U10s v Holt and Diss (13-1-08) Seagulls 1 - Holt 5 Seagulls 1 - Diss 0 Seagulls 1 - Holt 1 When you face your enemy after a long journey, the secret is to make sure that it is them that has made the journey. Regrettably this was not the case on sunday. Despite an encouraging first five minutes against the home team this was definitely a wake-up call for the Seagulls. Holt was very well drilled and closed us down and turned over ball at every opportunity and with the electric pace of several backs they went 3 up by half time. Whether it was the christmas break, the 2 hour journey or our worrying 'dropped-heads syndrome' (DHS) after Holt's first couple of tries or because we seem to suffer from being slow off the mark - the match was lost in the first half. We started the second half brilliantly though, getting a well deserved try scored by an equally deserving Jon. But despite a great deal of defensive effort where Felix in particular never stopped fighting for the ball, Holt's backs ran in two further tries including a second from Harry, their Billy Whizz scrum half. Apart from a couple of great tackles from James and Will in particular, our usual strong tacklers were simply tackling too high to be effective or were out of position. This game may prove to be a turning point and what we will learn from it may be essential for success at Welford Road. The second match against Diss was a single half match and was played immediately after the Holt game. Despite this, the boys came out fighting and immediately took control of the game. Continual pressure in their half resulted in a try scored by Ben F. But it has to be said that with a few final passes we could have scored much earlier. Newcomer, Jake, had a respectable debut and Joe, Jon and Jake (the 3Js) proved themselves in the scrum once again. But unfortunately, Gabrielle and James didn't get enough ball on the wings to have the chance to prove themselves. After a 15 minute break, we went up against Holt again for another single half game. This was much more encouraging as we begun to string some passes together and started to ruck better. Billy Whizz scored another fantastic try for Holt but we retaliated with good pressure finished off by a trademark jinxing run by Ben F. The boys left the field with some pride restored. Seagulls U7's v Holt (13-01-08) A Seagulls 6 v Holt 5 An early start with a long drive into North Norfolk did not deter our spirits and despite only fielding a team of 6 (plus one supplied from the opposition – who was truly hopeless), the Under 7’s set to with their heads held high and keen for another win. There were firm words from the coach before kick-off to remind all players that they must play as a team if they are to win and so put into practise the newly acquired passing skills and not simply glory runs at any cost. It was certainly a tough match with Holt’s tries seemingly with less effort than ours on a small pitch with poor markings. This meant a huge amount of concentration was required to keep ahead. The tagging was relentless and realising that we needed to create space on the outside to get round their strong defence, Jake, Annabel and Charles were able to get into their rhythm of scoring again. The game was a generous 20 minutes in total (should have been 10!) which meant no giving up even when Holt tried very hard to at least get a draw in the final minutes. Well done to our new recruit Nicholas, who did exceptionally well for his first match and despite a number of hard knocks, he kept coming back on for more. Maddie continues to grow in confidence and ability and by now is a key member of our starting line. Although a useful ‘speed tagger’ at times, Henry’s first try still eludes him but no doubt once he cracks it many more will follow. (A reluctant second game against Holt was played following Diss, but by then we had run out of puff and lost 2-6 to a side that was picked from a squad of over 20!) Seagulls U7's v Diss (13-01-08) A Seagulls 5 v Diss 6 The game started shortly after the first and we were immediately at a disadvantage having played for 20 minutes whereas Diss had only played for 10 - but at least we were now on the bigger pitch with better markings. Diss clearly had some fast runners and showed good support play which meant that scoring was far easier once close to our try line. This is something that we all noticed and will be worked on in future training. Nevertheless, with a better sub from Diss to make a full team and less injuries, the Seagulls battled on hard truly believing that this too could be theirs for the taking. Again Annabel used her pace to break their defence and even their loaned player scored for us which was much appreciated! But alas we were eventually out gunned by a faster and better drilled side. The positive from loosing is that we have seem exactly how better sides play and now we have to focus of raising our standards even higher in future. Lots more training!! A huge brave effort was given by all the players for which coaches and loyal parents applauded. Holt - Southwold U8's (13-1-08) Diss - Southwold U8's (scores Unkown) These two games where some of the best tagging rugby I have seen Holt and Diss are very good clubs and have some big squads to choose from,our boys really did raise there game to another Level that day and showed that a squad of 8 can play well when they focus and play for each other. The team shone in every area on the pitch and as we play the six tag rule actually turned Diss and Holt on more than one occasion which is the first time this season we had achieved that so from Rob and I a very well done ( sorry to say I forget to right down the scores opps).