Hitchin U9s with their medals and trophy
For their first participation in a competitive tournament where the best of the counties Rugby clubs where represented this was an amazing display and performance. This could have easily been seen as baptism of fire, however the U9s played displayed out of their skins with skill and determination to dominate the day.
Winning was pleasing but more importantly was seeing all the hard work pay off from training being taken into the matches . The games were by no means easy and there were some hard fought battles and hard tackles on all sides. Due to the limited numbers that were permitted our squad were split in two with one squad at Training and the other at Letchworth. Our Training squad worked very hard last week and performed brilliant in their drills & matches really underling the strength and depth we have in the U9s squad.
Hitchin 1 – Results – Winners Pool A and Trophy
Match 1 – Hitchin 6 – 0 Stevenage
Match 2 – Hitchin 6 – 1 Welwyn
Match 3 – Hitchin 4 -2 Letchworth
Match 4 – Hitchin 4 -2 Datchworth
Match 5 – Hitchin 3 -0 Royston
Team: Osian J, Gabriel K, Felix M, Dylan M, Adam M, Youssef S, Jamie T, William B, Fenton W, Samuel B, Eden S, Lucy B.
POTM: Adam Miles and Fenton Williams
Hitchin 2 – Results – Runners Up Pool B
Match 1 – Hitchin 10 – 0 Welwyn
Match 2 – Hitchin 6 – 0 St Albans
Match 3 – Hitchin 5 -4 Royston
Match 4 – Hitchin 3 -1 Datchworth
Match 5 – Hitchin 3 -4 Tabard
Match 6 – Hitchin 3 -3 Letchworth
Team: Alfie C, Harry J, Reece H, Ertan O, Tristan H, Tristam H, Joseph H-W, Connor H, Tjay H, Curtis H, George T, Mattias D.
POTM: Tristam Harwood and Harry Jervis
Overall our Hedgehogs were magnificent in defence with strong lines and prolific attack play. Both Hitchin teams started off with blistering pace coupled with superb passing and support play. Our passing was really outstanding and the U9s played intense defensive rugby leading to comfortable wins in the first few games. The enthusiasm and technical strength was abundant and particularly in our tackling which was extremely difficult for our challengers to handle. The U9s had to learn to play with a scrum half and picked this up very quickly incorporating it seamlessly in their play. We were immense in defence and this was the platform that they built on to overcome their opposition. There was turnover after turnover and we had almost every squad member scoring tries. With Hitchin in control of the ball we rapidly moved it into space and on to runners that went on to score quality tries. Hitchin 1 romped to victory Winning Pool A and Hitchin 2, Runners up narrowly by a single try. There were too many players that excelled and everyone contributed as part of the team.
What impressed us most was how well the players reacted to the challenge and executed the skills that we have been practicing so hard in training. Well done!
Thanks to all the Parents and Coaches that helped at both sessions – we all appreciate the support for the club and players. We’re very proud of all our players with both superb performances at Training and Letchworth.
Well Done and Congratulations Hitchin U9s!
Match Reporter, Birant Osman