Home
SEVENOAKS UNDER 9s SHARE TROPHY AT WESTCOMBE PARK RUGBY FESTIVAL
22 Apr 2007
On another hot, sunny day, and following last week’s unbeaten run during the Kent Mini Rugby Festival, Sevenoaks Under 9s travelled to Westcombe Park as one of 20 teams for their ever popular annual mini rugby festival.
For the pool stages, Sevenoaks were drawn with Old Colfeians, Old Elthamians, Richmond, and Tonbridge Juddians.
For their first match, Sevenoaks were up against Tonbridge Juddians, the Kent champions following their success last week at the Kent Festival. Sevenoaks unfortunately started very slowly, and this was exploited well by a very focused opposition. Sevenoaks were under pressure from the start, with far too many missed tackles and a lack of cohesion and understanding enabling an impressive looking Judds to deservedly run out 3-0 winners.
The next match was against Old Colfeians, who Sevenoaks had lost to by a toss of a coin the previous week in the semi-finals of the Kent Festival. Somewhat against the run of play, Sevenoaks scored first through Kieran Thomas, whose pace and strength enabled him to sprint home and score. Old Colfe’s continued to play to their strengths and only last ditch tackling kept them from scoring. However, after one ruck too many, Old Colfe’s got over to equalise. Suddenly though, Sevenoaks were galvanised into action with Tom Cantlay displaying for the first time one of his fast, strong runs that are so difficult to stop. A good off-load to the pacey William Yates almost resulted in a second score and gave notice of a change of attitude. In the second half, the tackling and rucking was far more effective and this was combined with some excellent link play. Following such play, TomCantlay was able to jink his way over for Sevenoaks second. The third came straight from the Old Colfe’s restart, with the powerful Josh Kidd able to use his strength to score, breaking numerous tackles on the way. The final score again came from Tom Cantlay, whose strong run over followed earlier excellent rucking by Thomas Tilling. Thus an impressive 4-1 win was recorded.
Richmond were the next opponents. A good break with excellent passing by Sevenoaks was stopped just short of the line. Fully committed tackling from the effective Jack & Louis Ingamells resulted in a turnover, with the ball being passed out to Kieran Thomas whose speed was enough to get over and open the scoring. More excellent rucking by Thomas Tilling and Alfred Gard saw the ball get to the busy Sam Thompson, who saw a gap and was quickly through for Sevenoaks’ second. A brilliantly executed back move involving the always present Harry Knox and Tom Cantlay saw the Richmond defence split open, and a simple but so effectively timed pass to Marcus Lyne enabled him to speed clear and score. Sevenoaks were now in top gear, and superb play by William Yates and link play with others resulted in Tom Cantlay easing over for the fourth try. The pressure was maintained in the second half, with keen tackling, notably by Max Skinner, preventing Richmond from making any headway. Soon after, more passing and good support saw Kieran Thomas over for his second of the game, with Josh Kidd again using his strength to power through the defence and score, thus resulting in a 6-0 win.
The last pool match was against Old Elthamians. OE’s had by far the better of the opening minutes, with the conceding of a soft try by Sevenoaks giving cause for concern although last ditch tackling by Tom Cantlay prevented a further score. However, Sevenoaks began to exert some pressure and from a Sevenoaks line-out, Tom Cantlay collected and one of his strong runs resulted in an equaliser, whilst a further period of determined play saw Kieran Thomas over for Sevenoaks to take the lead. OE’s kept up the pressure, pinning Sevenoaks back to their own line and three times were almost able to drive over. Sevenoaks were struggling to clear their lines, but after a series of half breaks, Sevenoaks finally got the ball down the line to Marcus Lyne who was able to sprint clear and score the final try of the match, giving Sevenoaks a 3-1 win.
With a try score of 13 for and five against, a difference of +8 wasn’t quite enough to get through to the cup competition but secured a place in the plate event.
After a long wait, Sevenoaks played their semi-final, which was against Tunbridge Wells. Weariness was beginning to play a part, as a lack of tackling allowed T. Wells through to score early on. Sevenoaks refused to give in, and after some good rucking, Harry Knox stole through to equalise. Having done the hard work though, Sevenoaks again allowed T. Wells to score with too many tackles being missed. In the second half, though, Sevenoaks clawed themselves back into contention. More pressure play from Sevenoaks eventually resulted in the ball being passed to Marcus Lyne, whose run was just strong and fast enough to get over in the corner. In the last moments, T. Wells several times almost got over but tremendous resilience by the whole Sevenoaks team kept them out, with the final score being 2-2. A count-back of tries resulted in Sevenoaks going through to the final due to having a difference one better than T. Wells.
The final was against Beckenham, who Sevenoaks had beaten the previous week. The opening exchanges were fairly even, with both teams tackling well and putting together some good passages of play. But it was Beckenham who opened the scoring, following a turnover ball and some missed tackles. Sevenoaks re-grouped, with Tom Cantlay making a good break and when held up just short of the line, the resulting pass to Marcus Lyne enabled him to drive over. In the second half, Sevenoaks were unable to control their possession close to their line and from a turnover, Beckenham were again able to take the lead. Sevenoaks came back again, with good link play finally ending with Josh Kidd getting the second equaliser. Both teams continued to press for a winner, but the final whistle signalled a drawn final. In this situation, with it being the final and in accordance with the rules, the trophy was shared.
In strength sapping conditions, all the boys had played really well. With the exception of their first match, they had shown tremendous commitment and played very effectively together as a team. The strength of all the teams competing was very high and the boys had had to work very hard to get the results they had. They had fought their way through and deservedly could enjoy the satisfaction of again being winners at the Westcombe Park festival.
Squad: Tom Cantlay, Alfred Gard, Jack Ingamells, Louis Ingamells, Josh Kidd, Harry Knox, Marcus Lyne, Max Skinner (C), Kieran Thomas, Sam Thompson, Thomas Tilling, and William Yates.