Under 17’s

Shelford 43 Bury St Edmunds 36

A very different looking Bury side turned up on Sunday, fielding a number of their U16 squad. With Shelford having their squad trimmed by Eastern Counties representation and a number of absent players it was always going to be a close encounter.

The Bury forwards set their mark early on in the game by mauling play down into the Shelford 22, from a 5 metre scrum their No 8 peeled off the back and got over the whitewash. 5-0.  From the kick off Bury came straight back at Shelford with many phases of play around the breakdown. Finally the ball got to their fly half who stuck a chip over the top and straight into the hands of the onrushing back. 12-0, soon after a charged down clearance put Shelford under real pressure as they fell 17-0 behind. Just after the restart Sam Perry (Captain ) was injured and had to be taken to hospital, We all wish Sam speedy recovery from his injury, thankfully nothing broken.

The restart proved the turning point, Shelford now injected some energy into the backs and started to prise Bury open, firstly the ever improving Ross Ferguson saw a gap appear and darted through, he also converted his own try 19-7.  Then a kick ahead by full back Lewis Cracknell saw the ball bounce nastily for the winger, Lewis collected and put the ball down under the posts. 19-14. Quick ball from George Teeboon saw outside centre James Murdoch in space. 19-19. A great comeback.

The 2nd half saw further pressure from Shelford and from a ruck in the opposition 22 Alex Long scored his now customary try from a dummy. 19-24. More aggressive play from Shelford saw them move upfield and after a number of drives for the line, flanker Dan Smith took it in low and over the line. 19-31 Albert Tayedzerwa had come on in the 2nd half and was having a great game and it wasn't long before a Callum Shaw offload saw him gather and dart through for a try. 19-38.

Bury came back at Shelford twice through their very large pack and managed to work the ball over 24-38. The backs were now starting to run some nice lines and Albert offloaded to James Murdoch on the far touchline to make it 24-43. The final minutes of the game saw Bury power over with their big hooker. 31-43. Bury scored again to make the score a very close 36-43 game. A great comeback and a great squad performance from Shelford. It was superbly entertaining rugby from both teams.

Under 16’s – County Cup Final

Cambridge 40 Shelford 7 

A devastating display from the Cambridge back line gave the hosts an emphatic 40-7 victory over Shelford in the Under 16s County Cup final at Granchester Road on Sunday.  The result in terms of possession and forward exchanges does not do Shelford justice but in a 20 minute spell in the first half even when they were a man down Cambridge ran in 4 tries all of which were converted to give them an unassailable lead.The first 5 minutes were dominated by Shelford but as soon as the Cambridge backs got a bit of space with slick handling and powerful running they carved their way through the Shelford defence like a knife through butter.Shelford kept plugging away and Hector Finch scored a try from a 5 yard tap penalty which was converted by James Gibson to give Cambridge a 28-7 lead at half time.

In terms of territory and forward exchanges Shelford had the better of the second half but apart from what looked like a try from Jack Owen under the posts being disallowed for a double movement the Cambridge defence stood firm.With 5 minutes to go Cambridge broke out of defence and added another try following two kick aheads and a race to the line and again it was converted to make the score 35-7.And in the last minute the Cambridge right winger scored with a run from the 10 yard line and powered past four Shelford defenders to make the final score 40-7. 

Under  15’s

Shelford 67 Huntingdon 5

Shelford try scorers: James Knoop (3), Oscar Giles (2), Rew George, George Smith, George James, Rory Hutchinson, Harry Hitchcock, Toby Hackett. Conversions: Hutchinson (5), Knoop 

Shelford reached the Cambridgeshire County Cup Final with a surprisingly comprehensive victory over Huntingdon. Usually matches between the two teams are close and feisty affairs but this time Shelford caught Huntingdon cold with two quick tries from No 8 Oscar Giles and the visitors never really recovered. After Mog's opening burst, Huntingdon did get on the board with a try in the corner after some good work by their forwards. However the momentum was still with Shelford. Dominant second row Sam Jones stole a Huntingdon line out on their 22 and the ball was spun wide to winger Rew George who burst through two tackles to score. James Knoop intercepted a loose midfield pass to go under the posts. A Hutchinson conversion made the score 22-5.

Huntingdon continued to be competitive upfront but Shelford's finishing was clinical as every half chance was converted. A burst through the middle by second row Jones was only halted by a desperate last ditch tackle by the Huntingdon winger. Jones skilfully offloaded the ball to rampaging flanker George Smith who went in under the posts. Hutchinson added the extra points. Winger George James scored the final try of the half after a defensive kick had been charged down. At half time Shelford were in control with the score 34-5 in their favour.

In the second half play became more broken which provided the perfect stage for centre James Knoop. His unerring instinct for a gap and fantastic pace gave him two second half tries. Further tries came from full back Rory Hutchinson, after a determined run by No 8 Giles, scrum half Harry Hitchcock from a quick tap penalty, and excellent fly half Toby Hackett, who pounced on a fly hack to score under the posts. Three Hutchinson conversions, plus one from Knoop, made the final score Shelford 67 Huntingdon 5. The final against Cambridge should be a cracker!

Under 12’s – Wendens Festival Winners 

Shelford won the Wendens Festival by beating all comers and only conceding 2 tries all day. We played a round robin rather than a knock out format which meant everyone got a chance to play plenty of rugby. The weather was amazingly good!

Shelford 10 – 5 Bury St Edmunds

Try Scorer: Finn Karsten & Louis Neal - It was a game played mostly in Shelford's half.

Shelford 5 – 0 Super 12's A Try Scorer: Tom Whitehead

This was a tough game with teams evenly matched but Shelford's Tom Whitehead managed to push through.

Shelford 30 - 0 Super 12's B Try Scorer: Tom Whitehead, Finn Karsten, Connor McIntosh, Stan Clark and Louis Neal 2

Shelford 30 – 0 Cambridge Try Scorers: Henry Glydon, Tom Whitehead, Tom Cropper 2, Stan Clark & Ben Frisk

Shelford 25 – 5 Newmarket Try Scorers:  Louis Neal, Ryan Deamer, Tom Cropper 2, Stan Clark

Under 10’s – Wendens Runners Up

With beautiful weather and above zero temperatures at Carver Barracks for a change, Shelford entered two mixed teams into the tournament.

Shelford B 20- Newmarket 5

Play got off to a good start for the Shelford B team. Great passing and a wonderful opening try by Will set the tone for the game, although Newmarket did find an equaliser after capitalising on a loose ball. The second try came  after a huge tackle from Will and some good driving from Ben who deservedly crossed the line right on the stroke of half time. In the second half Shelford needed to really get going in their rucking but made up for it with some great passing and runs by Stijn and Bart leading to a try each.

Shelford B 10- Wendens Ambo 10

Shelford B had to play two games in a row and so had no time to recover from the Newmarket match before facing a tough opposing side. A very enjoyable game ensued and it was extremely evenly matched. Shelford got off to the best possible start with another lovely try by Will, put in by a fine pass from Conrad. Shelford survived a scare by managing to hold the ball up when Wendens Ambo looked like they had scored and held the advantage going into half time. Wendens Ambo came back with two tries in quick succession. Shelford were not rucking adequately and were being repeatedly pushed off the ball but after a good spell of attacking play a much needed try from Pim sealed a crucially important draw.

Shelford A 10- Bury B 20

Shelford A got the bad luck to be drawn against some very strong teams on their side of the tournament and Bury B was by no means their “B” team! Shelford opened up strongly with a try that Tyus set up for Henry in a lovely example of good team work. Bury scored two tries back but some lovely play on both sides and great tackling and rucking. Charlie did some exceptional play driving through the middle and was unlucky not to score and Cameron drove through and nearly scored at least two tries. Bury then scored after half time but Shelford had their heads up and scored again with another set up from Tyus for Henry to score.  Bury added one more to the score line but the match was closely fought.

Shelford A 0- Saffron Walden 35

Shelford A also had to play two back to back games and after the hard battle against Bury B, they opened strongly against the reigning champions, Saffron Walden. Although the score line suggests a one sided match in fact Shelford made some great plays and came close to scoring several times. What was particularly nice to see was everyone keeping their heads up and some really strong attacking by everyone, especially Nathan in this match, was impressive to see.Shelford B 20- Bury A 0In their final group stage match, Shelford B played very well against Bury A, with some good team work and a lovely opening try by Bart. Michael then set up a fantastic try by Alex and Shelford closed out the half looking very comfortable. The second half restart was closely followed by Bart then doing a beautiful pass to the wing to set up a try for Conrad. Bart scored again with the last play to cap a superb Shelford performance -really good to see players passing and working as a team. Amazing tackling from Will meant that Shelford scored an impressive victory.

SECOND ROUND MATCH Shelford A 10 – Bury A 0

In a very convincing performance, Shelford A dominated this match. Good passing, fewer mistakes and some excellent driving from Shelford ended with two powerful tries by Cameron, securing this Shelford side a respectable 6th position in the tournament.

SEMI FINAL Shelford B 5 – Bury B 0

Shelford B won a nail biting semi final with a fabulous try from Will. The defence was much improved in this match and good rucking meant that Shelford could hold back this powerful Bury side. Half time was reached without troubling the scorers, Bury having the better of the possession but constantly pushed back by the outstanding Shelford line. The deadlock was broken midway through the second half, with the aforementioned Will set up by Conrad brilliantly ripping the ball from a Bury player when it looked more likely that Bury would score. Bury immediately set about searching for the equaliser and Shelford held firm against intense pressure, sparking wild celebrations at the final whistle. A good natured match that had some really excellent rugby from both sides.

FINAL Shelford B 0- Saffron Walden 5

Shelford knew this was going to be a big match against the reigning champions, who had won all their matches so far by a wide margin. Shelford did amazingly well to defend against Saffron Walden and came close to scoring after a lovely run from Michael which was ended abruptly by a Saffron Walden tackle close to the try line. The first half was desperately close, and equally as exciting, and it was Saffron Walden who scored the only try of the match half way thought the first half. Another wonderful run from Will nearly secured Shelford a try in the second half but again the Walden team did an outstanding tackle to prevent Shelford from scoring. At the end of the match, Shelford had Saffron Walden right on their own try line and were tantalizingly close to scoring as the final whistle blew. All in all, a well played and very close final and Shelford should feel proud of themselves – tremendous work rate and desperately unlucky not to emerge as victors of an extremely tough tournament.

Under 9’s

Shelford Sharks

Lost 5 - 20 Newmarket

Won 20 – 0 Wendens

Lost 5 – 25 Bury

Draw 5 -5 Saffron Walden

Shelford Lions

Lost 0 – 10 Bury

Won 20 – 10 Saffron Walden

Won 5 – 0 Wendens

Lost 5 – 10 Newmarket

Thank you and well done to all the players who made the trip to Wendens Festival.  With around 30 kids attending I am positive that everyone played at least 2 full games and managed to get valuable match experience. Our two teams of equal ability had a mix of success and disappointment but ended up with honours just about even.

A very long day against tough opposition made this the biggest test yet. The most pleasing part was the defence,  all the boys put in a huge effort to make their tackles which kept us in games were our attacking play had become too individual and lacked any real ‘Go Forward’. We have plenty to work on but we also have plenty to work with.

As the tournament went on we started to deal with the pressure and slowly began to play the passing game that have seen over develop over the last few weeks. The one element we must add to our basic skills is a physical intensity in everything we do on the pitch. If we introduce this into our our game we will put pressure back onto opponents and give ourselves more time and space to play. The boys basic skills are improving all the time so when we up our physical play we will become a force to be reckoned with.

Under 8’s – Wendens Winners

A Team

Wendens Ambo B D 15-15 Tries:-Joshua Speechley, William Barnett, Charlie Hurd

Newmarket B  W 25-5 Tries:- Ben Hancock (2), Joshua Speechley (2), Joe Davies

Royston W 25-20 Tries:- Ben Hancock, William Barnett, Harry Punshon, Joshua Speechley, Ollie French

Saffron Walden W20-5 Tries:- Charlie Hurd, Ben Hancock, Joshua Speechley, Joe Davies

B Team

Saffron Walden L25-45 Tries:- Edgar Watson (2), Hugh Tomkys, Alex Williams, Seb Clatworthy

Bishop’s Stortford L20-30 Tries:- Hugh Tomkys, Arthur Waddington, Edgar Watson (2)

Wendens Ambo A W30-25 Tries:- Arthur Waddington, Seb Clatworthy, Fox Pollock (2), Hugh Tomkys, Edgar Watson

Bury A D20-20 Tries:- Hugh Tomkys (2), Arthur Waddington (2)

Report: One of the highlights of the rugby season is always the Wendens Ambo festival; the weather is usually improving and the players are playing some of their best rugby.  This year the Shelford A and B teams put in some outstanding performances to win both the Trophy and the Warriors competitions. The B team took a little time to get started and lost their first two matches.  In the first match Shelford lost 25-45 to Saffron Walden, who were eventually beaten by the Shelford A team in the Trophy final.  The scorers for Shelford were Edgar Watson (2), Hugh Tomkys, Alex Williams and Seb Clatworthy.  Shelford’s second match was a closer encounter against Bishop’s Stortford but Shelford lost again, this time by 20-30.  The Shelford try scorers were Hugh Tomkys, Arthur Waddington and Edgar Watson (2).  Coming third in their group placed Shelford in the Warrior’s competition and their next match, a semi-final, was against Wendens Ambo A.  This time Shelford played some of their best rugby on the day and won 30-25, with tries from Arthur Waddington, Seb Clatworthy, Fox Pollock (2), Hugh Tomkys and Edgar Watson.  In the final of the Warriors competition Shelford played out a very close encounter against Bury St Edmunds A.  At full-time the game was tied at 20-20 but a toss of the coin gave the competition victory to Shelford.  The try scorers in the final were Hugh Tomkys (2) and Arthur Waddington (2). The A team started with a tough game against a Wendens Ambo B team, drawing 15-15 with tries from Joshua Speechley, William Barnett and Charlie Hurd.  Not winning their first game but pressure on Shelford to perform in their second match if they wanted to progress in the main Trophy competition.  They put in an excellent performance to beat Newmarket B 25-5 with tries from Ben Hancock (2), Joshua Speechley (2) and Joe Davies.  Shelford next played in the semi-final of the main competition and just kept ahead of Royston in a 25-20 victory, with tries from Ben Hancock, William Barnett, Harry Punshon, Joshua Speechley and Ollie French.  In the Trophy final Shelford A met Saffron Walden and put in one of the performances of the season to win 20-5.  With the ball in hand Shelford ran strong and hard with support players always available to continue the forward momentum.  When in defence they repeatedly pressurised Saffron Walden, forcing errors and completing multiple turnovers.  The try scorers were Charlie Hurd, Ben Hancock, Joshua Speechley and Joe Davies.

Congratulations to both teams.

Under 7’s - Wendens Ambo Festival.

Shelford A 25 Wendens Ambo B 35

Shelford A 5 Newmarket B 40

Shelford A 25 Bishops Stortford C 10

Shelford A played some great rugby this weekend at the Wendens Ambo Festival that included some very strong teams which made for three tough encounters.

In our first game Shelford went toe to toe with their opponents from Wendons Ambo but just came up short in the end by losing 5 tries to 7. Brian O’Shea started the day showing he’d brought his scoring boots by running in four of the five tries with Ruaidhri Carey contributing the other try.

In our second match Shelford came up against a very strong Newmarket team that would eventually compete in the final of the festival. They went down 8 tries to 1 with Harvey Taylor going over for Shelford’s only try.

In our final game of the day Shelford rallied to chalk up our first win and played some great rugby to run out winners 5 tries to 2. Shelford showed some great support play and passing which was highlighted by Josh Barrett going over for a well worked try. Joe Grant also ran in a fine individual try and the ever reliable George Shannon and Toby Owers ran in two and one respectively to complete the scoring.