Colts

Shelford 7 Colchester 59

Shelford competed for the first half going in to the break 21-7 down. Shelford’s points coming from an Iain Morrison try and Ben Seymour conversion. However, too many missed first up tackles let Shelford down as Colchester were not made to work for their victory. Once again a big thank you for the Under 17‘s for allowing this fixture to take place. 

Under 15’s

Shelford 55 Bury St. Edmunds 7

On a glorious Sunday morning Shelford played some sublime rugby against a Bury team minus a few of their first choice players. Shelford looked sharp in all facets of the game, but particularly revelling in the loose and dominating at the breakdown areas. The ball was being won so quickly at the rucks that it gave the backs time to run at pace onto flat passes to break the gain line time and again. Toby Poirier was first to profit, finishing off a fine move for a 5-0 lead. Connor Denton quickly doubled the lead as his pace and power started to worry the Bury defence. Another slick set of hands gave Poirier another ‘one on one’ which he took superbly for a 15-0 lead. From the restart the ball was quickly recycled and moved to Denton out wide, and he showed a clean pair of heals to the Bury defence, converted by Lewis Cracknell 22-0. Shelford then started to vary their play a little, with Cracknell putting in couple of probing kicks. The centre pairing of Alex Flynn & Ben Anderson then started to show their confidence with some fine interplay, and a great ‘dummy switch’ left the Bury defence wanting as Flynn ran in unopposed, converted by Cracknell for a 29-0 lead. Ben Anderson then matched his centre partner with a score of his own, with a step inside the defence to score under the posts, Cracknell converting for a 36-0 lead. More pressure on the Bury line gave the forwards a chance to show their handling skills, and Sam Porter was on hand to finish off, also converted by Cracknell, 43-0. Denton then completed a first half hat-trick to finish a breathless first half in favour of Shelford 48-0. The squad was rotated at half-time with nine changes taking place. Shelford took a little time getting back into the game, and this allowed a rejuvenated Bury side a chance to gain a foothold in the game, as their forwards became more competitive at the breakdown. Shelford still had their fair share of ball, and some good runs on the wing by Harri Beasley were only stopped by stout Bury defence. Shelford had become a little ponderous at the breakdown at this stage, allowing Bury to gain some ground from pick & drives, which gained them good field position. Another Bury drive looked like it had been held up over the try line, but the referee gave a penalty try for a Shelford forward coming in from the side, which seemed harsh but nothing more than Bury’s endeavours deserved. Try was converted 48-7. Denton then finished off a fine performance with his fourth try, converted by Joe Sherrington-Scales for a fine 55-7 win. 

Under 14’s

Shelford 34 Romford 15

Shelford came out top in an extremely tough encounter against Romford at the Davey field. Neither team gave an inch in the tackle zone but it was Shelford’s superior continuity in keeping the ball alive with some excellent inter passing and the overall pressure in defence that forced mistakes that made the difference. Romford scored first after a good counter attack swept play from one end of the pitch to the other. The Shelford forwards started to dominate the scrum and won a number against the head. It was not long before the pressure told and Shelford drew level with a try from William Jones. As the Shelford back line continued to push up quickly on their opponents, Romford tried to force the pass on their own 22. The ball was spilt and George Rutherford was quick to react and was clean through to score. Just as it looked as though Shelford would go in at half time in the lead the visitors made it 10-10 with the last play of the half. The second half was notable for some thundering tackles from the likes of Calum Miller and Rhys “Chopper” Roberts. Shelford started to dominate territory and the continual pressure paid off as George Knowles grabbed two interception tries. A further try from Alistair Kingdon and then a speedy dash down the wing from Alex Bushnell put a real gloss on fine performance. Romford did get another try near the end but Shelford were worthy 34-15 winners. Kingdon and Miller both slotted over a conversion each.

Under 13’s

Shelford 65 Bury St Edmunds 0

Tries : Rory Hutchinson (3), James Knoop (3), Liam Calvey (2), Angus Finlayson, George Smith, Cameron McMeikan (1 each). Conversions James Knoop (3), Rory Hutchinson, Stephen Douglas (1 each). 

A glorious day for running rugby and the mighty Shelford did not disappoint their growing army of contented followers. The match was a contest for ten minutes as old rivals Bury started strongly. A few missed tackles put us under pressure and Bury looked strong in the scrum and ran forcefully with the ball in hand. Then a bizarre incident seemed to galvanise the Shelford ranks. As winger Ivan Karsten and flanker Joe McNeil advanced on the elusive Bury winger he shimmied tantalisingly out of reach. When Ivan met GI Joe (pint on me for anyone who gets the cultural reference there) they were both fully committed and the result was a sickening clash of heads. The huge bump that appeared on Ivan's head immediately indicated he would play no further part. Joe got groggily to his feet. 'He doesn't know who he is' exclaimed a worried onlooker. 'Tell him he's Jerry Collins and get him back on the pitch' was the alleged response from Coach Hitchcock although no independent witnesses were able to corroborate the coach's admittedly pragmatic advice. Luckily wiser counsels prevailed and sadly Joe was also to play no further part. (Both Ivan and Joe felt better later in the day).On came the replacements and Shelford started to get on top. The key as usual was quick ruck ball which was then spun out wide. Knoops made the first breakthrough, bursting through the stretched Bury defence to touchdown under the posts. Wingers George Smith and Rory Hutchinson then both got on the score sheet as did full back Angus Finlayson. Knoops rounded it off with a second score which, together with his three conversions made it a comfortable 29-0 at half time.Another injury to scrum half Sam Larlham meant that for the second half we were down to only 8 fit backs. With 16 forwards available on the day it meant that again versatility would be the key as some of the donkeys would be allowed to throw the ball around with the prima donnas out wide. The Shelford pack upped the intensity after the break as Bury started to tire. A break by inside centre Sam Jones set up Knoops for his hatrick. Rory Hutchinson used his pace and aggression to good effect to add a brace to his first half score. Both added conversions. As Shelford rang the changes it was interesting to see the impact of our forwards as strike runners. Cam McMeikan was devastating as a full back coming into the line as he has bags of pace as a No 8. Tom P-T did not look out of place at outside centre as he had good pace and handling skills. Finally the introduction of our loose head prop Liam Calvey on the wing delivered the final coup de grace to Bury. Liam may not be blessed with whippet like speed or the elusiveness of a Shane Williams but when given the ball in space in the 22 he is very hard to stop. He ran over his opposite number to score the final two tries, one of which was converted by Stephen Douglas.Bury have been traditionally tough opponents in the past so to beat them 65-0 reflected great credit on the boys. Of course the glory goes to the back three and outside centre who scored all 11 tries between them but this statistic is simply a reflection of how the team plays. The forwards consistently secure high quality quick ball and the half backs unselfishly bring the outside runners into the game. Everyone is involved in some glorious 15 man rugby which simply overwhelmed our opponents. Once again, after the first ten minutes, Bury simply never had the ball. Furthermore this high level of skill, energy and commitment is carried out across the whole squad as we used 26 players on Sunday. There are still some things to work on for the stiffer challenges ahead. There is a tendency for the ball carrier to get isolated in the forwards so we need to work on our teamwork here. We also need to get our defensive alignment right in the backs as we tend to defend as individuals rather than as a team.

Under 12’s – Peterborough Festival

Pool Games

Shelford 15 Ampthill 0

Shelford tries were scored by Alistair Russell x2 & Connor Hein Jones.This was a tough physical game which Shelford came out the eventual winners.The forwards came up against a large pack but held their own and scrummaged well. The backs moved the ball down the line well, together with steady catching and running from the full back and this resulted in three well worked tries.

Shelford 0 Spalding 10

Shelford continued their good form playing some good open attacking rugby.This was a well fought game with end to end rugby and good pressure from both sides but Shelford’s lack of low, hard tackles helped Spalding to score a try in either half.The substitutes were busy today as the opposition size advantage took its toll.

These 2 good results meant that Shelford came second in their group and went on to play Oakham in the Semi-Final.

Semi Final

Shelford 5 Oakham 10

Shelford try was scored by Connor Hein Jones. As expected this was a very tough game and saw Oakham, with too much space, able top move the ball around well and score two well worked tries. Shelford did not lose faith and came out hard in the second half and this resulted in a well worked try for Connor Hein Jones. Unfortunately it came too late for Shelford to push for the draw.A great days rugby against some very organised and physical opposition. Some great flowing rugby and confident play from all the squad.Thank you to all the parents for their touch line support. 

Under 11’s – Peterborough Festival

Pool Stages

Game 1: Shelford 10 -10 Spalding

Game 2: Ampthill 10 -0   Shelford

Game 3: Oundle 5 -5 Shelford

Plate Semi Final

Milton Keynes 0 -15 Shelford

Plate Final

Peterborough 0 -5 Shelford

Scorers on the day:George Franklin = 3 triesMichael Pepper = 1 tryBen Shannon = 1 tryOllie Perry = 1 try 

Under 10’s – Peterborough Festival

Pool Games

Shelford  0 – 10 Ampthill

Ampthill got off to a good start with 2 early tries in the first half. Shelford eventually woke up but couldn’t break through their defence. Ollie Parkes made a couple of great tackles to break up Ampthill attacks.

Shelford 25 v 0 Oakham

Shelford now awake, started to play good rugby. Our first try came from Tom Whitehead who scored his first of the morning. This was followed by great defensive work and big tackles coming from Conner Wells and Stan Clark. Our second came after a run from Stan Clark, pass out to Ben Frisk and onto Tom Whitehead to score in the corner. Our third came when Tom ripped the ball from an Oakham player and then run over the try line. Our fourth came from the start of the 2^nd half when Henry Glydon, passed to Garret Shannon and onto Tom Whitehead who ran dodging tackles, players bouncing off him go over in the corner. Our last came after a period of Shelford pressure, we won a scrum 5 metres out, Glydon playing scrum half, took the ball from the back of the scrum , ran on the blind side to score a very cheeky try.

Shelford 10 v 25 Spalding

Spalding played some very good rugby to lead by 4 tries by the end of the first half. The second half was Shelford’s, with some excellent defending, Ollie Parkes in particular made some great tackles to break up Spalding attacks. After a period of Shelford pressure Tom Whitehead saw a gap to take the ball over the try line. Our second came  after Spalding were attacking and had pushed us back to our try line, Stan Clark ripped the ball and passed Tom Whitehead who then ran the full length of the pitch dodging tackles, taking another tackle around the neck(ref played advantage) to run the ball over the line. A great display of determination and courage from Tom. Shelford finished 3^rd in the group and went into the Plate.

Semi Final

Shelford 20 – 15 Deepings

Shelford easily won the first half with 3 tries, however Deepings fought back in the second half. We secured the victory with a try at the end of the game. It was a good team performance with all of our tries coming from the ever impressive Tom Whitehead.

Final

Shelford 5 v 0 Oakham

In the final Shelford fought hard against a very much improved Oakham. They were a very different team to the one we played in the morning, I want what ever they had for lunch! There wasn’t anything between the teams in the first half. However Oakham pushed hard in the second half and Shelford defended as if their lives depended on it.  The last play of the game: Ben Frisk broke free from our try line to run almost half the length of the pitch, he released the ball to Tom Whitehead who put in one last determined run. Oakham players couldn’t bring Tom down and he made it over the line to score the winning try. An outstanding effort to win the game and the final.  

Under 9's - Peterborough Festival

Although the team was in the Pool of death they developed throughout the day and kept their heads up to get to the final of the Plate.

Pool: v Ampthill.  L 5-15. Shelford’s try was scored by Daniel Arbide. Ampthill were extremely strong with a couple of players the size of Jonah Lomu!  Their team just gave the ball to the big boys and used them as battering rams.

Pool: v Oundle.  L 0-10. 

Pool: v Spalding.  L 0-15 Spalding got to the final against Peterborough.  (Peterborough only drew in the semi-finals with Ampthill and won on count-back again)Our intent to get the Shelford Development Squad through to the plate semi-final worked!

Semi-final Plate: v Oakham.  W 15-10. Tries were scored by Harry Simpson, Henry Breeze and Angus Thomson.  The side played really well with everyone involved.

Final Plate: v Oundle D 15-15. Tries came from Jamie Johnson (1) and Henry Breeze (2).  Shelford led 15-0 at half-time & should have won, but tackling let them down, giving away 3 easy tries.  Shelford lost on count-back but were the stronger team in this game.Superb effort by all players, well done!. Improved tackling this weekend should make a big difference.