Under 17's - National Plate

Shelford 5 Harrow 13

Shelford blew a good opportunity to go further in the National Plate Competition, after a dominant first half performance yielded only a 5-0 half-time lead against a well organised Harrow side who grew in confidence as the game wore on. Good possession early on by Shelford was squandered as they tried to go too wide off first phase ball as their attempts to open the scoring floundered against a well organised Harrow defence. The Shelford scrum was looking solid early on as they set a good platform for the backs, but again a failure set up the set structure lead to a little indecision in midfield at times as the phases started to breakdown time and again.

The odd scrap of Harrow ball in the first half was either cleared by the mighty boot of the Harrow 10, or went through the quick Harrow backs as they gave notice of their danger to come in the second period. Shelford missed a penalty opportunity to go ahead, but quickly followed this with what looked like a perfectly good try from a great catch & drive at the lineout by Bob Thomas-Mathieson, but unfortunately, the referee was unsighted and unable to give the score. However, from the resulting attacking scrum a fine burst from centre James Clare finally broke the deadlock for a 5-0 lead to Shelford. Unfortunately for Clare and Shelford, he sustained an ankle injury in the process of scoring and his absence meant Shelford lacked the 'punch' required in midfield and was another reason for Shelford's structure suffering later in the game. A 5-0 half-time lead was not enough considering how much possession Shelford had in the first period.

The second half started with the immediate intent thrown down by Harrow to run the ball at every opportunity, as their quality in the back line started to show. Shelford's tackling was good, but occasionally the defence wasn't 'marking off' as well as they possibly could and ultimately this is where Harrow's equalising score came from as they went around the outside of the Shelford defence, 5-5. Another missed penalty attempt by Shelford failed to gain the lead, and with a draw sending the away team through Shelford were getting uptight in their play as a number of errors started to creep in as the balance of the game tipped towards Harrow.

A promising attack by Shelford broke down and a swift counter attack by Harrow was launched with some fantastic off-loads and support play which saw the best passage of play of the whole game. This was an unfortunate reminder of how Shelford should have played, and how they have played for most of the season, but from this promising position Harrow took the lead with a well struck dropped-goal at 8-5 with three minutes remaining. With Harrow now in the ascendancy, they attacked again with confidence and a well executed kick through resulted in an easy run-in for their replacement winger to put the game beyond doubt at 13-5 with a minute on the clock.

First half dominance without putting the points on the board and therefore not putting daylight between ourselves and our opponents has been a running theme this season against quality opponents (pool game v North Walsham and EC Cup final against Colchester immediately spring to mind), and this failing to be more patient in building the phases against better organised defences has ended up costing us dear. Harrow's stern defence in the first period, allied to them taking their opportunities when they arose in the second period eventually saw them go through as worthy winners 13-5.

Squad: Sam Porter (Captain), Nathan Taylor, Lachlan Finlayson, Michael Schumann-Pratt, Calum Miller, Cormac Starling, Dan Smith, Bob Thomas-Mathieson, Ben Foster, Louis Rawlings, Connor Denton, Ben Pirzad, George Teeboon, Alex Long, Lewis Cracknell, Ross Ferguson, Alex Flynn, James Clare, Toby Poirier, Josh Till, Lewis Green, Dan Burling.

Under 16's

Huntingdon 15 Shelford 12

Following their demolition of Shelford earlier in the season a gambling man at Huntingdon racecourse on Sunday would not have put any of his hard earned on Shelford winning but in a tousy old scrap Shelford were perhaps a tad unfortunate to go down to a 15-12 defeat.

Unlike last week at Ely Shelford were out the blocks quickly and following sustained early pressure took the lead in the 7th minute.A tap penalty  taken quickly near to the line by James Impey saw him power his way over the line for the opening score.James Gibson added the conversion to make the score 7-0. On the 20th minute following a Huntingdon attack Shelford centre Charlie Kelly sped clear up the left wing only to be poleaxed by a dreadful high tackle by a Huntingdon player.Astonishingly there was not even a sin bin for the offending player and unfortuanately Charlie was flat on his back for 5 minutes before getting up and he took no further part in the proceedings.

Huntingdon hit back on the 30th minute when following a good forward drive the ball was moved swiftly down their back line to their try machine winger Barney West who scored in the corner.The conversion was missed to make the score 7-5 to Shelford.Another good break by the Huntingdon right winger Mark Street just on half time led to a couple of forward drives by their pack and again the ball was zipped down the line to that man West again and he scored underneath the posts.Fortunately the conversion was missed to make the score 10-7 to Huntingdon at half time.

Early Huntingdon pressure in the second half was repelled by Shelford and they spent the next 10 minutes on the offensive without really looking like penetrating a stout Huntingdon rearguard.But the home side gradually made their way up field and in the 18th minute scored a third try when a line out near the Shelford line found its way to the tail of the line out and the Huntingdon flanker drove over despite the attention of two Shelford defenders.The conversion was again missed to make the score 15-7 to Huntingdon.

The rest of the game saw Shelford camped in the Huntingdon half and despite some good breaks by backs Oz Carney and Ally Dunnett and some stirring individual drives by forwards Calum Ross and Jacob Milner in particular no breakthrough was forthcoming until the last minute when a quick tap penalty near the line was taken by Jack Owen and he barged his way over the line to make the score 15-12 .The conversion was missed to make the final score 15-12 to Huntingdon.

All in all a very frustrating defeat for Shelford with part of the problem being that when the aforementioned individual breaks were made the cavalry was sometimes a bit late to arrive and by that time the Huntingdon defence had smothered the danger and sometimes had ripped the ball from the isolated Shelford player. Shelford will play worse than this and win however and can be satisfied with their efforts today.

Under 12's

Shelford 22 Huntingdon 29
On a bright Sunday morning Shelford played Huntingdon on a full pitch 15 aside game. Shelford kicked off then drove forward to score the first try of the day after 10 minutes in the corner scored by Miles Brown. Then a strong Huntingdon turned over a ruck to get the second try after 13 minutes.Then Huntingdon scored again and converted.  Shelford KO then kicked back by Huntingdon caught  by Kieran Hatter who  ran it back to the Huntingdon 22. This brought a penalty to Shelford which Finn Karsten kicked to touch. From the line out Finn scored in the corner. Then Huntingdon scored again but missed the conversion. Louis Neal drove over the line but this was held up. Shelford won the 5m scrum with Louis Neal Scoring in the corner. Huntingdon then scored again and converted the kick. With some great tackling from Ryan Deamer and Miles Brown Shelford played some great backs play ending with Miles Brown going over for his second of the day with Henry Hackett kicking the conversion. Huntingdon scored their winning try in the last 5 minutes of play.
 
 
Shelford try scorers:-Miles Brown 2, Louis Neal, Finn Karsten ; Conversions: Henry Hackett 

Under 11's

Aggregate Score: Shelford 63 Huntingdon 33

Yet another solid performance from the squad as ever we fielded in excess of 20 players as did Huntingdon. The overall performance was excellent with some outstanding forward and support play from the backs. However where we lost focus Huntingdon punished us and improved considerably on their play from the previous week. The amassed score fell short of last week but was still excellent.
 
Quarter 1 Shelford 21 Huntingdon 0 (Tries:Henry Breeze 2; Joe Thompson)
 
Probably the fastest start by our forwards, excellent driving from the whistle; picking up and rucking. Inevitably strong forward play with Nicholas Budenberg driving with solid determination, this  encouraged the backs who tackled and supported with great enthusiasm. Jamie Coates moved the ball rapidly from the scum and to see the ball moving completely down the line from scrum half out to Ben on the wing was a joy to see. Will Stepney was unfortunate not to score from an interception. Henry Breeze fought his way through from a ruck to close out a try. This was followed in similar fashion a little later with another solo effort from the side of the scrum. Before the end of the Q Joe broke free to run from the half way line to score. Some excellent cover tackling by both Sam Hurd and Tom French kept Huntingdon pegged back. Josh W & Luke Burnham also enjoyed some runs in the opposition half.
 
Quarter 2 Shelford 0 Huntingdon 12

We started with a dropped catch from the restart that resulted in our boys being driven back with Huntingdon all over them and our line. Inevitably Huntingdon scored and our heads dropped a little. Their second try came when our cohesion fell apart. Many players defended solidly (Daniel, Angus and Harry) but back up and support is very important when holding back a tide of solid players. Fin took a bad stamping on the hand  that did not help his normally excellent cover defence. Hayden and Theo enjoyed a few solo runs that petered out when engulfed by Huntingdon forwards. Our boys nevertheless did exceptionally well to prevent any further tries and were unlucky not to break through for one themselves when camped on Huntingdons line.
 
 
Quarter 3 Shelford 42 Huntingdon 7  (Tries: Sam Hurd 2; Angus Thomson ; Will Stepney ; Thompson ; Luke Burnham)
 
What a great effort in this quarter. The forwards lifted their game after the break driving over the ball and creating space for Angus and others to break free. To see the backs  scoring proves we can move the ball out wide and recycle it. Sam broke free on two occasions to open up their backs and going through to score. Luke gathered an excellent pass to go over in the corner. Angus was caught up in much of the play and deserved his try produced from a solid run. Joe along with Henry and Archie worked hard to push Huntingdon back, it was from one of these breakdowns that we scored. This quarter illustrated what we can do when working together.
 
Quarter 4 Shelford 0 Huntingdon 14

In this quarter last week we scored  three tries by the same boys, unfortunately this was not to be repeated this week. Huntingdons 1st try was caused by sloppy catching and passing leaving the ball free for a soft try. Despite having a solid front platform with Henry; Josh ; Jamie J; Daniel and others playing sound rugby, small errors let Huntingdon drive through with one of their strong running centres working his way throughout the team to score. No clear reason why we tackle some weeks and not the next ! Nevertheless Harry, Angus,. Hayden and Theo had some solid runs but were never allowed to break completely free. Josh Whitmore and Carrick also had a good half playing at centre and full back. Huntingdon once again scored early tries and we spent the balance of the Q pushing them back.
 
Well done to all the boys for yet another great effort for  both themselves and the club.

Under 10’s

Huntingdon 25 Shelford 50

After our narrow home defeat at the hands of Huntingdon the previous weekend, Shelford were up for a good game and we had an excellent turn out of players despite the 45 minute drive to Huntingdon.

Match 1 Huntingdon 15 Shelford 10

In this opening match both sides played exciting rugby, and it was incredibly close with some good attack moves and solid defense on both sides. The good consistent rucking from Shelford was particularly nice to see. A series of good passes set up Michael for a try and he was unlucky not to have his second attempt at a try allowed. Then some further excellent passing led to a nippy run and a try from Nathan. A crucial tackle from Henry prevented a third try from Huntingdon and we were set to draw but unfortunately we lost the match in the final minutes following a penalty which allowed Huntingdon to score. Good play from all.

 Match 2 Huntingdon 0 Shelford 25

In this second match, Shelford decided to really go for it and the results were very impressive. Rucking was spot on as was the tackling. A wonderful first try from Barty was quickly followed by two more from Michael and a further 2 from Cameron. But this was a proper team effort with the team really starting to pass to each other and supporting each other moving forward.

Match 3 Huntingdon 10 Shelford 15

Huntingdon came out strongly in this match and we gave away a few penalties with some unfortunate high tackles – an area we need to work on. The team rallied though and we had the bulk of possession in the first half. Cameron made a fantastic try after some good solid rucking. Stijn then scored a lovely try after a great run, followed shortly by a try from Jack who ran it over the line out of the scrum.  Again our key to success was excellent team work and the team has made some real progress particularly in their rucking. 

Under 9's

Shelford 60 Huntingdon 30
 
Well done to all those who played on Sunday. Another three matches against Huntingdon with a  visible improvement  from last week. Again our defence and our passing were great but this week we saw the boys beginning to ruck with good effect. The kids are organising themselves well and looking to pass the ball before and out of the tackle to a supporting player. The our style of rugby is beginning to take shape help by brave defence and an ability to keep the ball alive
 
A great result (won two, lost one) with all three teams playing well. In our second match I felt the only reason we lost was that some of our passes just didn’t stick and therefore Huntingdon had most of the possession. Considering this the team put in the best tackling display of the morning, so well done Toby, Walter, Tommy F, James, Ben M, Diarmuid, George W,  Sam J and Aiden
 
This Sunday we are at Home to Newmarket. This is our last chance to play and train before the Wendons Tournament the on 27th March. We have entered two teams so will split into two equal squads and aim to get both to the final . Please can you let me know ASAP if you are able  to attend Wendons so I can organise the teams

Under 8's

Aggregate Score: Shelford 150 Huntingdon 100

Shelford Sharks 40 Huntingdon 30 (Tries:- William Gelling, Conor Caughtry, Joe Davies (2), Ollie French (2), Ben Hancock, Edgar Watson)

Shelford Saints 35 Huntingdon 30 (Tries: Harry Punshon, Joshua Speechley (2), Charlie Hurd (3), William Barnett)

Shelford ‘B’ 40 Huntingdon 20 (Tries: Toby Morrison (2), Gelling (2), Watson, Ben Colman, Arthur Waddington, Charlie Boyle)