(Please check back as reports will be added here as we receive them from team managers) 

COLTS 69 WELWYN 0

One sided matches often create greedy and individual play, and it is true to say that there were moments of white line fever. Not to mention the occasional misguided belief by the numerous front row players ( 7 in this week’s squad )  that they were capable of being a half back. However, for most of this game, Shelford demonstrated a team effort which was a delight to watch if you were a Shelford supporter.  To see the pack actually taking the training drill onto the pitch & drive forward with body angles in the correct position & the ball secured at the back of the maul was, for me anyway, almost a vision of beauty. The pack has been dominant in the majority of their games this season, but this week they were awesome. To see your winger cut back in to give his outside centre the option of keeping the ball alive with an inside pass & produce a try was, again speaking personally, almost ecstasy. The back line has suffered criticism in recent weeks, this week they threw the ball wide & kept it alive. Yes there were mistakes & probably 2 or 3 missed tries, but generally it was a sound & exciting performance.  Dave Golding opened the scoring after barely 2 minutes & Tom Queripel scored on the stroke of half time. In the interim, there were tries by Dan Reilly (2), Rory Stone & Cameron Fay. These, together with four conversions by Ben Wierny made the half time score 38-0. The second half was a repeat of the first half with Max Moncrieff opening the scoring on his debut, a further try by Tom Queripel, & a hat trick of tries for William Fell on his debut. The number of successful conversions by Ben Wierny is in dispute & whereas I recorded 4, the referee only recorded 3. I feel we must abide by the referee’s decision & declare the final result 69 – 0. While we traditionally honour the try scorers it is only right & proper that Cameron Fay & Tom Spry are recognised for offloading to set up tries. More outstanding was the timing of the inside ball by George Sewell to Dan Reilly who ran a magnificent line for one of his tries. All in all a satisfactory day!

Under 16’s

Shelford 36 Upper Clapton 14

An outstanding first half performance by Shelford put the result beyond doubt at half-time as Shelford scored 36 unanswered points. Shelford took a while to impose themselves on their competitive opponents, but once they were able to boss the breakdown area, quick ball away to the backs running from depth saw us score some quality tries during this first period. Shelford through Lewis Cracknell kicked for good field position and then disrupted the Clapton lineout for us to get the put-in at the 5 metre scrum. A burst from James Clare (at inside centre) saw his pace take him clear of the Clapton defence to make the opening score, converted by Cracknell for a 7-0 lead. Shelford’s confidence started to grow with ‘ball-in-hand’ as they continually moved the ball away quickly from contact through good support play by the forwards and great lines of running by the backs. This Shelford ‘purple patch’ continued for the rest of the half and yielded tries for Sam Perry, another for James Clare, Nick Webb, Dan Burling, and a great finish by Lewis Green as he twisted in the tackle going over the try line. Cracknell converted two more for a 36-0 half-time lead. Shelford’s first half performance played with great rhythm and pace was arguably the best they have played so far this season. The second half however was a different affair as the Shelford squad was rotated with a number of players coming on in unfamiliar positions. Upper Clapton also upped their game to deservedly ‘win’ the second half, as Shelford struggled at the lineout and were also coming off second best at the breakdown. Shelford were a little ponderous in defence and failed to deal with a Clapton kick ahead as they re-gathered the ball to score under the posts which was converted, 36-7. A couple of missed tackles and a Shelford defence that was out of position saw Upper Clapton score again, which was also converted, 36-14. Shelford finished the game the stronger, but failed to add to their first half tally as good Clapton defence kept us at bay in what was quite literally a game of two halves. 

Under 15’s

Huntingdon 15 Shelford 20

Shelford U15s got back to their winning ways with a laboured away victory against an improved Huntingdon side on Sunday 15th November. Huntingdon were out to prove that they were a better team than the one demolished by Shelford 56-0 at the end of last season, and they started strongest taking advantage of some slack Shelford tackling to score an early try. Shelford, however, soon levelled the score at 5-5 when George Knowles linked up with his back row, and found space on the left wing to outpace the defence for a well taken try. Shelford were unable to find the consistency needed to take control of the game with too many unforced errors and there were no further scores in the first half. In the second half Shelford's lack of cohesion was not helped by team numerous substitutions as with the wind behind they attempted to unlock the Huntingdon defence. Will Jones finally broke the deadlock as he powered over for a try to put Shelford in the lead 5-10. Alistair Kingdon then followed up his own long kick downfield to put pressure on the Huntingdon full-back resulting in a try for Jack Owen as he drove over from close range giving Shelford a 10 point cushion at 5-15. Huntingdon fought back and were rewarded with a try to take the score to 10-15, before Frank Omandlewis used his speed to stretch Shelford's lead again to 10-20. Huntingdon managed another try to set up a nervous last few minutes, but Shelford hung on to win the match 15-20.

Under 14’s

Huntingdon 7 Shelford 21

The final score flattered Shelford in an extremely tight contest at Huntingdon racecourse. The hosts gave our boys a lesson in desire, commitment and tackling and were unlucky not to level the scores in a nailbiting second half. Winger James Tilbury's late try gave the score a final gloss as he outpaced a tiring Stags defence close to the final whistle. James Knoop's excellent conversion of the third Shelford try was virtually the last kick of the match. Earlier, there had been nothing to worry about as Shelford scored from their first two attacks. Flowing passing led to winger Matt McCann being tackled just short of the line. From the ensuing ruck prop Callum Pratt made a scintillating one yard run to score. James Knoop kicked the touchline conversion superbly. Then almost immediately, quick recycled ball and slick passing created another overlap for McCann to score in the corner. Another Knoop conversion made the score 14-0 after 5 minutes. Shelford had the better of the rest of the first half but a lack of precision meant that no further points were scored. Stags came out with renewed belief for the second half. The Huntingdon onslaught knocked Shelford back on their heels. Worryingly there were a few missed tackles and a lack of defensive organisation as Huntingdon got their big ball carriers on the ball. Eventually the pressure told and we conceded yet another try to a centre running straight and aggressively. At 14-7 the game was anyone's but luckily for Shelford the one coherent move they put together in the second half put Tilbury in for a score. Final score 21-7 to Shelford, and still unbeaten this season - but full credit to Stags for pushing Shelford all the way. 

Under 12's

Huntingdon 5 - 35 Shelford
 
Scorers: Ollie Barnes =  3 tries, Edward Doust = 2 tries, Michael Pepper = 5 conversions

Under 11’s

Huntingdon Stags 14 Shelford 21

Try Scorer: Tom Whitehead x 2 & Miles BrownConversion: Tom Whitehead, Tom Cropper and Freddie RobartsShelford U11’s beat Huntingdon in a close game today. Shelford first try came from a Stags penalty, the ball kicked down field and caught well by Tom Whitehead. Tom took the ball at speed and charged through the Stags defensive line to score our first of the morning. Tom calmly stepped up to make the conversion. The Stags got a try back. Our second try came after good forward pressure, we were 5 metres from the try line, when the ball came out to Miles Brown who scored in the corner. Tom Cropper made the conversion. Our third try came from Tom Whitehead, we won a line out and the ball passed out to Tom who again broke through the Stags defence to make it over in the corner. Freddie Robarts made the conversion. The Stags scored a try near the end. Overall it was a very good performance by all the boys and the policy of mixing up the teams with boys of different abilities is lifting everyone’s game. 

Under 10’s

Shelford Tigers 40 Huntingdon 0

Tries : Henry Breeze 1; Joe Thompson 1; Jamie Coates 2; Harry Simpson 2; Sam Hurd 1; Jamie Johnson 1

After a tough week the boys bounced back to put on their best display of the year as a team effort. We saw great ball distribution - Jamie Coates moved the ball well from the base of the scrum and got the backs into play, his rugby experience has improved the speed of off load and timing of when to cut through defence, this resulted in his scoring of two well worked tries one from set piece play and another from lose ball. Harry Simpson had some excellent darting runs cutting through defensive positions before distributing the ball, his tackle count today was equally impressive dropping some very large forwards in the process. In between all of this endeavour Harry made his way over the line for two well worked tries. The centre combination of Tom French and Sam Hurd worked well as they both linked  and passed with intelligence, their defensive play also closed down the opportunities for Huntingdon to release ball down their line. It was through good passing and timing that Sam Hurd scored a try down the left channel. Julian Renwick, Will Stepney and Jamie Johnson had great games down either wing, all stepping in off the wing when required and doing some excellent defence work. It was in the second half that Jamie Johnson ran half the length of the pitch to score a well worked solo try. A special mention for the forwards Henry Breeze; Josh Butler; Joe Thomson and Nicholas Budenberg worked extremely hard to win their own and opposition scrums; line outs and rucked ball. It was great to see the forwards working together and for each. Today they turned over little ball as they charged through the defence of Huntingdon. Josh Butler was much busier in defence this week and took a few big hits for the team when closing down a number of Huntingdon attacks. Henry Breeze scored through the middle and was unlucky to have a second denied, his game continues to develop. Joe Thomson was busy in both halves showing excellent ball skills and driving runs, this too ended with a well deserved try for him. Nicholas continues to step up his game after a few weeks away, with excellent ripping of the ball and support play.

Shelford Sharks 60 Huntingdon 5

Tries : Daniel Hoole 1; Harvey Redfern 2; Angus Thompson 3; Findlay Thompson 5 !

For two successive weeks, these boys have had to wait at least 40 minutes for their turn to play .............. and how they played today, a complete team effort with forwards and backs linking to block out anything that a brave Huntingdon side had to offer. First thing we noticed was the forwards supporting each other with young Alistair hooking the ball for all he was worth and supporting Harvey Redfern and Daniel Hoole whose games have gone up a notch again from the previous weeks excellent play. Harvey continues to surprise, with excellent power play and determination that resulted in two excellent tries in both halves of the game. Daniel continues with his great rucking game that resulted in one well worked try and a second that failed - I fear due to some show boating over the line !. The line out work continues to improve with Alistair landing some nice throws above the heads of our forwards that enabled Nicholas to have a blistering run or two down field. The backs played for each other, Angus brought his experience and skill to get some early breaks through Huntingdon defence, before off loading to backs who were more often than not in the right position. Angus scored three well worked tries, two in the first half and one in the second. The sensation of the day was young Findlay Thompson at fly half, his cover defence was unrivalled in either game and his tackling technique was superb, dropping players twice his size with relative ease, combine this with an awareness for the try line and significant pace and it was little wonder that Huntingdon could not stop him dancing through to score 5 excellently worked tries. Josh Whitmore continues to show excellent acceleration and useful defence ,in support of Conor Flint, Oscar Carter and Mathew Watson who are all starting to get into this complex game. Julian Renwick scored an excellent try in the second half of this game down the left flank of the scrum. Jamie Johnson also had a run in the second half and helped with the defence when a number of boys were clearly exhausted. 

Under 9’s

Shelford won two out of three matches against Huntingdon. After the shock of losing the first match 25-10, the Shelford team rallied with strong offensive play, winning 15-0 and 20-0. Tries from Bart Lowdham (2), Edward Crane (2), Jack Knight, Hayden McKenzie, Michael Griffiths and Arthur Connolly. 

Under 7’s

Shelford 105 Huntingdon 65

Three matches and three good wins for the U7s against Huntingdon. The first match was a high scoring affair with the two teams sharing 20 tries but Shelford came out on top with a 55-45 win.  Joshua Speechley continued his good form scoring 8 of Shelford’s tries with the remaining touch downs coming from Harry Punshon (2) and Ollie French. A less experienced Shelford team took the pitch for the second match but showed how quickly they are learning the game with a strong 25-5 win.  The try scorers were Billy Manners (2), Hugh Tomkys (2) and Charlie Hurd. In the final match a mixed Shelford team played out a much closer game but again came out on top with a 25-15 win, with tries from Punshon (2), Joshua Barrett, Speechley and Tomkys. With an excellent performance, including 3 tries and many tags, Hugh Tomkys was named player of the match.