Have we become warm weather players?
It might be risky to be too excited but the weekend provided a much brighter picture than previous weeks
Results.
First XV v Old Sils 'A' won 37-19
Dev XV v Woodrush 'A' lost 16-38
Under 7s v Sutton lost 10-11, won 9-7, lost 5-8
Under 8s v Sutton lost 5-6, won 8-5, drew 8-8
Under 16s v Birmingham Exiles won 34-7
First XV
Having been on student collection duty I missed the rare experience of our boys actually winning. However, I knew something good must have happened when Tommo sent me a match report that made Martyn Slow's Vandals masterpieces look brief. With editing complete, let's have a read.
Old yardleians season of doom and gloom was brightened significantly on
saturday with a performance which belied their current league position.
With
the opposition turning up with enough subs for 2 teams, yards stepped forward to
take on the challenge with the best rugby seen at tilehouse lane all
season.
The rout was started by captain Tom Thompson linking up with the
centres to crash over for the first try. This seemed to spur the team on to
score from every opportunity. Our stand in scrum half was next to cross the line and
whilst Old Sils repiled with 2 tries of their own this just made the home team
perform to greater heights. The old yards scrummage took every chance to push
the oppostion backwards and then wing Andy Pearce came to the party with a brace
of tries of his own, one a stunning 60 yard run with the Sils defence barely
laying a finger on him. Even though Sils replaced most of their team at half
time the yards pressure continued and with additional tries from Adam Walker and
Carl Bucknall sils were gifted their third try of the afternoon. With
conversions and penalties the final score was 37-19.
The Minis
No, we have not converted to Tennis, when you look at the scorring system it indicates that instead of playing one match our young stars play 3 shorter games. That clears that up.
Lets take a look at the under 7s
On a wet March morning the U7’s travelled to Sutton for an away
match missing several regular players due to Mother’s Day commitments. The U8’s had no such problems and Charlie
Dickson manfully agreed to help out the younger lads in the U7’s alongside a
couple of kids from Sutton. The OY team
consisted of Charlie D, Ben, George, Charlie Saunders and Harry, the latter 2
being only reception age but very keen to play in the matches.
The captain was Charlie Saunders, playing in only his
3rd match and he did excellently, organising the older lads in
defence. The game ebbed and flowed and
all of the boys did superbly, tagging well and always going forward in
attack. We just lost narrowly in the
first game 11-10 which was a really good effort. Try scorers were Charlie D (3), George (3),
Ben (2) and Harry (2).
In the second game Harry captained the side and we really kicked on
from the first game. All of the boys
were exceptional, in attacked they ran forward, no-one went into touch (which
was an area we have been working hard on) and they all supported each other in
attack. We ran out winners by 2 try’s at
9-7 with George again scoring 3 and Ben, Harry and Charlie D crossing
twice.
By the 3rd game our lads were exhausted, Sutton had
fresh legs to bring on and it was a big ask for our U7’s. Ben skippered the team and led from the front
scoring 3 tries supported by George and Charlie D who scored one apiece. A few of the boys picked up knocks, including
young Charlie who showed great fortitude in getting back on the pitch. Despite our efforts we were well beaten
8-5.
I have to say despite the loss in the last game the boys were
fantastic and they should be very proud of themselves. They tried their hearts out and managed to
win one and only narrowly lose another game despite missing a number of key
players and having some quite young boys in the team. The boys are really improving and learning
the game of rugby. They know how to
defend and tagged well, there were also very few handling errors, forward
passes, or instances of players going into touch. This is pleasing as we have worked hard on
these areas. Their attacking play is also really good, they
have got the hang of making sure they always run forward and we scored a number
of tries with the ball going through several pairs of hands.
Well done U7’s.
Followed by the Under 8s
This week the under 8s travelled to Sutton Coldfield. Eight boys were give a
pass out from Mother's Day duties to represent Old Yards. Charlie volunteered to
make up the numbers in the under 7s which left Alex, Damon, Dan E, Dan G, Ellis,
Lewis and Presley to form the side.
The boys played 3 matches and built
on the skills they have been developing all year. In the past two weeks we have
played 7 matches and for some quirk of fate we have failed to guess which hand
the ref is holding the leaf in for any of them. So for all 3 matches we started
off in defense.
Dan E captained the first match and taking well to the
new role developed an ingenious system to ensure everyone in the side got a turn
to receive the ball. The boys played well and ended up being narrowly beaten by
6 tries to 5. Damon managed to score two tries. Dan E, Lewis and Presley all
turned in a try a piece. The lads also managed to put in some determined tagging
to turnover the ball.
In the second match, Old Yards stepped up a gear.
Damon stepped up to lead the side. The tagging was ferocious with the boys
completing lots of tagging to turnover possession on a couple of occasions. The
running with ball in hands was excellent. The match ended with victory by 8
tries to 5. Alex, Dan E and Damon all ran in a couple of tries each and Dan G
and Presley both added a try.
The boys were tiring as they entered the
third match, but their determination was amazing. Sutton Coldfield had the
advantage of enough players to call on to have a new side for each match whereas
all of the Old Yards side played every match. Therefore, to turn in a score of 8
tries all in the final match was wonderful. Presley captained the match and
scored two of the tries. Dan G also scored two. The remaining tries were spread
across Alex, Damon, Dan E and Lewis.
Overall, this was the best I have
seen the boys play all season. Having been at Twickenham the day before, I was
more impressed by the performance of the boys although England were excellent. I
was very proud to coach the boys and hope that both Stuart Lancaster and I am
allowed to continue in our roles. I am honoured to be involved with such a
wonderful team. Well done all. I look forward to next week against Kings Norton.
The Under16s visited the Exiles located very close to the landing strip of Birmingham Airport. It was a game of contrasting styles that Kevin said was fascinating to those with an insight into the game of rugby. Well, that rules out most of our lot! The Exiles had a very strong pack and based their game on scrum and driving mauls, which in fairness they were very good at. As we woke up our boys worked it outt that moving the ball wide would be a good idea. Now, there are moments which cause mild amusement and stick in the mind. I was standing on the touchline when a home supporter reminded me about how they beat us last season. He then asked if we had a game plan and I replied that we try to play an expansive game. He suggested that our backs would not be able to beat the home team's wingers who were lightening fast. As I watched Jordan and Tre'rail, our wingers, sprint in for two tries each, I smiled just a little bit and left it at that. A good team performance.
Weekend fixtures
Saturday 24 March
First XV t.b.a.
Dev XV v Essington home 3 p.m.
Vandals v Handsworth home 3 p.m.
Sunday 25 March
U7 v Kings Norton away 10.30
U8 v Kings Norton away 10.330
U9 v Kings Norton away 10.30
U11 t.b.a.
U16 v Aston Old Eds away 11.00
Remember clocks go forward by one hour so less sleep.
The wonderful social scene at The Ys
Saturday 31 st March sees a night dedicated to the 'Help our Heroes' campaign.
From 8 pm,
Two live bands, a quality D.J., a charity auction,
A welcome home to Millie and celebration of her Kilmanjaro success
An evening not to be missed and only a fiver each.
More details from Lee Cupples (07794764470)
And Finally
Well done Wales, The quality was obvious for all to see. Shame about Scotland.
A
win at Everton in midweek came as no real surprise but I am worried
about Saturday as the Villa often play above themselves when they
visit. But, we all know that Mr Wenger knows best.