| Youth Reports - 8/1/12 |
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| Written by Andrew Baron | |
| Sunday, 08 January 2012 | |
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Under 15's Shelford 41 Newmarket 19 Shelford got back to winning ways with a comfortable victory over our friends from down the A14. The period preceding the holiday season had proved difficult with players absent for a variety of reasons. But Sunday saw a good turnout, with a squad of 20 or so players, allowing the luxury of substitutions. In the event, these were needed, with injuries to two players, neither of which fortunately turned out to be serious. Shelford got off to a brisk start, with strong attacking pressure leading to a penalty, from which the ball was passed to Conor Sullivan at fly half, who crossed the line for the first five points. The Shelford pressure continued, with two tries from Connor Hein-Jones, including a spectacular intercept and "faster than the speed of light" charge the full length of the pitch. Other try scorers in the first half were Joe Poole and James Thomas, with two conversions by Conor Sullivan. Shelford were looking secure, with a lead of 29-0. Predictably, as on many occasions this season, the substantial lead resulted in the Shelford u-15s losing their shape and allowing their opponents to get back into the game. The closing try of the first half was scored by the visitors with a fine interception and run from deep in their own half, to make the half-time score 29-5. Newmarket continued the pressure after the break and probably had the better second half. Newmarket opened the scoring in the second period with a converted try. A fine touch down by David Pugh, and a conversion by Conor Sullivan added seven points, but the visitors took a further try and conversion. A strong run and a likely try was resisted by the Newmarket defence close to the line, but a well-presented ball and a good pick-up by Max Burgess-Clerke led to a pass to Callum Brown, which put the prop over in the corner for the final points of the game. The closing score was 41-19. There was some fine play and strong performances on both sides. The challenge for the Shelford team is to stick to the game plan and to retain discipline and composure when going ahead in games.
Under 12's Diss 0 Shelford 20 This was best described as a very efficient morning’s rugby. During the first game against Diss, Shelford had the upper hand from the kick-off and kept Diss pinned back in their own half. But it was a Diss line-out that led to the first Shelford score, with Henry Breeze stealing at the front and forcing his way over the line. No conversions today. Shelford kept up the pressure and used the backs well as they had done before Christmas. Strong running from Will Stepney and Tom French pushing Diss back. An enormous kick and chase from Joe Thompson resulted in a Shelford penalty. A quick tap from Jamie Coates, and he was over the line before Diss reacted. Angus Thomson, playing at full-back for the first time this year, covered plenty of ground with the ball in hand and kept Diss in their own half. The next score came from a pick-up from Josh Butler and pass on to Archie Davison who forced his way over. Lowestoft and Yarmouth 0 Shelford 40 The second match against Lowestoft and Yarmouth started off like a New Years fireworks display. The L & Y kick-off failed to cross the 7m line. From the scrum on half-way, Jamie Coates picked up and broke the first couple of tackles to find the line at his mercy – five nil with just seconds on the clock. Henry caught the kick-off and returned it all the way to score a second – ten nil with barely a minute on the clock. With Archie winning every hook at scrum time, the pressure continued. Tom and Jamie Johnson combined well in the backs, passing the ball onto Nick Budenburg who scored the third. Leo stole a L & Y line-out to allow Josh Butler to score the fourth, with an “almost” spectacular dive.  Josh Whitmore might also have made the line if the forwards coach (obviously not understanding the intricacies of back play) had not shouted “go down Josh”. After half time Henry mauled his way over for the fifth try, and a pick-up from the scrum by Nick and Archie led to the sixth, credit shared. The seventh came from another scrum break by Jamie C who smuggled the ball on (but definately not forward!) to Henry for his hat-trick. Henry could have scored again, but his unselfish pass was a little too low for Julian to deal with. The scoring was completed by Jamie J after a quick throw-in (not strictly allowed), a very efficient morning with few errors. Jamie said on the way home that he was proud of himself, as all the boys should be.Under 11's Shelford 14 – Diss 7 In the opening game of what proved to be a great day of rugby, the Shelford team came out raring to go after the Christmas break. We had 15 players for this away match, a good turnout given the distances involved. Particular thanks to Ollie’s father for bringing 2 boys despite Ollie being too sick to play!!! Thanks too to Nick Lowden for coming along to do great refereeing (all day as the other teams had no refs!) despite Bart not playing as he had a Barbarian game in the afternoon. Diss were a strong side, particularly defensively and they loved to maul. Shelford however, were doing all the things they had been learning in training: passing was better, rucking was better, tackling was better (though still needs some work). Also after some early problems for the forwards with body position, the forward play improved noticeably during the day. Well done Franklin and Ben in particular for leading by example on this. A generally solid performance from the team as a whole resulted in Ben soon scoring the opening try after a nice bit of forward play. The try was then confidently converted by Jack. Diss then came back into the match and dominated for a spell, putting our defence to the test. Well done all. At half time, the match was very close indeed. In the second half, a great try came quickly from Ed following on from a nice bit of back play. This time converted by Will. Shelford then spent a lot of time near their own try line and following some good forward play by some Diss players conceded a try. Some really crucial tackles were needed in this match, well done Patrick, Duncan, Tyus, Martin, Richard and others for tackling well. However, we still need to remind all players to go for the legs!! Well done too to Martin who did a great job in a new position (scrum half). Shelford 26 – Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth 0 For this second match, the Shelford players were really up for it and it was free flowing rugby with much more offensive play from Shelford. A real all round performance, everyone doing their bit and Conrad, James and Scott in particular making a real difference in gaining possession and making rapid forward progress. Again Ben scored the opening try, which was beautifully converted by Jack. Then a great bit of passing play resulted in a lightening run from Tyus who scored the second well deserved try - converted by Will. Jack then snuck in a sneaky try running through the gaps in their defence. Finally Michael after a super pass from Will ran in a great try straight through (literally) the one defender in his path. Will converted – great team work everyone. After a pause, during which we lent Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth two of our players (Michael and Patrick), we played a final friendly against Diss. Well done boys for volunteering to help out the other team. Shelford 14 – Diss 7 In the final friendly match of the day we saw a close and exciting game of rugby with good spirit on both sides, though it has to be said that at the end Shelford conceded about 5 penalties in a row due largely to hands in the ruck and being offside!!! Something to work on for the future. But overall another strong performance against a very good team. Duncan, who had been heroic in his tackling all day, scored a try after a pass from Jacob down the line and then on eventually to Michael who passed the ball out to Duncan having sucked in the final defender. The try was then converted by Will. Will then ran most of the length of the pitch to secure what turned out to be the winning try, with Jack converting. Tackle of the match – Martin – against a very big guy. Under 10's Aggregate score – Shelford 150 Diss (Lowestoft & Yarmouth) 50 A good solid start to 2012. Thanks for everyone who turn up on Sunday. All the boys put in a huge amount of effort Diss are a very physical and talented squad so we really had our work cut out to beat them. Winning 7 matches and losing only one is a great effort Tackling was outstanding and our handling was the best so far. There is still things to work on but we seem to be progressing really wellUnder 9's
Shelford Vikings 5 Diss 15 Scorer: Edgar Watson Shelford Dragons 5 Diss 5 Scorer: Freddie Stevenson Shelford Vikings 15 Lowestoft 10 Scorers: Joshua Speechley, Joe Davies, Ethan Karpuk Shelford Dragons 0 Diss 20 Aggregate scores: Shelford 10 Diss 40 Shelford 15 Lowestoft 10 Report: After a long break for bad weather and Christmas travelling to Diss was always going to be a tough re-start to the Shelford U9’s season. In the first game Shelford Vikings, captained by Ollie French, were quickly two tries behind and struggled to make forward progress or to find space on a very small pitch. Edgar Watson scored Shelford’s only try of the game to close the gap to five points but Diss quickly replied with their third try and finally won 15-5. Despite being on the back foot for much of the second game, Freddie Stevenson opened the scoring for Shelford Dragons. Shelford were then forced to dig in to defend their lead until the final play of the game when Diss scored to draw the game 5-5. Shelford Vikings, this time captained by William Gelling, then took on an inexperienced Lowestoft and Yarmouth team. After quickly taking a 10-0 lead with tries from Joshua Speechley and Joe Davies, Shelford then let Lowestoft back into the game by conceding two tries to bring the scores level. With time running out Ethan Karpuk finished some good play to score Shelford’s third try and to take a 15-10 victory. The fourth game was a tough one for Shelford Dragons against a big and disciplined Diss side. Despite some determined defending, Shelford struggled to stop Diss scoring four tries whilst not being able to cross the Diss line themselves, finally losing 0-20. 1 win, 1 draw and 2 defeats was a rusty start to the second half of the season but Shelford should get back to their usual winning ways in the weeks ahead. For their efforts on the day, Harry Punshon and Ethan Karpuk were named as the Shelford players of the day. Under 8's
Shelford Sharks 30 Diss A 15 Shelford Lions 35 Diss B 25 Shelford Sharks 20 L&Y Barbarians 30 Shelford Lions 50 Diss A 10 Shelford Sharks 35 Diss A 25 Shelford Lions 30 L&Y Barbarians 15 Shelford Sharks 20 Diss B 35 Overall score:- Shelford 170 – 110 Diss Shelford 50 – 45 Lowestoft & Yarmouth Report: Shelford U8s made what may turn out to be their longest journey of the season for a rematch with Diss who we played at home at the very start of the season. We also played Lowestoft and Yarmouth who struggled to field a team in the first games. Well done and thank you to Rian Wells for volunteering to help them out by playing for them in their first match. The Sharks won their first match against Diss A 30-15 with 3 tries from Thaddeus Glass and one a piece from Joe Huntly, Rory Morgan and Freddie Sales. Their second match with the Barbarians went against them 30-20 with Shelford tries from Poppy Elliot, Vinnie Allan and 2 from Joe Huntly. The Sharks third match was another closely fought match but the Sharks came out on top 35-25 with triesd from Joe Huntly, Alex Guyler, two tries from Thaddeus Glass and three tries from Vinne Allan. In their final match the Sharks had started to tire and this showed in the final score of 20-35 to Diss. Shelford tries wer from Alex Guyler, Joe Huntley and 2 from Thaddeus Glass. The Lions won their first match against Diss B 35-25 with tries from Ben Carey, Tom McFarlane, Toby Owers and two each from Brian O’Shea and Joshua Barrett. In their second match the tries just kept coming with a try from Brian O’Shea, 2 each from Joshua Barrett, Tom McFarlane and Toby Owers and three tries from Theo Hay to end the game 50-10. In their final match the Lions continued to push for the try line and tries from Toby Owers, Ben Carey and 2 each from Thoe Hay and Tom McFarlane resulted in a 30-15 win. Player of the Day was Rory Morgan for constantly putting pressure on the opponents attacking line.
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 January 2012 ) |
Diss now had Shelford under pressure, but good tackling from Julian Renwick and intelligent defence and clearance from Angus, kept the opposition at bay. From the resultant lineout the boys surged forward again, led by Archie, who offloaded to Leo Castiglione. Still with plenty of work to do, but he made it all the way to the try-line for the final score.| < Prev | Next > |
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