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With a squad of only nine (so no substitutes) we were always going to have a tough day against the best and inevitably biggest clubs in Suffolk and Norfolk. That didn't seem to bother the boys though. Every boy played every minute of every grueling match. Their commitment has earned them a very well deserved place in the quarter finals to be held at the Leicester Tigers Welford Road ground on 1st December. here is how they did it: Seagulls 3 - Fakenham 2 The first half of our first match must have boosted our boys' confidence as they ran in three tries (two for Ben F and one for Matthew) and looked to be in complete control. Scrumaging, rucking, mauling and defense was textbook with some stunning tackling from Matthew in particular. The second half was a different story, their half time talk was clearly better than ours! we didn't score any more tries and let in two. But as it turned out, it was just the wake-up call we needed. Seagulls 1 - Bury St Edmunds 0 This was altogether a harder game against a more aggressive team (especially the coaches). But we held our own, got back to basics and Jonathan ran in the only try. The backs handled well with some good runs from James and Ben S on the wings and the forwards were solid. Seagulls 1 - N. Walsham 0 If we thought we had had a tough game against Bury, then we knew this would be tougher. We defended bravely with every player putting in strong hits. Our front row Joe, Jack and Jonathan continued to trouble the opposition in the scrums and lineouts, while Felix and Will tackled everything that moved and often before they even had a chance to move. The handling in our backs was excellent and Matthew scored another try after continual pressure to win the game. Seagulls 0 - Holt 0 This match was a bruising affair in both halves with both teams having chances and both defenses holding out on their own lines. Holt has some exceptional players including Harry, their scrum half, who scored the only try that we conceded at the Norwich Festival.But we never let him, or any of their runners, get into their stride. Everyone tackled beyond themselves including Ben S who unleashed some crunching blows.The draw was all we needed to get through to the final, but our fear was that we would have no one left standing to play in it. The Final: Seagulls 4 - Norwich 0 We played a very direct game, competing for every ball and working equally hard in defence as in attack. The first half closed two tries to nil up, both scored by Matthew. The second half saw Norwich pushing hard for tries and applying vast amounts of pressure in attack but we stood firm and drove them back, twice turning the ball over on our own line to relive the pressure. Because we had no substitutes, the second half had a bit of injury time, once when Jonathan needed to be patched-up having had a bleeding nose. But we stepped-up again and through excellent close work and good communication in the backs Matthew got yet another try and Will darted across the pitch for a trademark try in the corner. After our recent festival successes surely we are now the undisputed Norfolk and Suffolk U10 champions? Well done boys, yet again we're all very proud of you.  |