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North Walsham Festival 16th March 2008
Drawn in a strong group with Diss, Holt and the hosts North Walsham it was going to be a day of hard work for all our players.
Wymondham went on from the other group to win the cup, with North Walsham picking up the plate. Thanks to the great support from parents and players today, especially those who had to be extracted from the mud bath called a “Car park”.
(Ben F 2, Tom 1, Matt 1) Holt 0 - Southwold 1 (Ben F 1) N. Walsham 0 - Southwold 1 (Ben F 1) FINAL: West Norfolk 0 - Southwold 4 (Ben F 1, Tom 1, Matt 2) Fortunately we kicked the tournament off with a match against Diss. Though the opposition never stopped tackling we never looked like losing. Our front three (the 3Js) were controlled in the set pieces and strong in the loose. Their strength meant that it always took at least one of the Diss players to stop each one of them - including Jack. Our backs were passing well and inevitably the usual suspects ran in some great tries. Spirits were lifted by this victory and the boys were now gagging to play our old adversaries. The match against Holt was as hard as expected. Despite the absence of Harry they are still a well drilled and formidable side. There were sustained periods of defense which highlighted our commitment but likewise our continual pressure eventually gave Ben F a chance to scramble over for a try. We now only needed a draw against N. Walsham to get to the final. Joe exploded from the kick off only to be bundled into touch 2 metres from the line. The home team clearly raised their game but despite Ben Fs try being the only difference, a Southwold win never seemed in doubt. During a period of sustained attack almost throughout the second half, Joe had a try disallowed and Tom was held up over the line. In the final against West Norfolk, our boys needed a little time to adjust to the Ozzie referee's take on the rules which were clearly frustrating them - and indeed some of our supporters. But they didn't back-chat and held their discipline and after sustaining a little pressure their rugby skill started to shine through. Notably one of our 4 tries was a well worked push-over with Matt emerging last to claim it. The other scores resulted from forwards and backs combining in open play. Our wingers didn't get any tries at the festival but this didn't mean that they didn't get their knees muddy like the rest. Their handling was impressive in such conditions and indeed Gabriel did score in the corner against Diss but a Diss coach (standing next to me) called touch - by mistake! At the end of the day, if the forwards do their job well, which they all more than did on saturday, then it's easier for the backs to do theirs. There were some outstanding performances with some boys playing better than they have all season but the credit goes to the whole team. Every boy, whether in the starting line-up or a sub, contributed to an emphatic U10 victory at the Festival - one in which we didn't concede a single try. Well done.  |
