| Youth Reports - 16/10/11 |
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| Written by Andrew Baron | |
| Sunday, 16 October 2011 | |
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National Colts Cup Round 2 Colchester 15 Shelford 16 (written by Nick) .jpg "Image") Alex Flynn on his way to scoring the winning try. On a bright autumn day at Colchester Rugby club Shelford won a hard fought National Colts second round encounter with the Colchester colts team, a significant win as this has been a bogey ground for this Shelford squad despite some excellent performances. It was nearly a case of deja vu from last years Eastern County cup final when Shelford couldnt capitilise on their dominant forward play. The first half was a very messy stop start affair as the two sides swapped penalty kicks, the game never settled into any sort of rythmn despite Shelford having the majority of possesion, Colchester worked very hard up front and didnt make it easy for the forwards to get into any sort of recycle pattern. The number of reset scrums was becoming very frustrating for both sides as it consumed the bulk of the first period and tensions ran high for a large part of the first half, a sin binning for Callum Miller didnt make it any easier in the set pieces. At this point Colchester got their noses in front for the fisrt time scoring an unconverted try as their winger rounded the Shelford efence. The whistle finally went (after 50 minutes) for the half with Shelford having nailed their two penalties from the boot of Lewis Cracknell. Colchester also had a penalty which made the score 6-8. The second period was no less tense but started to open up with longer passages of play allowing Shelford to begin to dominate and Shelford played the first 15 minutes in the Colchester half. The only fruit of this hard labour was a single penalty from Lewis Cracknell, 8-9 to Shelford. As the game started to take its toll of various players with injuries to Callum Miller, Alex Long, Toby Poirier and Nathan Taylor the nerves started to jangle and at this point the Colchester backs, who had not had a great game with ball in hand, finally found the right offloads and prised our defence apart for a converted try 15-9. Shelford responded well and took the ball to Colchester once again camping in the Colchester half, this time a quick move off the base of ruck on the Colchester line saw Alex Flynn drive over the whitewash and a very calm Lewis Cracknell slotted the conversion to put Shelford back in front 15-16. This setup a nervy final phase of the game as Shelford had to defend hard against an increasingly frantic Colchester side, the relief was there for all to see when the final whistle finally went. All from memory as I was notified about being stand in reporter after the final whistle went! Squad Sam Porter (Capt), Callum Miller, Lachlan Finlayson, Milka Schumann Pratt, Nathan Taylor, Dan Smith, Alistair Kerslake, Guns Foster, Bob Thomas-Mathieson, Louis Rawlings, Luke Whale, Connor Denton, Alex Long, George Teebon, Lewis Cracknell, Alex Flynn, Callum Shaw, Alex Poirier, Toby Poirier, Josh Till, Dan Burling, Lewis Green. Under 16's Shelford 28 Hitchin 14 Shelford try scorers: Stephen Douglas, Patrick Hopper, James Knoop (2) Conversions: Rory Hutchinson (4) This was an excellent victory over tough opponents achieved despite three second half yellow cards which left the boys hanging on desperately at the end. The first half was a cagey affair. Hitchin had most of the possession and gained ground through the effective ball carrying of their big pack. Shelford had the edge in the tight with the locks particularly prominent - Liam Calvey, returning from a skateboarding injury, added solidity to the scrum and Sam Jones nicked good ball on the Hitchin throw in at the line out. Shelford withstood the pressure and looked dangerous when they had the ball in hand. Eventually after good work by the pack Shelford recycled the ball on the Hitchin 22. Fly half Rory Hutchinson fed inside centre Stephen Douglas. The Shelford skipper as ever had picked a perfect line and he wrongfooted the defence to drive over the line. Hutchinson added the extra points to give Shelford a 7-0 half time lead. Hitchin came out for the second half fired up and immediately put Shelford under pressure. No 8 Sam Collicott, who had a storming game at the base of the scrum was penalised for coming in at the side of a ruck in the Shelford 22. The referee deemed this sufficient to award a yellow card (there were a number of other offences to be taken into consideration) and Shelford were down to 14. Being reduced to 14 seemed to drive Shelford onto a higher plane and they produced some excellent rugby. James Knoop, playing his first game of the season for his club, had lost none of his silky running skills at outside centre. He looked happy to be actually playing a game of rugby instead of endless drilling and swimming sessions at his elite centre. Anyway James scored two excellent tries and Shelford were in control as two Hutchinson conversions made the score 21-0. Then another incident occurred which was eerily reminiscent of an event which had occurred 12,000 miles away 24 hours earlier. Hitchin liked to use their big loosehead as a ball carrier - he charged directly at blindside flanker George Smith. The Hitchin prop was too upright and George hit him perfectly head on. The only place the Hitchin player was going was back and up - George's momentum took him down on top of his opponent. It was a dump tackle rather than a spear, and no malice in it. However in the current environment that was deemed sufficient to warrant another yellow card, although in truth it was the combination of a perfect tackle, an uprIght opponent and the laws of physics that had led to the incident. Despite the loss of another player Shelford kept the pressure on. At last for about the first time this season the team managed to get the ball in the hands of big winger Patrick Hopper in space. Like a Fenland George North he barrelled unstoppably over the line to score under the posts. The inevitable Hutchinson conversion killed the game off at 28-0. Hitchin weren't finished though. Shelford lost fullback Angus Finlayson to another yellow card for an off the ball obstruction and this time Hitchin took advantage. A kick ahead led to their first try, a driving maul to their second. Both were converted but it was too little too late. Shelford hung on to win 28-14. Under 15s: County Cup Quarter Final Shelford 12 Peterborough 0 Both teams went into this game undefeated so far this season. It proved a tough game with neither side really gaining the upper hand. Shelford defended well, resisting a long opening period of pressure from the opposition, and holding the ball up as Peterborough crossed the line. Shelford’s first break came from Laurence Oxley chasing a kick, booting the ball on, getting the bounce and touching down. A second try followed from a well-worked passing move, getting the ball to Connor Hein-Jones on the wing, who scored close to the posts. Peter Gordon kicked the conversion to put Shelford 12-0 ahead at half-time. The second half was closely fought with the two teams cancelling each other out. The Shelford team continued to tackle and defend well, with the scrums standing up to the much larger Peterborough pack. Handling was generally good but the home team made it harder for themselves on occasion by taking the ball into contact when a better option would have been to get the ball wide. There were also moments when Shelford placed pressure on themselves by trying to run the ball from deep, when a kick would have helped to clear lines and would have tested the Peterborough defence. The game finished with no further score and Shelford progress to a semi-final fixture against either Cambridge or Newmarket. Under 14's Shelford 7 Royston 0 Try and Conversion from Ben Johnson Under 13's - County Cup Shelford 29 Saffron Walden 5 Shelford started the first half playing with a downhill advantage, using this advantage well to apply early pressure to Saffron Walden's defence. Shelford pinned Saffron Walden back into their 22 with good strong rucking from a well organized Shelford forward pack, led by Andy Williams. Relentless Shelford pressure resulted in a penalty to Shelford 5 metres out, Bradley Goss taking advantage at close range to crash over the line for Shelford's first try of the match to settle the nerves with 7 minutes on the clock. Saffron Walden fought back strongly at the restart, pushing into Shelford territory for the first time, but the Shelford defence led by Stan Clark and well supported by Kieran Hatter at full back, refused to allow Saffron Walden further progress and a Shelford turnover led to a good clearance from the boot of Fin Karsten back into Saffron Walden territory. With Shelford back in the Saffron Walden half, a strong attacking scrum from the pack opened the door for Tom Cropper to break the Saffron Walden defence, and with quick ball found Stan Clark outside, who broke clear to run in the second Shelford try on 12 minutes. Shelford's backs continued to frustrate Saffron Walden with quick ball down the line, this time Lui Neal taking advantage to run in Shelfords' third under the posts on 17 minutes. Fin Karsten converted to add more points for Shelford. The second half saw Shelford playing uphill and clearly this advantage assisted Saffron Walden to strike back early for their first try. Shelford kept their discipline , with good play at full back from Ben Middleton, and re-applied the pressure on the Saffron Walden defence. As Saffron Walden kick for territorial advantage, Lui Neal collected the ball well on the half way line and broke several tackles before his progress was halted. Shelford were determined to make the most of the territorial gain from Lui Neal's run and pushed into Saffron Walden's 22 once again. This was enough for a hungry Lui Neal to add another try, which was subsequently converted by Ryan Deamer. As the match headed towards full time, Shelford were determined to keep up the intensity and pushed forward again with good commitment and rucking at the breakdown. This allowed quick ball out to the back line, and fast hands from Ryan Deamer, Stan Clark and Tom Cropper split the Saffron Walden defensive line once again. Lui Neal tracked well to keep the ball alive and run in for his hatrick and Shelfords' 5th try. Saffron Walden had not given up and pressed forward into the Shelford half, but time ran out for them to add further points, with Shelford ripping the ball out for a turnover and kicking the ball into touch from their 22 on the final whistle. Under 12's - Bury Festival Another tremendous effort from the boys today. Last week I mentioned everybody individually, this week I do not have to as the performance of every man was outstanding. Each player played every minute of every match, and the work-rate was excellent in attack and defence - well done. Not for the first time this year the final outcome did not go our way, we finished equal with Woodbridge on points difference, but the boys and parents should still be proud. Pool Results Shelford 0 - Woodbridge 0 Shelford 10 - Southwold 0 Bury Wolves 10 - Shelford 0 St Neots 5 - Shelford 10 Under 11's - Bury Festival It was a lovely morning at Bury St Edmunds for the U11s Shelford Lions with a good turnout of 14 boys. Shelford 0 Woodbridge 1 As tends to happen with Shelford U11s J the boys started a bit slow and as a result struggled in their first match against Woodbridge. In this game it was certainly Shelford’s rucking that let them down with a tendency to continue to try to run the ball sideways instead of running straight and taking it to ground. The result was a very close loss in a match that the team could surely have won if they had started with more gusto. Cambridge 1-0 By now the boys had woken up, had done some more drills and were undoubtedly properly fired up for the match against Cambridge. A tough game resulted in Michael getting an eye injury that luckily did not prevent him from continuing. Great defence and a cracking try meant that the Lions secured their first victory of the tournament. Shelford 3 St Neots 2 Again another good performance, with some strong forward play this time. The backs played very well with nice straight runs and Bart scoring two very well deserved tries. Excellent team work then set up another excellent try from Charlie. In defence there was some proficient tackling during this match, and good individual performances particularly from some newer players like Martin. Though tackling continues to be an area that we need to work on, this match showed we can do it. Bury St Edmunds 3-1 After a break, and possibly too many burgers and sweets, the team was a bit sluggish against a very strong team. Although Shelford went ahead early with an early try, lots of tackles were missed by Shelford in defence which eventually resulted in three tries from Bury. The key message from this match was the need for more work on the tackling. Under 9's - Bury Festival  Pool games Shelford 0 Woodbridge 0 Shelford 10 Southwold 5 Tries: Ethan Karpuk, Arthur Waddington Shelford 10 Bury St Edmunds 5 Tries: Charlie Boyle, Ollie French Shelford 15 St Neots 5 Tries: William Barnett, Seb Clatworthy(2) Final Shelford 5 Newmarket 10 (after sudden death) [Try: Seb Clatworthy] Last week a Shelford U9s squad put in some fine performances to win the Plate at the Peterborough Festival. This week a completely different squad of players again played extremely well and can look back on their performances with considerable pride, this time at the Bury St Edmunds Festival. In the first Pool game Shelford met a strong Woodbridge side, who later went on to win the Plate competition. Both sides came close to scoring on a couple of occasions but the final 0-0 draw was probably a fair result. The second Pool game brought together two sides who have never met before. Shelford and Southwold played out another close encounter but this time Shelford pinched a 10-5 victory with tries from Ethan Karpuk and Arthur Waddington. In the penultimate Pool game Shelford met the hosts in what was always going to be a tough match. With some strong tackling and direct running Shelford were just able to keep their noses in front with a 10-5 victory, this time with tries from William Barnett and Ollie French. Shelford needed to win their final Pool game against St Neots to ensure their progression to the Festival Final. The game didn’t start well with Shelford going behind in the first half but two tries from Seb Clatworthy and one from William Barnett helped Shelford turn the game around with a 15-5 victory. With a draw and three wins Shelford won their Pool and reached the Festival Final where they met Newmarket. Games between Shelford and Newmarket are always close encounters and this game was no different. Shelford started well with Seb Clatworthy scoring midway through the first half. Shelford took their lead into the half-time break but Newmarket piled on the pressure in the second half and only a determined Shelford defence held them out until just before the final whistle when Newmarket went over for the equalizer, making the full-time score 5-5. The game went into five minutes sudden death. With only seconds to go before the final whistle Newmarket went over for the winning try. The disappointment was obvious but the whole squad could be proud of their performances and the way they had represented the club. It’s been a challenging two weeks of festivals but what has been most pleasing is the obvious strength in depth in the Shelford U9s, with two different squads being able to push for silverware in successive weeks. The future looks bright for the U9s. Under 8's - Bury Festival Results: Shelford 25 Woodbridge 35 Shelford 40 Southwold 15 Shelford 20 Bury Wolves 20 Shelford 10 St Neots 30 Report: Shelford U8s made the trip along the A14 for their third festival in as many weeks. The first pool game was against Woodbridge. The sides were evenly matched and in a high scoring game Woodbridge took the lead in the second half and Shelford fought back but were 25-35 down at full-time. Shelford trys came from Tom Macfalrane, George Shannon, Toby Owers, Brian O’Shea and Harvey Taylor. In their second game Shelford played Southwold for the first time in the coaches memory. Southwold fought hard and scored three try’s but the Shelford squad had found their rhythm and the final score was 40-15 to Shelford with trys from Tom Macfarlane (2), Brian O’Shea (3),Harvey Taylor (2) and George Shannon. In their third game, Shelford played their hosts. This was a fantastic game of rugby to watch with both sides defending well and attacking into any space that appeared. The final result was a 20-20 draw with Shelford trys from Toby Owers, Theo Hay Tom Macfarlane and George Shannon. In their last match Shelford needed to win in order for a chance to go into the play-offs. After last week, the squad had another trophy in their sights but the St Neots team managed an extra spurt of speed and repeatedly ran through the Shelford defences to end the game 30-10 ahead. Shelford trys were scored by George Shannon and Tom Macfarlane. Under 7's - Bury Festival Shelford gave a fine account of themselves today at the Bury Festival turning in four fine performances. In their first match Shelford came out of the blocks very quickly to defeat Woodbridge 35-20. Shelford’s tries came from a Henry Sperring hat-trick, two from Ben Carey, one from Matthew Campbell and a try on his birthday from Keane Runham-Wyman. In their next two matches Shelford played out two closely fought drawn games. The first was a 15-15 tie with Ipswich which Shelford were very unfortunate not to win. Their tries came from Monty Lovell and two from Lewys Hinds. In their next game Shelford fully played their part in an enthralling 25-25 draw with Bury, the team that went on to win the competition. Our hat-trick this time came from Ben Carey with Matthew Campbell and Henry Sperring contributing the other tries. In their fourth match Shelford unfortunately could not find the win that would have taken them through to the finals going down 20-35 to St Neots. Our tries scorers this time were one each from Lewys Hinds, Henry Sperring, Monty Lovell and Ben Carey. |
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