U8s at Shelfford 15.2.15
Shelford, Shell Shocked. The mighty under 8s arrived on a misty morn in Cambridgeshire, playing 9 games, winning 8 and drawing 1, displaying another outstanding performance!
Shelford who proved formidable opponents last year were ready and waiting for the onslaught of the mighty hedgehogs.
A slightly depleted squad due to half term holidays saw Hitchin fielding only 3 instead of the regular 4 sides, but there was in no way any loss in quality, with possibly one of the best overall performances to date.
Across the board some outstanding individual and team performances both in going forward and in defence with numerous 7 tag turn overs and a very effective rush defence which put the opposition under immense pressure and containing them close to their lines. This enabled Hitchin to unleash their big guns and bombard the Shelford defences breaching them; running great lines, at pace with some superb "heads up" rugby looking for holes in the defence to exploit.
Hitchin U8s Antelopes:
Team: William, Ertan (Cap), Tjay, Katie, Curtis, Fenton, Alfie : Played 3 – Won 3.
Match 1: 9-5 Win
It was a misty Sunday morning and both Hitchin and Shelford were well prepared for the challenge in store. In the first game the Antelopes immediately organised their lines and fired into action as soon as the whistle blew penetrating the Shelford defensive to open the scoring in emphatic style. The Antelopes showed great movement with the ball from one side of the pitch to the other to open up running down the channels to make the try. Although it was a hard fought game we kept up the pressure and discipline to turn over the ball and scored 9 tries to 5 for a comfortable win.
Match 2: 7-6 Win
In the second match the Antelopes faced much stiffer opposition and were challenged by a very competent and strong Shelford side. The pitch size had to be reduced slightly to accommodate another game which made it much tighter and therefore less room to manoeuvre. However the Antelopes adapted quickly pushing through the centre forcing many instances of loose balls which the Antelopes did well in competing for and winning the ball. This gave us is the advantage to keep the ball on our side and go on and to score tries. Shelford to be fair hit back very well with counter attacks of their own and we had to dig deep to provide further resistance.. It was a close game but the Antelopes showed their fighting spirit to go and a make the final winning try to end up 7-6 winners.
Match 3: 5-3 Win
The third match was another competitive challenge but we were able to widen the pitch to allow for more space which opened the play up for both teams. The Antelopes started of strongly moving the ball with pace and offloading once the tag was made to score tries. Shelford raised their game and showed some good resistance but the Antelopes kept on making and utilising the space. We made some excellent runs and when we were tagged the Antelopes did well in supporting each other to create the options to make the tries. Its was another hard fought game but Shelford resistance was broken towards the end with Antelopes showing their superiority sealing the game with the final two tries to win 5-3.
Try Scorers: William -1, Ertan -3, Tjay-4, Katie -1, Curtis -2, Fenton-4, and Alfie-5
POTM – Alfie Curtis for outstanding commitment and support play.
Overall the Antelopes showed superb commitment and grit again to win all three games and maintain their unbeaten record.
Hitchin U8s Bisons:
Team: Harry J ,Luca, Eden, Tristan, William, Dylan, Harry E, Tristram
An all-round very strong performance from the Bisons with good defence, use of the ball, support play and running as usual despite a slow start against some strong Shelford teams and a small, quite congested pitch.
Game 1 – Won 9-5
Shelford made a very fast and impressive start and were soon two tries up after an early turnover and some good breaks and passing to cut through a rather sluggish Bison defensive line. This spurred the Bisons on though and with some excellent tagging from Eden, who helped shore up the defence, and a 7 tag turnover, plus support play tries from Dylan, they went into half time 4-4. The second half however, was a different story altogether and following some excellent running and off-loading, the Bisons romped home 9-5 with fine tries from Harry J, William, Tristan, Tristram and Eden. Dylan also picked up hat-trick number one of the day with 2 further tries.
Game 2 – Won 7-2
The second match saw the Bisons carry on from where they left off in the previous game and Shelford’s players were hounded from the first play by some aggressive defensive work from Harry E and Eden once again. Dylan continued with his try scoring form with his second hat-trick of the day and Luca made some fine individual runs to set up further tries for Eden and Harry. This game also featured some excellent use of the ball across the line at re-starts that led to a fine try by Dylan.
Game 3 – Won 6-2
A slightly scrappy game but the result was never in doubt as the Bisons took an early lead after some good defensive work from the team collectively. Fine tries from Tristran and Luca took the Bisons into a 3 try lead, and some good support play and running led to further scores for Harry and a third hat-trick from Dylan after some particularly mazy running from Eden.
Well done to Harry Evans for his first game in Hitchin colours.
POTM – Dylan Messer (three hat-tricks tell the story)
Hitchin U8s Cheetahs
Team: Connor, Kieran, Osian, Adam, Luke, Archie, Huxley.
As reported by our very own Steve Andrews our ever present touchline reporter. The cheetahs had 3 games in total and got out to a flying start with unrelenting pressure from the off.
Game 1- 7-2 Win. Hitchin turned the ball with a defensive masterclass of 7 tags on the first possession of Shelford. This set the tone for the match eventually running out winners with a score line of 7-2. Try scorers: Adam 4, Luke 2, and Osian 1. Overall some good running lines great support play and offloads to runners at pace.
Game 2- 6-1 Win. Continued in the same vain with the hedgehogs eventually running out winners, 6-1. Tries: Adam 3, Luke 1, Kieran 1, and Connor 1.
Game 3 - 5-5 Draw .Saw a slight slip in performance with some unforced errors gifting the opponents a few tries ultimately resulting in a draw which flattered the opposition.
This game however saw the try of the day for the cheetahs with Luke offloading to Osian about 5 metres from their own line. Osian took the tall at pace running virtually the length of the pitch, showing some well-balanced running to weave his way through the defence to score a peach of a try!
Kieran also round off the day with a sublime finish dotting down in the corner with the last play of the game.
Tries: Adam 2, Osian1, Luke 1, kieran1.
Also a big welcome to Archie who had his debut for the Hedgehogs playing in the cheetahs.
POTM: Very difficult to choose due to a masterclass of teamwork, but eventually chosen by our pitch side specialist, Steve a shared award: Kieran Worbey and Adam Miles
Then to finish some Zulu as promised. Siphumelela ngoba sidlala njengoba iqembu elilodwa. Simunye!
Match Reporter: Simon Miles