Jake Murdoch leads Shelford under-16s to victory over Eton Manor

No signs of rustiness after long break

Jake Murdoch touched down twice for Shelford under-16s as they won 38-7 against Eton Manor.

After a two-month break without a game, Shelford were up against big, fast and direct opponents.

But Shelford's defence stood up to the test, maintaining their patience to turnover the ball and then break away to score.

With multiple phases and continuity of play, Murdoch scored two and there was one try apiece for Ben Murdoch, Walter Watson, Jack Smith and Osian Williams, who also kicked four conversions.

Errors proved costly for Shelford colts as they lost 39-19 at Ipswich YM in the Eastern Counties Cup.

Injuries led to some last-minute changes for Shelford, and despite a promising opening, they found themselves an unconverted try down after five minutes.

Ipswich doubled their lead after 10 minutes, but Olly Elmsley touched down and Jack Biard converted to cut the deficit to 10-7. But Ipswich surged into a 22-7 lead by half time.

It was soon 29-7, but then Rob Armer burst down the right wing to touch down for Shelford.

Ipswich scored twice more for 39-12, and Angus Thompson's late score, converted by James Gould, was only a consolation for Shelford.