Old Yardleians RFC: Club News
LET'S HEAR ABOUT THE STARS OF THE FUTURE
Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:46
Our younger players did us proud again as did their team managers who have reported in to me. The real concern to me now is that they might be snapped up by the major newspapers or other media agencies. Thanks for the prompt responces as well as for the work you do with our teams.
In the penultimate game of the season the U7's hosted
Woodrush. We took the opportunity to play a number of the younger players with
only 4 boys who who were actually genuine U7's.
We played one long match and the boys acquitted
themselves very well. The older lads looked after the younger ones and made
sure they had a turn with the ball when we had possession. Harley set the tone
and scored a great try to open the scoring for the Yards. As seems to be the
way the scores see-sawed and by half time we were 6-5 up and we managed to take
6 tags in defence on at least one occasion. Other try scorers in the half were
Adam (1), Frankie (3), George K (1).
During the second half we changed the sides round a bit
and some of the younger lads such as Riley, Charlie S, Harry, Max and George G
all made good runs. The game finished 14-14 which was a very creditable
performance given the age of some of our boys. The older lads are playing some
great rugby, tagging well in defence and supporting each other in attack. The
younger boys also all did well and are really learning the game which bodes well
for next year. Try scorers were as follows:
Ben 5
George K 2
Frankie 5
Harley 1
Adam 1
Well done boys.
As the season draws to a close, the under 8s hosted a match against
Woodrush. The team for the day was Charlie, Damon, Dan E, Dan G, Ellis, Lewis
and Presley. Thanks to Cedric for stepping up to coach the boys on the field
against my random refereeing.
Charlie stepped forward to captain the
first match and led the side to victory. Dan G scored a whopping 4 tries and
Ellis added to 2 to score. As a result the boys won by 6 tries to 5. The quality
of tagging continued into this match with the boys managing to turnover
possession through taking 6 tags. You could also see the boys starting to think
more strategically and offloading the ball before being tagged making it harder
for the opposition to accumulate tags.
Charlie continued his captaincy
into the second match. The boys continued to play well, but Woodrush showed a
little more resolve this time and narrowly won by 5 tries to 4. Dan G gathered a
further 2 tries and Dan E and Lewis took a try a piece. Dan G was clearly keen
to prove himself in his last matches of the season and was almost untaggable
when he had the ball.
With both sides having won one a piece the final
match was to be the decider. Both sides were keen to win this last game so the
only fitting result was a draw with both sides ending up with 4 tries. Damon,
Dan G, Ellis and Presley shared the tries. Damon led the side well and as one
spectator commented they had never seen his dad, Cedric, run like that to score
a try.
Another memorable day. The boys have played well all season and
continue to do so. We look forward to their last match on President's day.
Old
Yardleians Under 9s welcomed Woodrush for the home leg of their annual contest following
a close but well earned victory for our boys earlier in the season.
Both
sides have made huge progress during the season which they
regularly demonstrated throughout the matches, for example Woodrush' second try,
scored by their star player Grace, who burst through from the restart taking
the crash ball at full speed only sowing to touch the ball down for the first of
her three tries of the morning. Yards responded in truly impressive style
recycling the ball through no less than 8 genuine phases, using the ruck to
their advantage, distributing the ball with thought and precision to set up Jake
for his first try in his debut match, a very impressive breakout from the
rolling maul, which showed great awareness and his eye for the line. Ollie D
added a second which meant we were all square with Woodrush after the first
half. A very tight second half saw Josh T play his best match of the season,
scoring the first of his 3 tries (with a further two very close efforts denied
by the touch line and desparate defence by Woodrush). Shane made many hard
yards, (despite running into touch a few times) and ran some excellent attacking
lines, setting up Yards next try, a first of the season for Archie. We always
said if Archie caught the ball in space he is uncatchable, and he proved it,
crossing the line for his first well deserved try of the season.
The
first game ended all square at 3 tries each, with both teams up for another
contest, but it had come at a cost to Woodrush who were down to 8 players
through injury. We asked for volunteers from the Y's squad to swap sides, 5
hands were raised, so we offered the choice to Woodrush, who went for brawn and
good lucks, selecting "that big one" pointing at Master Lonie. The fact that he
decided to open his try scoring account at this stage we will discuss with him
in training next week!! However Josh T and Ollie D both enjoying some excellent
possesion added two more for Yards with Ayden, Dan, Sam and Jake all tackling
well and just as impressivly passing the ball accurately and Toby, Shane, Josh H
and Archie all running some excellent attacking lines resulting in a result 2-1
in Yards favour. In a tight final contest that saw tries disallowed for both
sides, the final half went Woodrush' way 2-1 which meant the overall score was 6
tries each, (2 ties and a win each) in the 4 periods of play.
Yards
U9's are making a habit of making us proud, and seem to lift the bar each time
they run onto the pitch. Keep it up boys, and keep the smiles on your faces
whilst you are doing it!
Our Under 11s travelled to Droitwich to play in a 3 way event. Team manager Marcus was very pleased with his team as they defeated Camp Hill by a considerable margain and then went on to beat the Droitwich Development squad in a tight encounter
Now as you know, I keep a watchful eye on the progress of our under 16s and their management team. I was actually looking forwards to the return match with Tamworth as earlier in the season the game between the sides was an epic encounter which we narrowly won. However, She who likes surprises, had organised a cultural and historical weekend family visit to York. Well, there were more old trains than Robbie can drink pints and the walk around the city walls was on a par with watching the Villa playing at home to Bolton. Weather conditions in York were similar to Tamworth. How did I know? Arks and Chicken kept me informed about the progress of our boys. The game ebbed and flowed first one way then the other and ended in a 27-27 draw. Nick Perrin was very exciterd by Jack Molloy's try but he can't be certain whether skill or luck was the main factor.
Dates that you need to know and remember
Mick Bloxham says that you should keep these dates in your filofaxes and refer to them on a regular basis.
Friday 4th May
AGM at the club, (your club!) 7.30 prompt start.
Saturday 5th May
President's Day which features playing action involving as many of our Minis, Juniors and Seniors as possible. End of season presentations for the junior players will be included in the programme and the usual social interaction will be freely available helped by the availability of appropriate refreshments.
Friday 6th July
At the club 7.30. A Quiz Night presented by Dave, Luke and Sharon.
And Finally
How could I ever want Chelsea to win? but in all honesty I was glad to see them turn over Barcelona.