Youth Reports - 11/11/07

Written by Andrew Baron

Sunday, 11 November 2007

Colts Shelford 15 - 0 Newmarket Shelford Colts sporting their new shirts sponsored by Equipment Rentals got off to a slow stumbling start this Sunday. With most of the ball in the first 20 mins they seemed incapable of stringing more than 2 passes together and seemed to be having a knock on competition amongst themselves. We had to wait until the 28th minute for the forwards to win some quick ball, and the backs shipped it to the wing for Ben Seymour to run in the try in the corner, which he failed to convert. In the 32nd minute James Mepham made a nice line break and scored, which again was not converted. At the turn around it looked like Shelford had started to get their act together with the forwards winning lots of ball only for Shelford to become their own worst enemy and through silly mistakes fail to finish off several good moves. Midway though the half the forwards picked and drove for the line which Newmarket managed to stop them 20m out only for Charlie Baker to dart over their line and score in the 55th minute, once again not converted. Under 17’s Eastern Counties Under 17 Cup Shelford 18 Bury St Edmunds 15 Shelford defeated the previously unbeaten Bury side in their first Eastern Counties Cup game by the closest of margins. In a highly competitive and entertaining game Shelford fell behind early to a Bury penalty goal, but were soon back in the game when Max Johnson finished off a fine passage of Shelford play to score in the corner. The crucial score of the game came just before half time when Will Barnes slotted a penalty goal for Shelford to take an 8-3 lead into the second half. Playing against the strong wind in the second half Shelford shipped two long range tries from Bury, one being converted to trail 15-8. This was when the Shelford pack and midfield defence took control of the game, bossing the majority of possession and the contact areas. With ten minutes to go Douglas Finlayson scored following an intense period of pressure on the Bury line, making the score 15-13. With 5 minutes to go Tarren Runham sprinted into the corner to finally score having earlier being held up over the line. There were a few nervous minutes for Shelford to negotiate, but they were able to shut the game out to earn a much deserved victory. Under 16's Woodford 38 Shelford 14 After a respectful one minute silence, Woodford scored first through their pacy backs. Shelford responded well with their first visit to the opposition 22 when George Newnham burst through in a 15m break - the ball was quickly recycled for Rory Stone to float a lovely pass to Ryan Kenny who finished with a flourish in the corner, Ben Wierny converted well. After a series of needless penalties and lost ball in the scrummage, Woodford scored 3 times before half time. Shelford came out with a series of one man drives into the Woodford half, although individual breaks need support to succeed! From a 5m penalty, Dan Reilly barged through and over like a ravenous orc, crushing the opposition in the process, with a Woodford defender needing urgent hospital treatment after falling badly. Wierny converted once more. After moving onto a different pitch, Man of the Match Tom McFadzean continued to show strength and pace in attack and great tackling skills in defence to set up a nervy last 15 minutes, but it was Woodford who came away to earn a somewhat flattering win with two more scores. Under 15’s Newmarket 0 Shelford 38 Harry Norman 3 tries, Luke Whale, Oliver Martin and Tom Cannon 1 try, Lewis Cooper and Benjy Ruthven  2 conversions each. Shelford enjoyed a convincing win at Newmarket on Sunday in blustery conditions. The home side managed to hold out for the first ten minutes until Luke Whale broke through the home pack to open the scoring. Shelford were beginning to pass the ball well amongst their backs with Harry Norman scoring a second try from a well worked move. The game became scrappy with some wild passing from both teams and missed opportunities by Shelford to add to the score. Penalties were conceded on both sides. After the break Shelford seemed to take a much greater control of the game with some inventive moves from the backs. Tom Cannon scored a try soon after the break with was successfully converted by Lewis Cooper. Harry Norman followed up his earlier success by adding a further five points which was converted by Benjy Ruthven. Harry completed his hatrick by then scoring in front of the posts with Benjy converting again. By this time the Newmarket heads were beginning to drop. Following a penalty kick deep into the Newmarket half their full back failed to collect the ball cleanly allowing Oliver Martin to pounce and score a sixth try for the away team. Lewis Cooper then converted and the referee called time. Under 14’s Shelford 32 Newmarket 17 Shelford’s recent improvement in form finally converted itself into a deserved victory over fellow County Cup Semi-Finalists Newmarket. The opening minutes were fairly cagey with neither side really gaining an advantage to speak of, but Shelford finally broke the deadlock after a series of pick & drives resulted in Connor Denton coming up just short of the try-line. From quick recycled ball Sam Porter was on hand to give Shelford a 5-0 lead. Newmarket were quick to respond through their main danger, a really zippy winger who went around the outside of the home side’s defence with ease. The score was converted to give Newmarket a 7-5 lead. Defensive changes were made to counteract this, and Callum Shaw made an impressive debut on the wing to try to nullify this threat. The game then started to open up, and a sharp blindside break by Connor Denton put Toby Poirier away to fly down the wing to score what looked likely to be a certain try, but good covering back by Newmarket pulled him down short of the line. However, excellent support play by Joe Sherrington-Scales meant that Toby’s efforts didn’t go to waste as he popped the ball up for Joe to score and reclaim the lead for Shelford 10-7. Newmarket then claimed another try through their dangerous winger to claim the half-time lead at 12-10. Half-time saw Shelford make no less than seven changes, and as per the previous week the fresh legs (or hunger to do well) seemed to give Shelford that extra bit of bite at the breakdown and in the tackle. Shelford’s forwards were now really taking it to their counterparts, and the continuity of play through a series of phases saw Toby Poirier finish off a move in the corner for Shelford to regain the lead again at 15-12. Shelford’s confidence was really growing, but a dropped ball in midfield saw Newmarket score from the turnover ball for them to lead once more at 17-15. Shelford’s ‘up-tempo’ style of rugby was beginning to take the game away from the opposition in the final quarter of the game. This resulted in some fine team rugby, with either quick ruck-ball won by the forwards, off-loads to keep the ball alive or going through a series of hands. This started to stretch the Newmarket defence and resulted in Shelford finally pulling away from their tenacious opponents with three unanswered tries. Callum Shaw’s bulldozing run down the wing saw him come up short, but Ben Anderson was on hand to finish the move off in support. Toby capped a fine all-round performance by scoring another in the corner (converted superbly by Lewis Cracknell), and Connor Denton went over from close range after Toby just missed out on his hat-trick to leave the final score 32-17 in Shelford’s favour. Under 13’s Shelford 10 Newmarket 7 The 'A' Squad took on a very spirited Newmarket team. Newmarket were considerably improved from when we played them last. Their team was well augmented by a number of strong workman like forwards who gave them power in the set plays and nouse in the loose. Once Shelford learnt to keep the ball in space with our quicker backs the Shelford hands and speed of movement led to a well taken try for Freddie Eggleton. Newmarket responded strongly and used the wind sensibly to keep the play in the Shelford half. Their dominant spell on the line was rewarded after a charged down clearance was touched down by the eager Newmarket pack. The successful Newmarket conversion gave them a lead at half time. With the wind on their backs Shelford had most of the territory in the second half but a determined Newmarket pack did not allow territory to convert to points. The ever improving Callum Millar broke the deadlock with a score from the front of a line-out to give Shelford the lead. There followed more good territory for Shelford and Ollie Jones went close but dropped the ball over the line. The last minutes were tense as Newmarket, again through their excellent pack, drove upfield but Shelford survived the onslaught to record a 10-7 victory. Development Squad Following a joint  training session for both Newmarket and Shelford developing players sportingly taken by Gary Milner a second game was played which allowed the few Newmarket players who hadn't played a chance to mix in and enjoy a full match against the Shelford Bs. It was a close run affair played with great spirit and much heart by both teams but the stronger Newmarket pack won the day despite determined and brave defence by the Shelford players. They scored 3 tries to leave the final score 17-0. Under 12’s Shelford 5 Chelmsford 10 The old injury hoodoo struck again this week and with 4 regulars out we were down to the bare bones. The backs picked themselves as there were only 7 of them and in the forwards we had to move people around a bit. The great thing was it gave a chance to some others to step up and get plenty of time on the pitch. In particular Connor and Liam showed that they could make a pretty formidable pair of props. Liam is strong and has worked hard on his fitness to become an effective player. Connor is tough and aggressive and once he learns the rules he will be great (although many players go on to have lengthy and successful careers without fully mastering the law book it has to be said). Chelmsford played their second team against Braintree so that their first team were fit and ready to play us. Their forwards took control against our inexperienced pack and eventually the pressure told as they rumbled over to score. We came back strongly in the second half and got our game going. Some quick recycling and nifty handling put winger James Tilbury over in the corner. Eventually the greater experience of the Chelmsford pack told as they nicked line out ball near our line in fairly dubious circumstances and ground out another close range score. A narrow 10-5 defeat against a strong team, but a creditable performance by the boys. Shelford 10 Braintree 0 Braintree were defending an unbeaten home record but this was soon looking under threat as centre George Smith bullocked over for the opening score. We went further ahead as a trademark one yard tryscoring run from second row Ben Bishop put daylight between the teams. Braintree changed things around at half time bringing on a new aggressive pack (apparently recently featured in 'Ross Kemp on Gangs' on Sky TV). However the defence held firm and Braintree's record now contains a '1' in the games lost column. Still some things to work on. The forwards need to be quicker and more agressive at the ruck, thinking about driving through and clearing out rather arriving and leaning on someone like a 70s England prop. This will improve our ball retention and give us quicker ball. Our backs need to commit defenders by running straight in the centre.  We can then recycle and get second and third phase ball out wide against a disorganised defence. Finally an apology to George James - sorry George I awarded one of your tries to someone else last week. I'll try not to do it next time. Under 10’s Game 1: Braintree  15 - 25 Shelford Shelford scorers: Ollie Barnes 3 tries, Reuben Patrick and Harriet Walker 1 try Game 2: Chelmsford 25 - 20 Shelford Shelford Scorers: Barnes 4 triesThis was a very tight match against a stronger and physically larger Chelmsford Team Game 3: Braintree 20 -10 Shelford Shelford Scorers: Barnes and Walker 1 try each.  Ollie Barnes scored eight tries for Shelford on the day. Henry Moore and Joe Akak had excellent matches with some very good tackles and good team work. Under 9’s Game 1: Shelford Peacocks 15 - 0 Braintree Shelford Try scorers: Kieran Hatter 2 & Tom Whitehead 1A good start for Shelford against a strong home team. This was a great defensive display with BIG tackles coming from James King, Tom Cropper and Stan Clarke. Our first try came from Kieran Hatter following driving play from the forwards which sucked in the Braintree players which created the space for Kieran to run over. At the start of the second half again following a similar run of play gave Kieran Hatter, playing as scrum half, the opportunity to score his second try of the morning. Our last try came from Tom Whitehead following a period of Shelford pressure. Game 2: Shelford Peacocks 45 – 0 Chelmsford Shelford Try scorers: Kieran Hatter 4, Tom Whitehead 3, Tom Parkes 1 and Stan Clarke 1 Shelford Peacocks built momentum after the first win with an impressive second performance which combined attacking flair with good runs & handling and strong defending. Shelford pushed Chelmsford back to the try line and Kieran Hatter reacted first by jumping on a lose ball. Tom Whitehead scored our second following a winding run. Our third came from Tom Parkes after a big run breaking through many tackles, his first since the start of the season. Stan Clarke scored our fourth again after a winding run. Our fifth came from Tom Whitehead just before half time. In the second half Kieran Hatter and Tom Whitehead scored almost identical tries with balls coming out of the rook and a strong run to score in the corner. Our last 2 tries came from Kieran Hatter who managed to weave his way through the Chelmsford defence to make it a rout. I don’t think Chelmsford knew what had hit them. Game 3: Shelford Peacocks 5 – 0 Braintree Shelford Try scorer: Tom Whitehead 1 Shelford Peacocks last game of the morning was closely fought and we showed resilience against sustained pressure. There was no score in the first half. In the second half after a long period of pressure from Shelford Tom Whitehead finally broke through the Braintree defence to score in the corner. Huge sight of relief. Again there were some big tackles particularly when Braintree thought they were going to score and Stan Clarke made an outstanding tackle to put the Braintree player into touch as he was about to go over the try line. Game 1: Shelford Tigers 10 – 15 Braintree Shelford Try scorers: Tom Shortt 2 This was a good performance by the Tigers who lost narrowly after leading most of the match to 2 late tries by Braintree. Tom Shortt’s determination showed through as he ran over Shelford Tigers 2 tries. Game 2 Shelford Tigers 15 – 20 Chelmsford Shelford Try Scorers: Ryan Lees 2 and Thomas Gelling 1Ryan Lees scored 2 tries following good runs and Thomas Gelling who broke free after pressure to score in the corner. Chelmsford took their chances well and managed to capitalise on some lose ball after Shelford handling. Tough results in the end for Shelford Tigers who deserved more from the morning. Kieran Hatter’s performances earned him a thoroughly deserved Man of the Match today. Under 8’s Shelford 35 Braintree 20 Harry Simpson score 3 tries and Henry Breeze  2 ( Good result for 1st season in the game Henry) with Daniel Arbide and Will Stepney running in 1 each. A great performance. The tag count was especially impressive from Luke Burnham with 7 & Harry Simpson with 5 tags. Shelford 30 Chelmsford 40This score line reflects two games within which Daniel Arbide and Harry Simpson scored 2  tries each. Jamie Coates and Henry scored a try each. This is a good effort against a strong club so well done to all the boys. As ever sound defensive play is very important. Harry Simpson led the way with 15 tags followed by Luke Burnham with 9 tags and Daniel Arbide with 7. Looking in on this weeks efforts shows that the tag count is improving with all boys collecting tags in most games so well done to Angus, Josh Burnham and Josh Whitmore, Tom Coster and Sam Harvey for their contribution. Player of the week is Harry Breeze. Under 7’s Shelford 75 Braintree 55 Shelford 65 Chelmsford 75 A fabulous day on Sunday, with over 25 players making the trip to Braintree .  This was our best turn out for an away match this season. We must also thank Braintree for hosting a very well organised morning’s rugby.Shelford under 7’s again show their commitment and skill level to put in a number of great games. In the end we lost three games, won two and drew one. The more experienced players put up strong performances against a very capable Chelmsford side and although both matches ended in defeat, the players never gave up and tried their hardest.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 May 2008 )

 

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