Under 12's

South Woodham Ferrers RFC Under 12s V Maldon and Brightlingsea

The boys maintained their good early season form with victories against the visiting Maldon and Brightlingsea teams.

First up, South Woodham took on a committed and well drilled Maldon side. The early exchanges were even, with both sides competing in the scrums and line outs. Marco scored a good opening score and Callum W doubled the lead shortly after. South Woodham were enjoying success in the tackle area and Will M scored the third try. Callum W was successful with 2 conversions. The second half was more even. Maldon showed good attacking intent, but weren’t able to breach the home defence. Marco crossed for the final try which Lee converted. Final score 26-0.

In the next game, the boys started strongly. Daniel, Callum W and Tom (following a rampaging run) scored quick tries. Brightlingsea kept battling but Marco added a further try following a sniping run. In the second half, Brightlingsea turned the ball over and scampered over for a well-earned try. Nathan and Callum B completed the try scoring for South Woodham, and Lee converted 5 of the tries. Final score 40-5.  

Today’s squad: Aaron, Alex F, Callum B, Callum W, Daniel, Drew, Henry, Joe, Kyran, Lee, Marco, Mitchell, Nathan, Rhys, Tom, William H and William M.

23rd October 2011 South Woodham Ferrers RFC Under 12s V Brentwood

The boys travelled to Brentwood keen to maintain their recent good form. South Woodham started well when Daniel retrieved a loose ball, then from a standing start arced around his opponent and pinned his eyes back to race to the line. Callum W added the extras. The boys continued to press their hosts and Callum W scored a fine solo try which he then converted. Brentwood showed their quality and hit back with a converted try of their own before half time.

The second half started in similar fashion. Marco crossed for our third try and Nathan ran an excellent line to score after good work by Drew and Callum B in the forwards. With the last play of the game, Tom used his strength to crash over from a 5 metre penalty. Callum W continued a faultless kicking display to land all the conversions. The boys ran out winners 35-7.

The coaches rang the changes for the second game. Unfortunately, your reporter was distracted on the side line, so can only report than a keenly contested game finished with honours even, 10-10. Well done again today boys, as the shape, structure and team work continues to improve.

Today’s squad: Alex F, Alex S, Callum B, Callum S, Callum W, Daniel, Drew, Henry, James, Joe, Lee, Marco, Mitchell, Nathan, Rhys, Tom, William J, William H and William M.

9th October 2011 South Woodham Ferrers RFC Under 12s v Rochford

South Woodham entertained Rochford on a sunny Sunday, and built on their encouraging performance the previous week. In the first game, South Woodham’s forwards gained parity in the set piece and bossed the breakdown. This platform enabled the half- back pairing of Marco and Rhys to direct play and bring their wider backs into action. The highlights of the first half saw Marco score 2 fine tries, with Lee adding the extras. In the second half, Rochford showed good spirit and scored 2 unconverted tries. However, South Woodham maintained their performance and saw tries shared between the forwards (Joe) and backs (Callum W). Callum W was successful with the conversions taking the final score to 28-10.

The second game was a closer affair. South Woodham were disrupted by a couple of injuries and had to reshuffle their pack. The boys also dropped the standard of their tackling and were punished as Rochford ran in 3 well-earned tries, all converted. South Woodham continued to show good spirit and ran in 3 good tries from the forward trio of Kyran, Joe and Callum B. South Woodham unfortunately missed one conversion, so saw them narrowly lose 19-21.

A great effort again, with improved shape, structure and team work – well done.

Sunday’s squad: Aaron, Alex F, Alex P, Callum B, Callum S, Callum W, Henry, James, Joe, Kyran, Lee, Marco, Mitchell, Nathan, Rhys, Tom, William J, William H and William M

2nd October 2011 South Woodham Ferrers RFC Under 12s v Southend

South Woodham travelled to face a traditionally strong Southend side on a scorching Sunday morning. In the first game, the hosts started strongly, but South Woodham were strong in the tackle. Despite being well led by James, South Woodham were also finding it tough at the set piece and soon Southend opened the scoring. However, South Woodham remained competitive at the break down, and Drew broke away from a tackle to feed Callum W, who jinked his way to a typically virtuoso try.

The hosts rallied and scored again to take the lead before half time.  The second half followed in a similar vein, with little between the teams, and Callum B showing up well on debut. Callum W struck to bring the scores level and the game finished all square at 10-10.

In the second match, South Woodham stepped up their performance, becoming more solid at set piece and showing more structure when in possession. But the telling factor was the team’s efforts at the break down, where they bullied the opposition, enabling them to progress through several phases of play. Joe, with a bulldozing charge, and Daniel, with an electric cross-field run crossed for well-earned tries, Callum W adding the extras. Southend never gave up and showed adventure with ball in hand but found in difficult to breach the resolute Woodham defence. Although Southend scored a try, South Woodham held out for a 14-5 win.

There were some great performances in very testing conditions – well done!

Sunday’s squad: Aaron, Alex F, Callum B, Callum S, Callum W, Daniel, Drew, Henry, James, Joe, Kyran, Lee, Marco, Mitchell, Nathan, Rhys, Tom, William H and William M

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