.
Malet arrived back into the changing room full of spirit and determination after a tremendous effort in the first half. Everyone said their piece on the half and the P.E teachers stressed how proud they were of the performance so far, Mr Robinson gave the last few magic words of his speech and the team roared themselves back up for the second half.
Both teams got into position as the second half began, however Malet needed much confidence as they still stood a man down. Hessle kicked to Malet and Danny Bower came onto the ball like a steam train however he was haltered in his tracks by a great tackle by Jordan Lane. Malet forwards carried on working hard to earn yards down field and some fast play earned Malet a penalty, Norman kicked a few metres down field creating a great opportunity for Malet. After a few drives towards the line the ball found Norman who linked well with fellow half-back Callum Fletcher, who put Brad Billam brilliantly into a gap for the first try of the half, however the conversion was missed, Hessle still led 12-8. Charlie White re-entered the action, and Malet were looking hopeful, however Hessle switched on a level and Half-back Jez Litten began controlling the game, running fifty metres for a great solo try and kicking his own conversion successfully, Hessle stretched their lead to 18-8 . After Malet kicked back to Hessle, they continued their strong attack with some huge drives from the forwards laying a great platform for the Hessle half-backs to play some rugby. However it was Jez Litten again who broke the tiring Malet defence to go over for another try and again successfully converted the try to pull further away from Malet, 24-8. At the minute there was only one dominant team although Malet’s defence was living and looking a lot stronger again, but a mistake by forward James Wright saw Hessle with another chance to score, some great hands by Hessle found the winger on the right hand side who had seemed to be tackled in to touch by a great scrambling tackle by Ben Rayworth. However after the lines-woman had initially raised her flag she quickly put it back down awarding a debatable try for Hessle High. A brilliant kick from Jez Litten from touchline put Hessle even further ahead as they stretched their lead to 30-8, by this point Malet seemed to be long gone and already out the game with only 10 minutes left. Hessle were looking for a whitewash, but this didn’t weaken Malet’s spirit and after a good low tackle by Matty Norman, Hessle’s huge prop-forward Alex Hunt spilled the ball, giving Malet a great opportunity on line. After several penalties some quick thinking by Matty Norman saw a sneaky try for Malet Lambert, however the conversion was unsuccessful and Hessle still led, 30-14. Straight from kick off Malet looked to have gained a huge amount of confidence, working their way down field. Some great linking up by the two half-backs and the loose-man Brad Billam saw a good ball to full-back Sam Audsley to score over in the corner. The conversion was missed again but Malet looked by far the dominant team but were still losing, 30-16. From the kick-off Malet second-row Ben Rayworth broke the Hessle defence running 90 metres for a beautiful individual try and the kick was this time to be converted to make the score 30-22. However for Malet the final whistle blew destroying all chances off a come-back which was looking quite hopeful for Malet. Malet Lambert players and staff were high in spirits after the game and looked more to be the team that had won, after both teams scoring five tries each the Malet players received their runners-up medal with piles of pride. The Malet players had made the school proud to get to the final and all players left the field with their heads held high.