Under 16's

Shelford 70 Bury 17

Try scorers: James Knoop (5), Stephen Douglas (3), Ed Low (2), Toby Hackett, Edric Ramirez-Valdez

Conversions: Knoop (2), Low, Douglas, Harry Hitchcock

After the game the Bury coach said to me that apart from the 10 minutes or so of game time during which Shelford scored their tries, it was a pretty even game. I had to agree with him. If we had recorded possession and territory statistics they would have been around 50:50 between the teams.

However on days when they are in the mood 50:50 possession is way more than enough for the Shelford backs to wreak all sorts of havoc. Their pace and verve brought five first half tries. James Knoop scored two of them from full back. James is a deceptive runner who reads the game superbly. He can appear to be running at full speed but he has an extra gear to take him through the gaps. He looked a class above on the day.

Centre Ed Low scored the first try - Ed combines pace and power which makes him very difficult to stop. Further first half tries were scored by the fast and elusive Toby Hackett at inside centre and Stephen Douglas in the unfamiliar position of wing. A Harry Hitchcock conversion gave Shelford a 27-0 lead. Bury stuck at it and they drove a line out over the Shelford line to make the half time score 27-5 to the home team.

Bury started the second half strongly and scored two tries from a tap penalty and a rolling maul. A breakaway try by Low separated the two Bury scores to make it 32-17. Being a complete statto I noted that this had been the score, although reversed, in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season at Bury when Shelford staged an amazing comeback to score 40 unanswered points to run out 57-32 winners. I felt momentarily nervous as I pondered the omens.

I need not have worried. As the game went on it became more spread out and tired defenders could not cover the gaps. Knoops scored three more tries, the pick of them when he collected his own kick to outpace his opposing number. He converted two of them for a personal tally of 29 points.

Douglas ran in two more from the wing to collect a hattrick of tries. The final score came from Edric Ramirez-Valdez playing in the centre, who showed a smart turn of speed to run in under the posts. Final score 70-17 to Shelford, and despite the skill and effort of the Bury forwards it was the lethal finishing of the Shelford backs which had won the day.

Under 13's

Under 9's

Aggregate score: Shelford 105 Bury St Edmunds 35

Shelford Vikings 15 [Arthur Waddington, Ollie French, Fox Pollock] Bury St Edmunds  0

Shelford Vikings 20 [William Barnett, Fox Pollock (2), Alex Budenberg] Bury St Edmunds  0

Shelford Vikings 5 [William Gelling] Bury St Edmunds 10

Dragons

Shelford Dragons 25 [Charlie Boyle, Joshua Speechley (3), Freddie Stevenson] Bury St Edmunds 5

Shelford Dragons 30 [Freddie Stevenson (3), Charlie Boyle (2), Joshua Speechley] Bury St Edmunds 10

Shelford Dragons 10 [Freddie Stevenson, Ben Colman] Bury St Edmunds 10

REPORT

This week Shelford U9s made the journey up the A14 to Bury St Edmunds.  Having a much smaller squad than usual meant that everyone got lots of game time as Shelford played some excellent rugby against a useful Bury side.

Shelford Vikings won their first two games without conceding a try 15-0 and 20-0.  In both games they combined proficient rucking, repeatedly turning over opposition ball, and committed tackling.  The result was that Bury were never able to keep the ball long enough to threaten the Shelford line.  The Shelford try scorers in the first game were Arthur Waddington, Ollie French and Fox Pollock and in the second game the scorers were William Barnett, Fox Pollock (2) and a debut try for Alex Budenberg.

Unfortunately by their third game the Vikings had lost a player to injury and played with 7 players against Bury’s 8 players.  They were also starting to pay the price for not having any reserves and rest-time but still put in another strong performance, only losing by a single try.  Shelford’s only touchdown came from William Gelling.

Shelford Dragons also started with two convincing victories, 25-5 and 30-10, with strong running and tackling allowing the Dragons to dominate possession.  In their first game a tired Joshua Speechley scored a hat-trick with the remaining tries coming from Charlie Boyle and Freddie Stevenson.  In the Dragon’s second game it was Freddie Stevenson’s turn to score a hat-trick with Charlie Boyle scoring 2 and Joshua Speechley scoring one.  Like the Vikings, the Dragon’s third game was a game too many with tired legs struggling to keep with the fresher Bury players.  A 10-10 draw was a good result with the Shelford tries coming from Freddie Stevenson and Ben Colman.

With 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss from 6 games the aggregate score was a convincing 105-35 win for Shelford.  This extended the U9s unbeaten run to 6 games or only 1 defeat in the last 13 games.

There were a number of outstanding performances on the day, including 5 tries from Freddie Stevenson, 4 tries from Joshua Speechley, an unprecedented 3 tries from Fox Pollock and club debut try for Alex Budenberg.  But the players of the day were Alex Williams, who repeatedly made his presence felt at ruck and maul, and Ollie French, who put in several brave and try saving tackles.

Under 8's

Shelford Sharks 10 Bury Team 1 20        

Shelford Lions 30 Bury Team 2 15

Shelford Sharks 25 Bury Team 2 10        

Shelford Lions 10 Chelmsford Team 1 10

Shelford Sharks 30 Chelmsford Team 1 10        

Shelford Lions 30 Chelmsford Team 2 15

Overall score Shelford 135 – 80 Opposition

Report:

Shelford U8s travelled along the A14 again this week to a deceptively chilly Bury St Edmunds to play both Bury and Chelmsford.

The Sharks took some time to shake off the chill and a try each from Thaddeus Glass and Joe Huntly was not enough to end the game 10-20 down. Although, this was to be the only loss of the day. The Sharks stepped up a notch in their second game, against Bury Team 2. A hat-trick from Vinnie Allan along with tries from Tom McFarlane and Joe Huntly resulted in a 25-10 win to Shelford. In their last game the Sharks played a well drilled Chelmsford team who passed before being tagged and made the use of the space available. The game was well played by both teams but several outstanding runs by Vinnie Allan, with some excellent side-stepping, directly through the opposition’s defence, resulted in 4 tries and tries from Thaddeus Glass and Joe Huntly meant the game ended 30-10 to Shelford.

The Lions first match against Bury Team 2 was a fast paced match. A try from Rory Morgan, two tries from George Shannon and a hat-trick from Joshua Barrett resulted in a 30-15 win to Shelford. The Lions second game against Chelmsford Team 1 was a  close fought affair and two tries from Joshua Barrett resulted in a 10-10 draw. In their last game the Lions found some reserves of stamina. A hat-trick from Toby Owers and one try each from Ben Smith, Joshua Barrett and George Shannon resulted in a 30-15 win to Shelford.

Player of the Day was Vinnie Allan for putting into practice some of the side stepping skills we’ve been practicing which resulted in a number of tries.

Under 7's

Shelford Tigers 15 – 25 Bury

Shelford Tigers 25 – 15 Chelmsford

Shelford Tigers 30 – 30 Bury

Shelford Tigers 25 – 10 Chelmsford

Shelford Sharks 20 – 15 Bury

Shelford Sharks 20 – 15 Bury

Shelford Sharks 25 – 10 Chelmsford

Shelford U7s enjoyed the spoils in a triangular fixture with Bury St Edmunds and Chelmsford. Playing seven matches Shelford recorded five wins, a draw and a single defeat to cap a fine morning of rugby. Both the Sharks and the Tigers played some excellent attacking rugby running in some dazzling tries in the process.

The Tigers went down in their first game by three tries to five to a strong Bury team. Barney Elliot scored one try with two from Marcus Moscuzza. In their second game the Tigers found their feet beating Chelmsford five tries to three. Their try scorers were two from Lewys Hines and one a piece from Henry Sperring, Tom Birkby and another from Moscuzza.

In their third game the Tigers locked horns with Bury again and fought out a competitive draw with each side scoring six tries each. Hines and Moscuzza were in the action again with each scoring two tries, Birkby contributed another and the final try was a first Shelford try for Fergal Riordan. In their final game the Tigers finished with a flourish with a five tries to two victory over Chelmsford. Their try scorers this time were one from Sperring and continuing where they left off there were two more a piece from Hines and Moscuzza.

The Sharks opened their account with a closely fought game against Bury and coming out just on top by four tries to three. Ben Carey went over for one and Billy White completed the scoring with a stylish hat-trick. The second game for the Sharks against Bury was an equally tight affair ending in the same score line with Shelford winning again by four tries to three. White crossed over again for another try along with Monty Lovell and two from Joseph Taylor.

In their third game the Tigers enjoyed a more comfortable win against Chelmsford by five tries to two to finish the day unbeaten. Their tries came with another hat-trick from White, another try from Taylor and a first Shelford try for Matthew Ranasinghe.

Players of the day were Hilary Hawthorne and Joseph Taylor.