Under 17’s

Bishop’s Stortford 24 Shelford 15

Shelford were slow to start and showed a lack of match fitness on what should have been a perfect day for rugby. They found themselves two tries down after twenty minutes. Shelford’s first came after a quick ball out to Rob Wilson playing his first game for Shelford and at No 10, saw him use his explosive speed to run over the white wash unopposed. Stortford came straight back from the resulting re start with a converted try to lead 17 points to 5. Shelford then camped out on their opponent’s 10 meter line – this allowed Ben Wierny to pick up and drive straight through Stortford’s forward defence and make the score 10 - 17 at half time. The second half started as the first with Shelford slow to start and too many handling mistakes, one of which gifted Stortford with an interception and an easy sprint to the line to make the score, which was also converted. After along period with reset scrums and handling errors from both sides, Shelford again managed to ship the ball out and show some of the play they are capable of, allowing Jonno Swain to use the over lap and score in the corner but it came too late to trigger a resurgence.  

Under 16’s

Shelford 34 Bury St Edmunds 10

It was not easy sailing for this 34-10 victory over Bury for this Shelford team experimenting with new unit combinations and the introduction of two new backs. The win, marred by what could be a serious ankle injury to the No.10, saw 3 first half scores for the home team. Opening the tally was a balanced run-in try by newcomer centre Dan Pratt, then followed flanker Lewis Cooper's dummy pass to outwit and sidestep the defence. Bury, rewarded with a successfully kicked penalty in front of posts, followed up with their only converted try of the afternoon. Shelford responded with a 30 minute debut, solo try from scrum-half Rhys McGinty following a powerful phase of forward play. Elliot Mepham converted 2 tries. Scoring in the second half remained the prerogative of a Shelford side exhibiting sound individual performances. An impressive chip and kick- ahead to score by winger Alex Poirier inspired a second try scoring effort from Dan Pratt. A final try by Felix Guyer picking up behind the scrum to drive through a Bury tackle ended a successful outing for this developing Shelford squad. 

Under 14’s

Diss 12 Shelford 22

Pool v Diss W 5-0

Shelford started slowly with an indifferent first half performance moving the ball well but never looking like they would break through the Diss defence. Now warmed up, the second half was the better one with the forwards scrummaging well and setting up a good platform for the backs. The backs moved the ball down the line well, gaining territory and this resulted in a well taken try by Connor Hein Jones.

Pool v Newmarket W 10-0

Shelford continued their good form playing some good open attacking rugby. This was a well fought game and good pressure from both sides but Shelford never looked like they were going to loose, knowing a win would see them into the semi final. Strong running from the backs resulted in two deserved tries for David Pugh & Hein Jones. The forwards worked as a robust unit and won a couple of scrums against the head.

Pool v Bury Black W 25-0

Shelford tries was scored by Conor Sullivan x2, David Pugh x2 & Kieran MooreShelford, still pumped up from their last victory, were up for this game and put pressure on Bury from the first whistle and never took their foot off the accelerator. Open running rugby was plentiful and lead to four tries for the backs, Pugh x2 & Conor Sullivan x2. Late on, following pressure on the Bury try line, Kieran Moore poached the ball and dived over the try line to round of an impressive all round performance. Thanks also goes to Patrick (borrowed player from Cambridge as unfortunately Max was injured for this game and we had no substitutes) who played very well on the wing.

Semi  Final v Cambridge L 5-10

Shelford try was scored by Alistair Russell.Shelford were under pressure from the start with Cambridge using their larger forwards to drive towards the try line. Great defensive work managed to hold up two attempted tries but eventually the pressure was too much and Cambridge finished the first half with two tries. Shelford came out in the second half with their heads up and rattled Cambridge from the start. Good attacking rugby enabled Alistair Russell to receive the ball just in Cambridge's half and break through their defence to score a memorable try. Shelford kept up the pressure, with strong team work but just could not manage to get another try. Again thanks go to two Bury players (Will & Angus) who came in on loan to cover for the recovering Max and Chris. Thankfully they both managed to play a part in the game against Cambridge and will be fully fit again shortly.  

Under 12’s

Development Squad v Haverhill W 28-24

Knocked back by a larger and stronger team, Shelford were down by three tries with two conversions against one converted try in the first half but the boys (and a welcome return by G McGivern) never gave up. Some strong tackling, getting better as the game wore on, revealed a weakness in the Haverhill backs, who were comprehensively outplayed in loose and running rugby, a real pleasure to watch.Haverhill's tank like forwards bust through four times, but Shelford played better as a team and exploited the gaps and mistakes the larger team made under pressure. Many of the team gave their best performances yet. It would be wrong to single any one out: they played really well together, improving as they went. Four tries in all, a very well balanced game, but it was the right result as all four were converted by Shelford (as against two for Haverhill) for a narrow but well deserved victory. Tries scored by G McGivern (2) and C Pepper (2).  C Pepper converted all four tried.  

Under 11’s – Bury St Edmunds Festival Winners

Pool game 1: Won Shelford 15- 0 Diss

Pool game 2: Won Shelford 15- 0 Newmarket

Pool game 3: Won Shelford 15 - 0 Bury Black

Semi Final: Won Shelford 5 - 0 Bury Gold

Final: Won Shelford 5 - 0 Ipswich

Scorers on the day: Ben Shannon 4, George Franklin 3, Harriet Walker, Liam Thomas, Troy Peace, Ollie Barnes 1 each.Shelford did not concede a try during the whole tournament. Good tackling and team work by all the players ensured a successful Festival for the players. 

Under 10’s – Bury St Edmunds Festival – Joint Winners

Pool Games

Shelford 15 – 0 Diss

Shelford spent the first half under sustained pressure throughout but managed to make it to half time without conceding. Good defensive work by the boys. Dave and Glynn gave one of their inspirational half time team talks and the boys came out with a renewed spirit. From the start of the second half, Tom Whitehead got the ball, broke through 2 tackles and ran into the corner to score our first try. Shelford built on this by putting Diss under pressure which paid dividends after a scrum when Kieran Hatter passed to Ben Frisk who ran passed to Tom Cropper to score in the corner.  Our last try came from Tom Whitehead again who got the ball from Finn Karsten who created the space for Tom. Tom ran hard and scored in the corner with a Diss player around his waist.

Shelford 35 – 0 Newmarket

This game was a real team effort with 7 different boys scoring. Our 1^st came from Tom Parkes who got the ball from our early scrum, Jack Tribbeck passed to Finn who passed out to Tom to make it over. Our 2^nd from Tom Shortt, a 5m line out, Tom got onto the end of a loose ball and powered over the line. Our 3^rd scored by Stan Clarke, came from good running and passing with Tom Shortt passing to Finn, onto Tom Parkes and to Stan who got over in the corner. Second half started well with a try from Garret Shannon, who picked up a ball after Tom Cropper was tackled 5 metres out and drove over the line. Our 4^th from a 5m scrum, Jack passed the ball to Tom Whitehead who saw a gap and made it over the try line.  The 6^th came from Finn Karsten; Finn received the ball from Stan and then ran hard to score. Our last try came from Bradley Goss, his first try for the club, he picked up the ball from the half way line and powered forward to make it over in the corner, well done Bradley, I’m sure first of many for the club.

Shelford 20 – 0 Bury St Edmunds

Shelford caught BSE unaware and scored from the start of the game, Tom Cropper took advantage of a flat defence. Kieran completely ignored his father’s advice to pass the ball and proved his point by scoring our second after he took the ball from the back of the scrum and weaved through the BSE defence to score. Our third and fourth came from Finn Karsten, Finn’s first came from an intercepted pass and made he made it over the line. Finn’s second and our last came after a period of BSE pressure, we were pushed back onto our try line, and again Finn intercepted a pass and then ran the full length of the pitch to score in the centre. No one from the chasing pack could catch him.

Semi Final

Shelford 15 v 0 Ipswich

From the start Shelford pushed on with pressure from the forwards, Garret drove on, passing the ball to Tom Whitehead who passed to Stan Clark who dived low and made it over the try line. Our second came from Tom Whitehead, who picked up the ball from Kieran after our scrum, Tom powered through a couple of tackles and scored in the corner. Our last try came from Ben Frisk, Kieran passed from the scrum to Finn and finally to Ben who ran hard to get over in the corner. And into the final! 

Final – Honours shared between Shelford & Sudbury

Shelford 10 – 10 Sudbury AET

The final was a hard fought game with little dividing the teams. Shelford conceded an early try and our first of the festival. However we responded immediately when Tom Whitehead powered through the Sudbury defence to drive over the try line. The rest of the first half saw both teams evenly matched with great defensive work, Miles Brown made a fantastic tackle to stop a certain Sudbury try.  Shelford scored after a period of pressure from our forwards who got the ball out to Ben Frisk who took advantage of a gap to run hard and scored in the corner. Shelford conceded a try near the end which took us into extra time. The teams couldn’t be separated in extra time which meant the honours were shared. Well done to everyone. 

Under 9’s – Bury St Edmunds Festival – Joint Winners

Pool – Shelford 10 Diss 5

Like most East Anglian teams the Diss players were man for man huge. The only way to hold them back was through tackling. Tom French led the charge with some excellent tackles with Henry Breeze using the battering ram technique to force his way through. The breaks came through some good linkage work between forwards and back with Jamie Coates breaking free on two occasions in order to score two excellent tries. A great start to the tournament.

Pool – Shelford 10 Newmarket 5

Newmarket have come a long way from when we last played them. Strong forwards with some excellent backs. Their strengths were not going to hold out our boys for ever. Once again strong tackling by the usual duo of Tom French and Henry Breeze was this time supported by excellent tackling by a range of boys notably Daniel Arbide, Josh Butler, and Angus Thomson. It was this defensive play that kept us in the game. Once again Henry Breeze was on excellent form with both strong and intelligent lines of running, this led to his two excellent tries to bring the team victory.

Pool – Shelford 5 Bury Black 5

This was a game that Shelford were unlucky not to win, with two try scoring opportunities spilled over the line. Nevertheless Bury St Edmunds had a few large strike runners that kept our tackle count very high. Once again Tom French and Daniel Arbide led the tackle count with Will Stepney, Harry Simpson and Josh Butler putting a number of useful tackles together at key moments. Harvey Redfern also got involved with a few strong runs through the centre with the ball in hand. The try came just before the game closed out with Will Stepney taking an angled run for the try line to keep us top of table ahead of the semi-final. A great result and well deserved.

Pool – Shelford 10 Sudbury 5

Wow what a game, both parents and boys were most vocal during this encounter. A game which brought in over 40 tackles such was the intensity. Luke Burnham stepped up to the plate with the highest tackle count followed by Tom French, Will Stepney, Henry Breeze and Will Stepney. Also noted some excellent driving runs in this game by Daniel Hoole. The tries were scored by Tom French solo run and drive over the line an excellent try and once again a darting opportunist try by Will Stepney who gets better at sniffing out the line, game on game. The joy on the boys faces were a picture........... They had made the final.

Final – Shelford 5 Newmarket 5

So to the final a game we emphasised meant everything to the boys - a win here would make history for them and a great platform for the future. This should have been a victory for Shelford given our win in the previous game; nevertheless Newmarket raised their game with no quarter given or gap on the field not exploited. Darting runs from both sides were met with crunching tackles all in all some 51 tackles made to keep the opposition out. With all players making some excellent tackles Henry Breeze and Tom French led the tackle count followed by Hayden McKenzie, Angus Thomson and Daniel Arbide. Some sound running from Josh Whitmore and Aiden Thomas led to some great gaps for others to exploit. This was to prove to be a nail biting game. Newmarket scored early and Shelford were left to the closing minutes of the game to draw level with an excellent try from Hayden McKenzie picking up a pass to run an angle to the corner for a try. Extra time was granted and a golden try would make the difference. Both sets of players drove into each other with nobody holding back, at the close both teams were deemed to have won. This was a fair result for the day.The shield comes home to Shelford for the first part of the season to be then passed onto Newmarket for the rest of the season. What a day, what a result, great team play by one and all. A fantastic result for the boys and something to build on going forward. Thanks to all the moms and dads for their support on the day ................ much appreciated.   

Under 7’s – Bury St Edmunds Festival - Winners

For the record Shelford beat Diss & Newmarket and then drew with Bury to top Pool A. We then went onto beat Sudbury in the semi final. The final against Bury was fiercely contested as both sides scored 3 tries in the first half. The second half proved to be our finest hour as we scored two unanswered tries and kept Bury pinned on their own goal line with some outstanding tagging. This was a fantastic effort by all 12 players, our defence was strong and we scored some truly wonderful tries. Shelford u7’s showed on Sunday what great team spirit they have, as whichever combination of seven players took the field, the result was the same.