Colts - EC Cup

Wymondham 10 Shelford 17

Shelford travelled to Wymondham for the final game of the group B Eastern Counties colts cup. Shelford started brightly with a clinical kick off catch which led to a series of kicking ping pong which dominated the early phases. Shelford led early with a well worked try from Ned Brown, Mepham narrowly missing the extras. Shelford continued with a vast number of unforced errors and gifted Wymondham two tries. With the line out and scrums not functioning at all well for Shelford, Wymondham's dominance at the set piece continued.

Early in the second half Shelford rallied with powerful forward play and a Harry Beasley try gave back the advantage to Shelford. Shelford were hit by captain Sam Trill being sent to the bin after killing the ball on Shelford's 5 metre line. Shelford kept pressing and turned the tide with intense forward play, Sachin Booysen falling over the line from close range to secure Shelford’s progression to the Eastern Counties Semi Finals. The try was converted by Lewis Cracknell to make the final score Shelford 17 Wymondham 10. 

Under 15’s

Shelford 49 Peterborough 27

In all the years of watching this team there has never been such a dramatic turnaround as was witnessed this weekend.

Peterborough were awesome in the first half. Their big powerful back row continually recycled drove the ball up the pitch and it was no surprise to anyone when their impressive no 8 picked up from a 5 m scrum for the first try. There was no let up in the Boro pace - Shelford couldn't get in the game.

Further tries came from the Peterborough centres from a clever kick ahead and a well worked passing move. 17-0 to Boro. Shelford finally worked an opening for centre Rew George to open their account. It seemed that the boys were back in the game, especially as another flowing passing move created an overlap for winger James Tilbury. Amazingly James was scragged by the desperate defence before crossing the line and from the resulting turnover Boro went the length of the pitch to score another try. What had seemed an inevitable 17-12 had turned into 22-5 and Shelford were on the ropes as the halftime whistle went.

Harsh words were spoken at half time - defence had been poor and attacking opportunities had been squandered. It was critical that Shelford scored first or the game would be over. Suddenly the Shelford  game plan clicked into place. Aggressive rucking and swift handling created an opening for fly half Toby Hackett to cross the line. The try had the combined impact of galvanising Shelford and completely destroying Peterborough's composure and discipline. A try in the corner by winger Rory Hutchinson plus a muscular burst by centre Stephen Douglas, combined with a Hutchinson conversion, brought the scores level. The spaces opened up out wide as Boro tired and this played into Shelfords hands as They finally remembered how to move the ball. Centre Ed Lowe crashed through a huge gap. Man of the match No 8 George Smith, who had almost singlehandedly resisted the Boro onslaught in the first half, returned the restart to put Shelford 32-22 ahead.

Scrum half Harry Hitchcock now got in on the act, scoring under the posts after a fly hack from  flanker Sam Collicott had rebounded back from the woodwork and then taking advantage of a quick 22 drop out to go the length of the pitch to score. A final try from Lowe made the game safe for Shelford. Peterborough were not finished yet and powerful driving gave them their fifth try. The final score was 49-27 to Shelford - the firm pitch and spring weather had given the grateful spectators 14 tries to savour and some excellent running rugby. Shelford were comfortable in the end but if Peterborough had been able to maintain their composure in the second half it could have been so different.

Under 14's

Shelford 45 Harlow 17

Herewith the report from the Shelford U14 ‘under scribe’ whom was drafted into duty whilst the ‘Master’ was in-absentia. One day Simon...one day...

“Fire is the test of gold; adversity of strong men.” (Seneca 8BC-65AD)

Sunday morning started off bright and sunny, a good day for rugby; as thoughts drifted away from the previous day’s activities at the Aviva Stadium. Here at last were our guys going to engage in our weekly dose of rugby. The day in fact saw the guys engaged in a feisty and fiery combat, in which players and ‘passionate’ followers played a role.

As the Shelford lads entered the cauldron of the Shelford Coliseum aka the 2nd team pitch, they became aware it was going to be a day to stand up and be counted. With a large contingent missing due to EC activity, the squad was mobilised to take their place on centre stage. The opponents for the day were from Harlow, they were a physically imposing side with a huge 2nd row that looked as if it wouldn’t be out of place in a senior fixture.

The guys realised like the Irish team the day before that the secret to success was to meet the challenge head-on and for each and every one of them to play their part. The forwards stepped up to the mark and played exceptionally well against a much larger and heavier pack. Shelford scrummaging saw them take the ball against the head on numerous occasions. The forwards adhered to the agreed game plan and held the Harlow forwards and released our backs to try and create havoc on a firm(some might say ‘concrete like) playing surface.With Max and Conor marshalling the troops ably led by Chad, the swift running backs were unleashed to create damage in the oppositions defence, despite feisty tackling from the Harlow team. When the final whistle blew Shelford ran out winners 45-17; this was indeed a game played by the team for the team, with all players playing their part.

Tries were scored by Connor Hein-Jones (3) and a try apiece for Ben Thomas; James Thomas: Callum Lees and Conor Sullivan. Conor slotted over 5 conversions.

A special mention should be made not only regarding the team spirit, but also of some significant cameo roles during the match. In the forwards Callum Brown, Callum Lees and (an ill) Chad Frost-Smith tackled and made valuable ground for the team. In the backs Freddy Finlayson who took numerous heavy tackles but refused to be intimidated; and, Jonny Durham who came on for a second time with 5 minutes to go and surprised all. In a tense moment he held his nerve under a high ball – he caught it and evaded the oncoming tacklers, passed it to Laurence Oxley who gave it to Connor Hein –Jones to run in the final converted passage of play.

“It matters not what you are thought to be, but what you are.” (Publius Syrus 42BC).

The Shelford players showed today what they are......A TEAM.

Ps You will all be glad to hear that ‘normal reporting’ will continue as our roving reporter is now back in-situ... for his benefit and knowledge clubhouse hospitality was magnificent and enjoyed by many of the seasoned followers of ‘that band of men’...aka Shelford U14’s.

The Underscribe...

Under 11’s

Aggregate score:- Shelford 14 Newmarket 21

What a great effort from our much depleted squad - with illness, we lost 5 players on Sunday morning, yet the boys were only beaten in the last minute of the last Quarter ! A titanic effort from two dedicated but fair teams. A big thank you to the front row ( Josh Butler; Archie & Harvey) who played all 4 Quarters without complaint and to Nicholas for stepping up to the plate when cover was required for front row injuries. Equally all credit to Sam Hurd for covering in all for quarters at fly half, without complaint.

Quarter 1 ( Shelford 0 : Newmarket 0 )

High impact from the whistle neither side  gave an inch. Tackling ( Tom & Sam) was furious. Solid driving from the forwards held up a very large Newmarket pack. Sniping runs from Angus supported by Tom. Hayden and great cover defence from Luke kept the Newmarket spearhead at bay. Max and Ben out wide helped  chaperon a number of wide runners into touch. Nicholas and Daniel faced up to some stern hits in the ruck but more than held their own. Sam Hurd was unlucky not to score from an excellent pick up from the base of the scrum.

Quarter 2 ( Shelford 0 : Newmarket 0 )

Tries : Nicholas Budenberg 1; Sam Hurd 1. Nicholas built on his excellent 1st Q with a classic driving forwards try breaking free close to the line and driving through for an excellent try. Jamie J got into action early with a great run up the pitch. Newmarket were quick in the loose and retaliated with some swift passing down the line. This was extinguished by an excellent tackle into touch by Carrick.  Josh Butler took a big hit for the team ! ........... from some marauding Newmarket forwards. Nevertheless, after a short interlude was fit to face the challenge again.  Following a penalty Sam Hurd made a quick lateral dash for the line to score an excellent try. Theo got involved having gathered an excellent lose ball and running most of the length of the pitch only to be bundled out in sight on the line ......... a great effort. Julian got involved with some solid tackles as Carrick .......... very close to our own line ! We lost a few balls with lose passing but generally played well in a very tough quarter. Aiden took a blow to the head but bravely fought on. Julian put in some sound defence alongside Sam. At this point in time Newmarket looked down and out ............ how wrong we were !

Quarter 3  ( Shelford 0 : Newmarket 14 )

Newmarket came out fighting in this quarter ............. not sure what was in their water bottles but it worked. Our back line spend much of their time driving fleet footed Newmarket backs off the ball with generally excellent skills. However Newmarket kept up the pressure and both their centres scored, one down the middle bisectingng our centres and 1 out wide rounding our cover defence.  Both tries could have been kept out with solid tackling, something we need to continue to drill. Once again our forwards did us proud, driving; rucking and getting their act together in the line out, with some excellent throwing in by Archie. Luke had to cope with a high kick and bravely gathered the ball and set off down the pitch. Tom was exhausted with the amount of defencive work completed, a heroic morning play by the young man.

Quarter 4  ( Shelford 0 : Newmarket 7 )

The boys had fought hard for a 'two all draw' to date and only 14 minutes to go ! Newmarket spread the ball out wide ,with their centre combination on the attack. Julian came into his own with a try saving crunching tackle to stop their move just short of the line - excellent effort by Julian. Theo did an excellent kick upfield with our boys on the rampage. Their full back caught and cleared into touch.  Jamie and Daniel worked well together upfront as Josh moved into  hooker position to cover for Archie, who was left injured after an excellent game both in lose play and throwing in at the line out. Aiden, dashed purposefully around the ruck and made life difficult for his opposing scrum half on many occasions. Angus proved a most versatile player on the day and found himself playing second row before the quarter was spent ............. and yes caught an excellent high ball in the line out !  Carrick and Neil defended and ran the ball out from our own lines on a number of occasions so well done to these developing players. With less than a minute to go Newmarket broke out wide stretching our defence but were held up initially short of the line. One of their  pack players  rolled out off the maul to dive over in the corner for the closing try.

I have to say the game was played in great spirit by both sides and on another day Shelford could have taken the honours. Well done to each and every one of our boys they did Shelford proud.

Under 10’s

Shelford v Newmarket Aggregate 45-35

On a lovely sunny Sunday, Shelford played Newmarket at home after a rather late start. Shelford fielded 2 teams and Newmarket 1 so a tournament was played with three matches against Newmarket. Your correspondent had to disappear to tend to an injury so we will not have names of try scorers this week though well done to all.

Shelford v Newmarket 10-20

In this first match, Shelford struggled having lost a few players to injury. Newmarket had excellent forward play and the final result though close did reflect their domination of the game.

Shelford v Newmarket 15-10

Shelford came out strongly and looked more confident in what turned out to be an exciting and close match. Some really great passing here which was nice to see.

Shelford v Huntingdon 20-5

Shelford won convincingly with some good rucking and despite the difficulty some had with tackling some of their bigger players. The boys need to tackle low enough to bring the players down!

We ended with a fun match between the two Shelford teams and the boys clamouring for more (and the parents definitely wanting to go home!!)

Under 9's

Shelford 55 Newmarket 30

An excellent performance from all of the players on Sunday. In the third match (drawn 2 – 2) our defence was awesome and showed how effective it is when we give the opposition no time or space. The stand out points from the other two matches were the quality of the rucking in the first match and passing out of the tackle in the second.

Newmarket were a very organised and talented side. With this in mind our performance has certainly moved on again from last week, so well done to everyone. They were able to put us under pressure and cut down our space which made it a lot harder than last week. The kids dealt with this very well and kept trying to keep the ball alive and play at a good tempo.

Under 8's

Shelford Sharks v Newmarket, L 30 – 45, Ethan Karpuk, Joe Davies (3), Hugh Tomkys, Charlie Hurd

Shelford Saints v Newmarket, L 15 – 25, Joshua Speechley (2), Ollie French

Shelford ‘B’ v Newmarket ‘B’, W 35 – 25, Arthur Waddington, Harvey Skellern, Ethan Karpuk (2), Charlie Boyle, Conor Caughtry (2)

Shelford ‘A’ v Newmarket ‘A’, L 15 – 30, Charlie Hurd (2), Joe Davies

Aggregate score: Shelford 95 Newmarket 125

Report:

This fixture was a useful wake-up call for Shelford U8s.  Both Shelford and Newmarket, Sunday’s visitors to the Davey Field, will be playing in next week’s Wendens Ambo festival but during this encounter Newmarket gave Shelford a lesson in putting pressure on the attacking team.  Newmarket were adept at aggressive tagging and repeatedly drove Shelford backwards, forcing errors and turning over the ball.  If Shelford are to push for a trophy next week they need to learn from this week.

Shelford and Newmarket played 4 matches.  In the first match a mixed Shelford team were outplayed by Newmarket and lost 30 – 45.  The Shelford try scorers were Ethan Karpuk, Joe Davies (3), Hugh Tomkys and Charlie Hurd.

The second match was a low scoring encounter in which Shelford were again unable to keep pace with the Newmarket, losing 15 – 25.  This time the Shelford try scorers were Joshua Speechley (2) and Ollie French.

In the third match a Shelford ‘B’ team put in the best Shelford performance of the day in a 35 – 25 victory.  The Shelford try scorers were Arthur Waddington, Harvey Skellern, Ethan Karpuk (2), Charlie Boyle and Conor Caughtry (2).

The final match was between the ‘A’ teams and again Newmarket demonstrated the value of fast and aggressive tagging.  Shelford were never able to get into their stride and a couple of handling errors resulted in break away tries for Newmarket.  The final result was a 15 – 30 victory to the visitors, with the Shelford tries coming from Charlie Hurd (2) and Joe Davies.

For their overall efforts on a tough day for Shelford, the players of the day were Ben Colman and Fox Pollock.

Shelford Sharks 5 Newmarket 35

Shelford Lions 5 Newmarket 25

Shelford A’s 5 Newmarket 25

Shelford B’s 10 Newmarket 10

Report:

Shelford’s encouraging run of games since the new year hit a brick wall that was the Newmarket defence this week. Time and again Shelford were pushed back by some fast and furious defensive tagging by the opposition. In the first two games this tactic pushed the Shelford teams into making mistakes and handing possession of the ball over to the opposition resulting in two games where Shelford scored just one try against 7 and 5 respectively from the Newmarket teams.The try scorers in the first 2 matches were Toby Owers and Joe Huntly.

In the second two games, the Shelford squad started to adapt to the oppositions tactics. The Shelford A’s match was played at a blistering pace by both sides with frantic tagging keeping the ball almost stationary at one point in the game.  Despite a vastly improved defensive line, Newmarket broke through and the game ended in a 5-25 defeat to Shelford. The Shelford try was scored by Toby Owers.

In their final game the Shelford Bs matched the Newmarket players for defensive tagging and broke through the oppositions lines to touch down twice for a 10-10 draw. The Shelford tries were scored by Joe Huntly and Harvey Taylor.

If the players can remember the tactics they employed  towards the end of today’s matches they will go far in next weeks festival at Wendens Ambo.