Colts Colchester 26 - 10 Shelford

It was a poor start to the game for Shelford, who, after applying some early pressure allowed Ben Seymour to slot a 3 pointer. Then they fell apart to allow Colchester 3 easy and simple tries mid way though the half, 2 of which Colchester converted. For the rest of the half some stern defending kept Colchester at bay and with some relief the half time whistle sounded. At the start of the second half, Shelford were a different team and really took the game to Colchester . Then a moment of fine individual play saw Toby Mepham break and score from 40 yards under the posts which Seymour converted. Then it was all Shelford pushing Colchester deeper and deeper. Then Seymour scored in the corner for it to be disallowed for "not grounding" the ball. This seemed to give Colchester hope and a deep kick into Shelford 22 was charged down as they tried to clear to touch and it was an easy score for under the post for Colchester . Then Shelford became their own worse enemies and failed to finish off several good moves in part due to Colchester ’s good defence.   

Under 16's Shelford 63 Ipswich 0

A dominant Shelford pack paved the way for clean ball and an emphatic 63-0 win over Ipswich . Shelford started well with a well worked move off a steady scrum giving Ian Morrison the chance to score within the first five minutes. Again, from the back of a strong scrum, Helford’s backs looked to score. This time Pearce Staples ran through the defence to touch down in the corner. The next try came from Cameron Fay as he broke through five tackles to reach the line. Ben Wierny adds the two points. Again Shelford dominate from the restart. After good runs from forwards, the ball gets out to Ryan Kenny to score in the corner. Quick ball from a ruck leaves 5 on 2 and Fay in for his second. Mistakes begin to creep in the Shelford team as they drop the ball several times on the Ipswich line. However, a scrum won against the head gives Morrison his second score of the match. 32-0 at half time. Second half picked up where the first finished with Shelford powering forwards. A powerful run from Staples and Ben Meggitt left George Newnham giving Shelford their 7^th try. Wierny converted. Turn over ball for Shelford in Ipswich half gives Staples the opportunity to set up Meggitt for his first. Pressure is key again for Shelford as they take the ball from Ipswich and pass down the line to Jonathon Swain to pick up another 5 points. Once again, Shelford turn over Ipswich scrum on the 5 meter line to leave Rob Morris running through to score. Conversion by Wierny. Final score of the game comes from Ben Meggitt as he gets through the tired Ipswich defence. Wierny converts.  
                               

Under 15’s Romford 7 Shelford 7

Romford expected to play the game to their way but Shelford had other ideas. Romford attacked for the full first half and Shelford defended to the hilt no ball was allowed to slip through, in the second half Shelford came out blazing and  they kept the pressure on for the next 30 minutes No score to either side by half time and then only one try and conversion a piece . Shelford’s try scorer was Benjy Ruthern and expertly converted by Ben Kelk .The 7-7 draw was a true reflection to the spirit in which the Shelford team played even though 9 regular players down due to injury and school rugby tours. 

Under 11’s Stamford 15 Shelford 17

U 11 Premiers came away winners with 17 points to 5.  Shelford has a fiery and feisty rugby match which was a real introduction to competitive rugby at U 11.  The backs and the forwards equipped themselves very well, the forwards did some fantastic rucking and mauling whilst the backs displayed some excellent passing and running rugby.  Shelford tries were scored by Connor Hein-Jones and Connor Sullivan (2).  Sullivan also adding a conversion, in this the first season of place kicking.U11 A’s had a great start to the season, playing together as a team for the first time, playing against a strong and physical home team.  The result was 10 – 0 to Stamford, however the U11 A’s played some magnificent rugby and the pack held their own on the park against a much stronger and experienced pack.  The back line provided admirable support.   

Under 10’s

Game 1: Stamford 55 - 5 Shelford Game 2 : Stamford 10 - 35 Shelford 

Scorers on the day:

Liam Thomas= 4 tries Ollie Barnes= 2 tries Simon Tyte= 1 try Reuben Patrick= 1 try   

Under 9’s Stamford 90 Shelford 90

Shelford Under 9’s first game of contact rugby was played away at Stamford . It was good introduction to the contact game where we played 6 games winning 3, a draw and 2 losses. We had enough players to field 2 teams of 8 and the first couple of games for each team were mixed to give everyone a good run out. Shelford Peacocks won their first game 30 – 15 with our tries coming from Tom Whitehead running over 3, Stan Clarke and Tom Short scoring a try a piece. Tom Short’s try came after a great long field pass from Tom Whitehead. Shelford Tigers first game finished 25 – 5 to Stamford with our try scored by Xan Hill on his debut for the club, I’m sure this will be the first of many. In the second games of the morning Shelford Peacocks had a much closer game which finished 15 -15 with all our tries coming from Tom Whitehead who had another great game. Shelford Tigers won their second game 20 – 10 with our tries coming from Tom Cropper 2, Kieran Hatter 1 and Tom Parkes 1.In the last game of the morning the boys were split into Shelford and Stamford I & II’s. Shelford I won 15 – 5 against Stamford A who played 9 players versus our 8, an excellent team performance with our tries coming from Stan Clarke after a good run through the Stamford defence, Tom Cropper and Garret Shannon sharing the second try following a big push over the line and our last try coming from Man of Match Tom Whitehead who cleverly wrong footed the opposition. Tom took the ball from the scrum instead of passing along the line which Stamford had expected, Tom spotted the gap in their line and ran the full length of the pitch over the try line to seal the victory. Shelford II’s game finished 20 – 5 to Stamford with our try coming from Tom Short who had played well all morning.   

Under 8's Shelford under 8 A 7 : Stamford A 9 Game 1 & 3 combined.

Tries Harry Simpson 2; Luke Burnham 2; Jamie 2; Hayden McKenzie 1. The tag count was led by Daniel with 12 and Angus with 10 an excellent effort that would be great to see replicated across the squad  

Shelford under 8 B 3 : Stamford B 3 Game 2

Tries Aiden 1; Harvey 1; Josh Butler 1. The tag count was led by Dan with 4 and Aiden with 3The developing players were very supportive of each other and ran out with an excellent draw against a Stamford team that had a good number of their senior squad in the side. A great result and sound play from all of them.  The player of the day goes to Aiden who played with considerable spirit for the developing players and bravely played for the senior team when Jamie left the pitch injured. 

Shelford under 7's  vs. Stamford

Won by 3 games to 2

A fantastic effort by all the players who turned up on Sunday. Up against it from the start the 10 strong Shelford team battled away in five consecutive games against a 20 plus Stamford squad. Everyone should be very proud of themselves as they adapted quickly to the rules and put in every ounce of effort. Tries and tags for everyone involved meant that all five games were kept close. So with an over all score of 3 games to 2 Shelford under 7’s ‘never gave up’ and came out worthy winners. So a big thank you & well done to; Tait, Tait, Finn, Sam, EJ, Rhylea, James, Tom, Alex, Keiran and all the parents who made the trip.