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Under 15's

Ipswich 36 Shelford 8

With 8 boys away on County duty it was going to be a tough one for the boys against a well drilled Ipswich team. However, Shelford looked to cause an upset as despite going a try down in the first five minutes they came back strongly. Ipswich infringed at the ruck from the restart and James Gibson slotted home the resultant penalty from 25 metres out. Shelford then pressed and probed the Ipswich defense and were awarded a scrum 15metres in from the left hand touchline. The scrum was solid and No.8 Matthew Bauld picked up and powered his way over the line to give Shelford a 8-5 lead. Alex Bushell almost scored a spectacular try as he raced from his own 22 down the left wing, chipped the ball over the full back, regained the ball but was bundled into touch just short of the line. Ipswich then came back strongly and played some quality rugby running in 3 unanswered tries to make it 24-8 at halftime. The second half was never going to be easy as the weather turned nasty and facing into driving rain the Shelford team defended heroically at times. As parts of the pitch turned into a mud bath there were numerous stoppages for knock on’s. The forwards kept warm in the huddle of the scrum  whilst the backs slowly froze. Ipswich scored two more tries to make the result 36-8 but it was a brave performance by the Shelford team with many players stepping up to play their part.

Under 11’s

Ipswich 10 – 25 Shelford

Try Scorer: Tom Cropper x 2, Henry Glydon, Eric Bell and Ben FriskShelford beat Ipswich 5 tries to 2 this morning. Early in the game we were awarded penalty 8 metres out, Henry Glydon was quickest to respond and taking it quickly made it over the try line to score our first try. Ipswich pressure paid off 5 minutes later with a try. Our second came from Erik Bell, after forwards pressure the ball came out to Eric who scored in the corner. Our third and fourth tries came in quick succession from Tom Cropper, who made long winding runs and score in the corners. Ipswich pulled another try back. And our final try came from Man of the Match Ben Frisk who was rewarded for all his efforts by breaking through the Ipswich defence. A good performance from all the boys. 

Under 10’s

Game 1 -  Ipswich B 30 Shelford Sharks 15

Tries :- Daniel Hoole 1; Will Stepney 1; Josh Whitmore 1

Upfront Daniel Hoole scored an excellent breakaway solo try and linking with Harvey Redfern they played some of their best rugby to hold back some very large and aggressive Ipswich forwards.  Alistair Graham equally scrapped it out on the ground and in the line outs to disrupt Ipswich attack. Despite going down 4 tries to 1 in the first half they were starting to gain ground. The second half ambition helped our forwards win their own ball in the scrum. All players decided to tackle and break out with the ball that resulted in two further tries through the deceptive pace of Will Stepney and Josh Whitmore cutting through close to the line.  

Game 2 - Ipswich A 0 : Shelford Tigers 10

Tries :- Sam Hurd 1; Joe Thomson 1

Ipswich were demolished in set piece scrums which surprised them just as much as it did us !. Close support at the ruck enabled Joe Thompson to be driven over the line for an excellent try. Sam Hurd's try came from some good driving forward play with the ball in hand with Sam finally being deposited over the line for a great try - under a mass of Ipswich players. Today was a real team effort and the first time this season that Ipswich A team has been beaten outside of a competition final, so well done to the boys.

Game 3 - Ipswich B 10 Shelford Sharks 15

Tries :- Jamie Johnson 1; Angus Thompson 1; Josh Whitmore 1

Lessons were learnt from the first game and our forwards were not to be dominated. The defence led by excellent tackling by Jamie Johnson and Julian Renwick halted most of their break outs. Jamie Johnson showed yet again his expansive running by clearing most of the pitch to score in the corner. Josh Whitmore equally grows with a well worked try driven over the line from a maul. Angus Thompson covering for Will Stepney scored an excellent try from close quarters.

Game 4 - Ipswich A 5 Shelford Tigers 10

Tries :- Sam Hurd 1; Findlay Thompson 1

Forward intensity, especially at the scrum, prevented Ipswich from settling into their normal game. Combine this with our back line closing out their backs and holding position resulted in our game flowing and theirs being stopped. The linking between forwards and backs was outstanding with an excellent pass from Henry to Angus and out to Findlay Thompson down the blind side to open up the try count. Our tackling, defensive line and interplay in the backs was great with Harry Simpson and Tom French opening up the field to help Sam Hurd break free down the right touch line for an excellent long range try to close the game out. As their Ref said at the end ' Shelford have an excellent team ". Well done to the boys. 

Under 8’s

Shelford 35 Ipswich 35

Shelford 40 Ipswich 30

Shelford 20 Ipswich 20

Shelford 45 Ipswich 25

Shelford 20 Ipswich 25

Shelford 30 Ipswich 20

Game 1: Shelford 20 Ipswich 35

Game 2: Shelford 35 Ipswich 40

Game 3: Shelford 30 Ipswich 40

Three matches and three fine performances by the Shelford U7s but strong Ipswich teams came out on top in each of the three encounters. In the first match it took Shelford a little while to get into the game but they came back strongly after the break only going down 20-35, with tries from Hugh Tomkys (2), Brian O’Shea and Joe Davies. In the second match Shelford started strongly but eventually lost a close encounter by a single try, going down 35-40.  An outstanding performance from Harry Punshon culminated in 6 tries with the other try coming from Edgar Watson. In the final match Shelford again played well but tired legs eventually took their toll in another close game and Shelford went down 30-40, with tries from Tomkys (2), Punshon (2), Nicholas Quinton and Henry Sperring. There were some fine performances throughout the squad but the player of the match awards went to Ben Hancock and Toby Owers for their considerable efforts in defence.