(Please check back on this page as match reports will be added as squad managers send in their reports) 

Colts

Shelford 17 Ipswich 5

A quick headcount revealed the luxury of replacements with 17 players available. This euphoria was quickly dispelled when it was realised there were 5 front row players, 6 further forward players & only 6 backs.  Having moved Ben Wierny away from this seasons hooker position, & with Dave Golding also moving out of the pack & onto the wing, Shelford took to the field.  The first 10 minutes saw Shelford dominate the game culminating in Ben Wierny crossing the line with a “pick & go”. Wierny converted his own try to make the score 7 – 0. Shelford were showing confidence & started to move the ball wide resulting in a long run in by Dave Golding for his first club try making the score 12 – 0. Perhaps a few position changes are not so bad after all!! Shelford became over confident attempting ambitious, but unnecessary, backs moves. Ipswich had little to offer in attack & were competent at playing a “spoiling game”, a tactic which the hosts seemed unable to cope with. The half time score of 12 – 0, was quickly changed to 12 – 5 after the trademark “soft try” was conceded from a line out close to the Shelford line. Over the next 15 minutes the game appeared to ebb & flow, but the visitors never looked like being a real threat & a try from close range by Alasdair Paterson, reinforcing his position as top points scorer, sealed the match at 17 - 5. Once again the forward dominance was obvious for all to see & there is no doubt the side is improving week by week. A little more thought on the structure of their game, together with more thought on the structure of their game & this team will find it easier to gain results. Another good win.          

Under 16’s

Shelford 36 Ipswich 3

Hat-tricks by Lewis Green and James Clare saw Shelford home in an entertaining game which was closer than the score line might suggest. Shelford were soon a score to the good as quick ruck ball was put through hands for Lewis Green to open his account, converted by Joe Sherrington-Scales for a 7-0 lead. Ipswich responded immediately as Shelford dealt poorly with the restart (an area of the game we have struggled in for the second week running) and were penalised for handling in the ruck in their own 22. Ipswich converted the penalty to bring it back to 7-3. Shelford’s good handling in the backs saw Lewis Green step inside a stretched Ipswich defence, after initial good work by Harri Beasley on the left wing and sharp support play from the forwards at the breakdown. The ball then went the full width of the pitch for a fine score, 12-3.James Clare’s ‘pick & go’ from a 5 metre scrum after good pressure by George Teeboon on his opposite number 9 saw Shelford stretch their lead to 17-3. This was quickly followed by another after an Ipswich clearance kick fell kindly for Shelford into the arms of a rampant Clare for a Shelford half-time lead of 22-3. The second period was much more of a contest as a defiant Ipswich team came out and competed hard at the breakdown area. Their backs also started to have few good runs with ball in hand, in particular the Ipswich 14 who was stopped short on a couple of occasions by good Shelford defence. The second half went scoreless for a good twenty minutes although both sides continued to have opportunities to score. This pattern was broken when again quick ruck ball went wide for any number of players to convert the score, but the grateful recipient was Lewis Green who duly completed his hat-trick, converted by Alex Flynn, 29-3. Another loose Ipswich clearance kick was again picked up by Clare for him to run in against a disorganised Ipswich defence, converted by Flynn again for a final score of 36-3. 

Under 14’s

Under 11’s - Peterborough Mini Rugby Festival Winners

Pool Match 1: Shelford 0 Oakham 0

A very sleepy Shelford struggled with their ball handling in the first half but in the second half they defended very well to stop a strong Oakham from scoring.

Pool Match 2: Shelford 10 Stamford 5

As Shelford started to wake up they began to pay some great rugby to achieve their first win of the tournament.  Tries were scored by Tom Whitehead and Fynn Karsten.

Pool Match 3: Shelford 20 Oundle 0

Shelford found their true form with great play from the forwards and backs with free flowing rugby and strong tackling against a formidable opposition.  Tom Whitehead scores 2 more tries in this game, the others were scored by Kieran Hatter and Tom Cropper.

Semi Final: Shelford 10 v Bourne 5

This was a hard fought game with injuries on both sides.  At full time the result was 1 try each, the Shelford try was scored by Tom Cropper.  Sudden death extra time saw Miles Brown score the try that took Shelford through to the final.

Final: Shelford 5 v Oakham 0

The final saw Shelford and Oakham meet again and once again both sides were closely matched but Freddie Robarts scored Shelford’s winning try in the first half. Shelford’s defence held Oakham at bay for the second half to secure the win.

Man of the Tournament: Fynn Karsten for amazing kicking and setting up many of the tries.

Under 10’s - Peterborough Festival Winners

Pool: Shelford 5 Oundle 0

Try scored by Henry Breeze

A lovely war of attrition to begin the day with. Just what we needed with a few sleepy heads and Shelford taking a little while to get going. Oundle put on a great performance and stopped our players moving open ball and so it was down to the hard grind of rucking and mauling the ball forward. Eventually we began to take a grip on the game and Henry Breeze bowled over for the only try of the match. This match also had one of the best recovering dumps of a player into touch from Harry Simpson. After a boy broke free and ran 20 yards Jamie Coates managed to get back and get a hand on him momentarily which was enough for our backs to chase back and close him down and for Harry to put him into row Z. Good aggressive play from both forwards and backs allowed us to see out the match with the slimmest of margins. 

Pool: Shelford 30 Oakham 0

Tries scored by Henry Breeze x 2, Tom French, Angus Thomson, Jamie Johnson, Harry Simpson.

By game two the boys had remembered how to pass and support and against a handy looking side we cruised through. A great all-round performance by the whole team, with fronts and backs ripping, tackling and spreading the ball well.

Pool: Shelford v Stamford 0-0

The teams appeared well matched and as a result great rugby by both sides lead to a hard fought draw. Man for man we had them covered and possibly outplayed for most of the match, but a draw was a fair result at the end.

Shield Semi Final: Shelford 10Peterborough 5

Tries by Henry Breeze and Harry SimpsonPeterborough were a strong unit with some quick elusive backs that had some excellent breaks - one that resulted in a try as we all watched him run by - tackling is king. This woke our boys up and everyone seemed to spring into action - Luke Burnham was driving boys back in lose play; Josh Whitmore and Will Stepney stole a number of balls in the ruck and the forwards were excellent closing down any ball in both line out and set scrums. We also gave few penalties away - worth noting I cannot remember us being penalised for a hand off - you all ran most of the time with the ball in both hands and passed.

Shield Final: Shelford 10 Spalding 0

Tries scored Harry Simpson x 2.Spalding’s forwards were strong and mobile as were their backs, we were a little worried until in the distance we all could hear the roar - was it an F16  - no it was Steve once again driving the boys forward. By this game, alignment amongst the backs was superb this proved decisive because Spalding had strong running backs with no space to run in.  Our boys really gave their all and played as a united team which resulted in a FANTASTIC WIN! Despite losing players through injury we had have excellent replacements lined up who played their hearts out. The second half saw Shelford superior grit and determination (and much higher decibel count!!) exhaust and frustrate the opposition.   

Under 9’s – Peterborough Festival

Under 8’s - Peterborough Mini Rugby Festival

Shelford u8’s had a superb day on Sunday. With almost the whole squad there, everyone played their part as we turned out some of our best rugby to date. All the new players have improved so much that we now have a very strong squad.

Pool Match 1: Shelford 15 v Stamford 15

A fantastic come back after being 15-0 down, saw Shelford get off a strong start with this well earned draw. Stamford were a very good side who moved the ball around well and gave us plenty to think about.

 Pool Match 2: Shelford 35 v Oundle 10

A display of fearless tagging saw Shelford restrict Oundle to only two tries whilst running in seven of their own. A top class performance from the players who showed some outstanding running ability and a defence that was second to none.

Pool Match 3: Shelford 30 v Oakham 25

A tight match with end to end action. Shelford manage to hold their nerve and come away with a well deserve victory. Good tagging and some brilliant tries.

Shelford Pool Winners: Semi Final: Shelford 25 v Spalding 30

With Shelford making sure everyone got to play the large number of changes was always going to make things tough. The players however put in a fabulous performance against a very good Spalding side and almost pulled off the victory. Unfortunately we just fell short but everyone can be very proud of the effort they put in. 

Under 7’s - Peterborough Festival

Pool games:

Shelford 30 Oundle 0

Shelford 15 Spalding 10

Shelford 15 Ampthill 25

Semi Final:Shelford 10 Stamford 25

Shelford opened the group stage of the Peterborough Festival with a convincing 30-0 win over Oundle with tries from Joshua Speechley (4), Harry Punshon and George Shannon.  The second group match was against a much stronger Spalding team but Shelford played extremely well running out winners 15-0, with tries from Joshua Speechley (2) and Harry Punshon.  In the final group match Shelford pushed a well organised Ampthill team close but finally lost 25-15, with all the points scored by Harry Punshon.  With two wins from three matches Shelford progressed to the knock out stages of the main competition but in the semi-final they met the eventual winners.  In an exciting match Shelford kept the scores level until near the end of the game when Stamford ran in three late tries.  The final score was a 25-10 win to Stamford, with the Shelford tries coming from Harry Punshon and Brian O’Shea.  The entire squad played well and should take great heart from their first experience of festival rugby.  It was difficult to choose the players of the day but for their 12 tries this week’s trophies went to Harry Punshon and Joshua Speechley.