The Young Ospreys under 16's went into the Reebok Final (pictures courtesy of www.aosportsphoto.com) as clear underdogs in everybodies eyes apart from their own; and at the end of the day it's self belief that counts.
Self belief was in abundance as they opened up a 10 point margin in as many minutes and totally stunned this seasons unbeaten Blues North. The North have not been faced with this sort of challenge in any of their matches this season and they had to dig deep to stay in touch with a Young Ospreys team that were rampant. And dig deep they did as Young Ospreys full back Chad Punchard's try and five points from the boot of outside half Chris Banfield were wiped out with ten points from outside half Ian Smerdon (try, penalty and conversion). However the Young Ospreys have developed as a team throughout the season and self belief combined with ability is a sound recipe for success and they ensured a half time lead with a superb team try scored by winger Deke Morse. The second half was also a close affair and after the North reduced the arrears to 2 points when Smerdon kicked a penalty it looked like an evening of nail biting for Head Coach Alex Evans and his assistants Dave Jones and Paul Yardley. However the nail biting eased a little as the best try of the evening was scored by Young Ospreys wing Liam Powell. Aggressive defence by the Young Ospreys forced a turnover and some quick hands and sound decision making gave Powell the opportunity to show his speed over 50 metres; Banfiled converted. Despite that score the nail biting returned as a try for the Norths' centre Tom Rees created a tense last couple of minutes. Inspite of the tension the Young Ospreys demonstrated great composure to hold on for a desrved 22 points to 18 victory.