National Colts Cup

North Walsham 7 - 7 Shelford

Shelford Colts were involved in a very tight Colts National Cup game this Sunday, away to North Walsham and seeking revenge for their defeat in last years EC Cup Final. The first half saw Shelford take the game to Walsham and spent most of it encamped in Walsham’s half, only being forced back with some deep kicks out and with a very strong wind at Walsham’s back. Then Walsham were down to 14 men with a man in the bin for a high tackle, which could have been a penalty try but was not to be.  Shelford once again became their own worse enemies in failing to finish off a few good moves at the last moment with some good defence from Walsham, 0-0 at half time. At the restart Shelford were caught cold with a clever kick off which they failed to catch and Walsham gratefully gathered up and ran 30yrds to score in the corner which was well converted to make it 7 - 0. This seemed to concentrate Shelford minds and with the wind behind them, kept running the ball at Walsham and kicking the odd one deep to chase, one of which Ben Baxter nearly finished off. Then with 15 minutes to go, Toby Mepham broke though the Walsham defence and managed to offload in the tackle for George Perry who scored under the posts and Ben Seymour converted. For the last 10 minutes Shelford tackled their hearts out and applied the pressure to Walsham but just could not break them down as Walsham tackled with the same tenacity. At the final whistle, with the score 7 – 7, there was a lot of head scratching from both teams until the referee announced that as the away team, Shelford won and went though to the next round.

Under 17’s

Shelford 50 Bishop’s Stortford 5

The score line does not do justice to a committed Stortford side, who suffered from a game in which Shelford at times finished off moves very well. Shelford went into half time 19-0 ahead through tries from Michael Keady, Tristan Tegg and Adam Hodgkisson, with Will Barnes adding two conversions. With resumption of play in the second half Shelford had Lewis Wayland sin binned, but this and playing against the strong wind did not hinder their performance and they scored 31 second half points through Hodgkisson X2(completing his hatrick),James SummerscalesX2,and Harry Picton-turbevill. Tom Ward added 3X conversions. Stortford scored a late consolation try that their committed efforts fully deserved.

Under 13’s

Shelford 51 Stamford 10

Shelford U13’s were too hot to handle despite the wind and cold as they blew Stamford away in the opening half. Calum Miller carved through the defence to open the scoring and this was quickly followed by a James Gibson try. Stamford could not get out of their half as Shelford kept up the pressure. Johnnie Martin finished off a sweeping move to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Miller then took the ball on the crash from a tap penalty 30 metres out and nobody fancied tackling him at full speed as he scored his second. Tom Fleck then demonstrated his pace on the wing as he raced over. Shelford squandered a few chances as passes were dropped but it was not long before Kit Goodfellow strolled over to score. Right at the end of the first half Gibson juggled with the ball as he took an interception on the half way line and no-one was going to catch him from there. With 3 conversions from Goodfellow it was 41-0 at half time. With a full team change at half time Stamford came back into the game aided by the two Shelford players loaned to them. Stamford did get a try before Frank Omandlewis jinked his way over form close range. The visitors then scored again but Hector Finch on his return from injury scored to make it 51-10 for Shelford at the end.

Under 12’s

Shelford 7 Newmarket 7

A triple header for the injury depleted squad. Full marks to Cam our loyal supporter who was once again stood on the touchline with Charlie our sidelined fly half to cheer the team on. There were a number of other absentees although no truth in the rumour that inside centre Stephen couldn't make it because he was off to find a welder for his pet brass monkey. In fact he has a knee injury - and you have a clue as to the weather conditions.......
First up was Newmarket - a very tight affair. We struggled a bit in the scrums and their huge second row proved a handful in the lineout and with ball in hand. No score at half time. The pressure told in the second half as a Newmarket prop barged over. The boys responded well and we played some good rugby to work outside centre James Tilbury over in the corner. Sam Jones slotted the pressure conversion and the match was drawn 7-7.
 

Shelford 14 Bedford 26

Bedford B were the next opponents. The first half performance was not great and prompted some frank half time self analysis. This seemed to inspire the boys and we scored a classic crash ball centre try as George Smith smashed his way through the opposition defenders. We added another good try through Tilbury as good recycling created an overlap. Both tries were converted by Will Lander and we ran out 14-7 winners.
Bedford A were a class act but again the boys' own post match analysis was spot on. Our poor tackling let us down and cost two tries as we waved the Bedford backs through to score. The match ended in a 19-0 defeat.
Poor execution of the basics has cost us dearly this season. Passing has lacked precision and too many balls have been dropped. Tackling was poor on Sunday and the recent spell where we went a month without conceding a try has been forgotten. Forward play has lacked intensity. The effort and enthusiasm has been there and the boys are enjoying their rugby. However they need to work hard on their individual skill levels so we can once again compete with the best.  

Under 10’s

Game 1: Shelford 5 - 10 Newmarket

Shelford lost in a very tight match against Newmarket, with a brilliant try for Shelford from Moe Drury.

Game 2: Shelford 35 -20 Bedford

In the second game, which was held on an extremely cold day, Shelford beat Bedford playing much better rugby. The team played well together and some excellent tackling by Henry Moore and Joe Akak helped to secure the game for Shelford. Scorers in this match for Shelford were Ollie Barnes who scored five tries and Joe Akak who scored two tries. 

Under 9’s

On cold November Sunday morning Shelford under 9s took on Bedford and Newmarket.  Scoring a total of 120 points and conceding only 5 in three games.  Shelford fielded one team consisting of players from both the Peacocks and the Lions.

Game 1 – Newmarket 0  Shelford 40

This was a fast moving game which saw some great rucking and tackling from Shelford players.  With Tom Cropper, Kieran Hatter and Tom Whitehead scored 2 tries each and Stan Clarke and Ben Frisk adding one each.

Game 2 – Bedford 5  Shelford 25

Shelford continued playing well with Kieran Hatter scoring another 2 tries and Ben Frisk, Tom Cropper and Stan Clark adding one each.

Game 3  -  Newmarket 0  Shelford 55

At the end of a very cold session the boys showed us their best play of the day.  Ryan Lees scored 3 tries with 2 tries each for Tom Whitehead, Kieran Hatter, Stan Clarke and 1 each for Ben Frisk and Tom Cropper. Man of the match went to Tom Shortt for some great support play and passing during all 3 games. 

Under 8’s

Sundays do not get better than this by way of performances. 3 games played and won against one emerging side ( Newmarket ) and one very well respected club Bedford. This was one of the best performances by the boys this year, the tagging was excellent denying both Newmarket and Bedford room to create moves or get pace on the ball.  

Shelford 25 Newmarket  20

Newmarket were only missing one of their top players on the day and yet we managed to beat them with a complete team swap at half time. A tremendous effort by all the boys. The tries were scored by  Harry Simpson (2); Hayden McKenzie, Will Stepney, Aiden Thomas with 1 each. The tag count was impressive with most boys in both halves getting at least one tag. The highest tag count came from Hayden with 7 and Harry Simpson with 4 but a number of the boys collecting three tags.

Shelford 25 Bedford 20

This team came with a good reputation BUT our boys pegged them back time after time thus stopping one or two of their excellent strike runners gaining momentum. The support play and passing was particularly good in this game. With the ball being picked up in the loose and moved around stretching the opposition. The tries were scored by Hayden McKenzie with (3); Harry Simpson (2). The defence play was excellent with tag count Hayden (9) and Harry (7) and a number of the boys collecting three tags. 

Mixed game Shelford 5 : Bedford + Newmarket 0

It was nice to see a number of the boys staying back to play 'the game of two halves'. The only try of the game came from Henry Breeze with an excellent run down the right wing. Tagging was excellent with Henry, Daniel, Josh Whitmore and Josh Butler bagging 4 each and all the others at least one tag. The 'man of the match' award goes to a young man from the senior team who put lots of effort in and was denied a try on at least two occasions and that is Josh Butler. 

Under 7’s

Shelford 50 Bedford 45

This week only Bedford turned up so we split into three teams and played two matches at the same time. Despite the bitter conditions handling was excellent and everyone who played put in plenty of effort. Some spectacular tries were scored along with heroic tagging. The younger players are really beginning to get to grips with the game and we saw some good performances from them. A big thank you to all the Mums & Dads who braved the cold and continued to give their support to the squad.