U8s Celebrate Victory
Hitchin v Cambridge 25th Jan 2015. Winning Ways Continue for Unstoppable Under 8s!!! We were treated to an excellent display of skillful and competitive rugby. Conditions were a lot better than recent weeks. The freezing chill of late had left which resulted in a surface for fast paced action. Cambridge sent three teams which looked well organised and ready to play. They were eager to get started and listen intently to last minute coaching advice.
The Cheetahs
The cheetahs got off to a nervy start and immediately conceded two tries. Cambridge were clearly well drilled and were cutting up the Cheetahs with miss passes and snappy off loads. The cheetahs responded by tightening up their defence but still went into the second half trailing by two tries.The second half saw a different attitude from the cheetahs. More focused and attacking play. They quickly drew level and kept on the pressure. Eden Scott lead the fight back by scoring five tries. They won 12-9 and it great to see the Cheetahs had the spirit to come from behindThe cheetah’s second game was a more controlled match. They outplayed Cambridge in most aspect of the game and won by a comfortable 11-7.The final game was very close. Sides were equal at half time. Both were tiring after a busy morning but neither wanted to loose. The lead changed hands several times and was 10-10 with a minute to go. Hitchin took advantage of a turnover to make a break and scored a try in the final play to win the match.A good all round performance played in good spirit and with enthusiasm. Player of the match goes to Eden Scott for scoring 12 tries in total and fantastic tagging.
The Bisons
Bit of a sluggish start against a pacey and well organised Cambridge team, but picked up and improved their defensive line and tagging. This lead to several turnovers and to the Bisons starting to make inroads into the opposition’s defence. Great support from Dylan Messer and George Turner resulting in a number of well worked tries by both of them, Further tries were scored by Harry Jervis and Connor HamiltonStrong second game, with some excellent defence from Alfie Curtis and Felix May, with Luke Andrews, Samuel and William Toffa running good lines and continued strong support play from Matias DaviesA hard fought third game after being 2 tries down following an early turnover. Showing real commitment to tagging and turning the ball over to sneak the result with a last minute try. This was followed by excellent defensive pressing to force a Cambridge knock-on during the last play to maintain their lead. POTM goes to Dylan Messer.
Match 1, 13-10, Match 2, 8-7, Match 3, 9- 8
The Antelopes
The Antelopes played with real vigor and spirit against a well drilled Cambridge side. The Antelopes had a very tight defence and demonstrated some fantastic running and special awareness utilising much of the open spaces to go on to score multiple tries. They showed some excellent tagging skills and put the opposition under immense pressure driving their lines back and forcing turn over balls. We were pleased how well the Antelopes passed and supported each other and saw many tries that were scored by the accompanying support players. The team displayed many of the skills focused on in our recent training sessions both with individual and collective team performances. The Antelopes went on to WIN all three of their matches convincingly and were particularly strong in the final game which was quite physical for a non-contact tag match. Well Done!
Again a very difficult choice for POTM as there were very many outstanding performances. However POTM, goes to Tjay Hobbs who showed great enthusiasm and commitment.
Match 1, 12-7 , Match 2, 14-6, Match 3, 10-4
Match reported by Ade Osoba