Festival Time for the U10's

This weekend the boys traveled away to Romford and Gidea Park RUFC who were holding their 4th mini festival. The weather was forecast to be wet and journey to Romford showed that to be the case. Woodham were drawn in Pool A with Bancroft, Burnham, Romford A and Woodford A.

The boys first game was at 10.50 against Bancroft. With the bare eight players, the tournament was going to be a tough day, but the main objective the boys were set was to enjoy themselves and play some good rugby.

The boys, captained by Bullet, came out firing on all cylinders but a strong Bancroft side with ruck pushed Woodham back quickly. Hoping to get the first score on the board, it wasn’t going Woodham’s way and Bancroft soon racked up the first try. Woodham dug deep but were not able to pull the score back by half time.

The second half was a similar affair with both sides competing well for the ball. Woodham were looking for the offloads from the tackle and supporting each other well, but Bancroft were just too strong in the ruck, turning the ball over on Woodham on a number of occasions. Final score was 2-0 to Bancroft.

After an hour break the boys took to the field against Woodford, with Bullet again taking the captains role. Good play again from the Woodham boys, although the tackling was not as low as it could have been allowing Woodford to continue to move forward with the ball in hand. Score at half time was 1-0 to Woodford. The boys also had a couple of minor injuries with Jinks getting knocked under the eye and Ox getting stood on in the ruck. Thankfully both well enough to continue.

The boys came out with a more positive tackling style after the break, with all boys tackling well. Again the ball was passed out of the tackle and support play was good at the breakdown. This effort from the boys paid dividends as the captain, Bullet, scored the first try of the day for Woodham to level the score. The score line remained unchanged at the final whistle and Woodham got their first points at the festival.

Next up was local rival Burnham and the Archie took over the captain’s role. There was some contention in the team as Burnham had a mixed team of U10’s and U11’s but did have RFU dispensation to allow the mixed team to play. The boys played well and were holding their own in the breakdown.

Dynamo came of worst in one tackle leaving him on the floor and looking like he was in lots of pain. Caught on the left shoulder around the neck area it looked like we may have to drop to 7 players. Thankfully this proved to be more winding than anything else and he was able to play on. The score at half time was 1-1, and Burnham made some player changes.

The second half consisted of more of the same with again good support play and offloading of the ball. Let down by some missed tackles and fast runners from the Burnham side, the final score was 3-1 to Burnham.

Although it was now clear that Woodham wouldn’t make it through to the Cup or Plate, the boys didn’t give up for the last match against home side Romford. It was to prove a close affair with try’s at both ends of the pitch. The boys almost lost out on a couple of tries through showboating and not grounding the ball as soon as they crossed the line, but luck was on their side.

The first half was abruptly stopped when Keano came of worst in a tackle, hurting his knee. After a check over it seemed he would be OK and he finished the first half with the score 4 – 3 in Woodham’s favor. However it was clear that even though he wanted to play on his knee was swollen and his festival was over.

With the agreement of the Romford coach, and one of their players volunteering to go off, the second half would consist of 7 a side. Both teams looking for the win drove hard in the tackle and the breakdown. Again Woodham’s drive of the opposition in the maul and excellent offloading and support meant they held the score and won the game 4-3 at the final whistle.

The boys gave there all today, played well as a team and all enjoyed the day. Thanks to the hosts Romford for the festival, and as a coach and parent I was extremely proud of how the boy presented themselves during the day and the effort they all gave.

No individual man of the match this week as the whole team gave everything and stepped up their game. Squad was Keano, Ashley, Jacques, Jakey, Jinks, OX, Bullet and Dynamo. Tries from Bullet, Keano, Jinks, Jakey and Ox (x2). Well done boys you should all be proud of what you achieved today.