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U11's Match Report

Match Reports for 2011/12 Season

Sunday 9^th October

Bexhill & Hastings Mini Rugby Festival – Away

Team Selection: Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Ethan Murress, Harry Mouat, Alex Morris, Henry Hicks, Owen Lloyd, Sam Bing, Dan Astill, Ben McDaid, Tom waterman, Jack Sambrook, Joey Lambden, Joshua Moore & Connor Scholes.

We were particularly looking forward to commencing our 2011/12 campaign with the first festival of the season, especially considering how we finished last season with such dominance. Another fantastic days weather greeted us in Hastings, the sun was shining and spirits were high.

Due to a very sad accident, one of the Healthfield under 11s coaches had sadly passed away a couple of days before the festival and as a mark of respect, the Heathfield under 11s did not attend the festival and therefore there was some alteration to the pool matches. Our thoughts are very much with the family of our former colleague.

Our first match was against Hove, a team that had frustrated us in previous tournaments, however today, the boys were not ready to let them have it all their own way and quickly started to dominate play, especially the forwards, who were just too strong for the Hove pack. The tackles came in thick, fast and hard, with every player contributing to the game. Early season rustiness, probably cost us a definitive result, but too many passes were mis-handled and eventually we had to settle for a 5-5 draw. Our try came from a fantastic interception by Lewis Pooley, who crossed the line with sheer brute force, in true Prop style.

Our second match was against Lewes, a team that we had slaughtered multiple times last season. I think I am right in saying they have never scored against us and today wasn’t going to change that. Despite massive improvement from the Lewes side, the Crowborough boys really dominated play and the final result of 0-0 was a reflection on how well Lewes defended their line. For the first 5 minutes, Crowborough were literally camped on the Lewes line, but despite their dominance, we just could not get the ball across the line.

Our final pool match was against a Haywards Heath Barbarian side, a side that had been thrashed by Lewes, but had really improved by the time they faced Hove. We needed to beat them by 6 tries to nil in order to make a play-off for the finals. Simple instructions were given to the team, “if you want to make the finals, then you need to beat them 30-0”……. Despite lots of handling errors and poor passing discipline, the boys totally dominated the game and it was only a matter of time before the tries started to appear. Tom Waterman ran in 4 tries each showing amazing pace and focus and our Hooker Ben Chapman crossed the line twice to give us the much needed 30-0 victory.

We were tied with Lewes, we had exactly the same results as they had and decided with the Lewes Coach that we would decide the tie with a ‘Golden Try’. This is when the boys stepped up and within a minute Ben Chapman crossed the line to take us into the final.

The final was contested with East Grinstead, another team we had soundly beaten on previous meetings. Immediately our dominance in the forwards was noticeable and East Grinstead did well to only concede one try on the 1^st half, with Ben McDaid picking up his first of the day. The 2^nd half was even more dominated by Crowborough with Ben McDaid running another try in, before our Scrum Half Owen Lloyd crossed the line after a tremendous effort form a set play. The final result was Crowborough 15, East Grinstead 0.

Match Reports for 2010/2011 Season.

Uckfield Festival of Rugby 17^th April 2011

Team: Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Henry Hicks, Ethan Murress, Sam Bing, Archie Faulkner, Josh Moore, Tom Waterman, Jack Sambrook, Joey Lambden, Harry Mouat.

The under 10s had a great day of Rugby and were desperate to finish the season strongly. Anticipation and expectation were running high, we knew we had a side capable of beating the best teams in the region, but at crucial moments throughout the season, had failed to realise the potential – so today was the day, or was it?

Our first match was against a confident Lewes side who had just won their own Festival a week earlier. Our boys were focused and from the first move of the game dominated every aspect. Tackling, passing, rucking, mauling – they had it all and it was only a matter of seconds before the tries started. Tom Waterman kicked off proceedings with his first of many, before Alex Mason started his contribution; Sam Bing crossed the line for his first, then Ben Chapman, followed by Tom again and again! The Referee continued the game despite us being 6 tries clear, so Josh Moore thought he would add to the score with a glorious run up the wing, before Tom continued with a 4^th of the game, with Alex adding a 2^nd to his tally. Final score Crowborough 45 Lewes 0.

Our second pool match was against Burgess Hill, a team we had never played before. Well the boys didn’t seem to let that concern them and within a few seconds Alex was kicking off with his third of the day, followed by Tom to add a couple more, taking his tally to 6! And then Joey Lambden getting his name on the scoring sheet and then Josh Moore picked one up, before Tom picked up another. Great play, the game was dominated by the Reds and really Burgess Hill didn’t get close to our line. Final score Crowborough 30 – Burgess Hill 0.

Our pool final was with Horsham, who hadn’t lost a match and were again an unknown team to us, however that didn’t seem to affect anything, the boys carried on where they left off with Alex starting the tries with a lovely little pick up and run, Sam Bing was quick to follow suit getting his second of the day, then, yeah you guessed it, Tom Waterman continued his little collection by adding a couple more. Not wanting to feel left out, Jack made a beautiful run and picked up his first and again a fabulous effort for a 2^nd , which was disallowed. Ben Chapman picked up a second try before Lewis Pooley broke through to collect his first of the day. Final result Crowborough 35 Horsham 0.

With a clean sheet and 22 tries on the board, we were all feeling very confident for the final match against Edenbridge. This was a much tougher match, the Edenbridge team were big and very physical and the match did become quite scrappy at times. Edenbridge were kept away from the Crowborough half, but a quick run led to a rare venture into our territory and resulted in their first try. Crowborough kept the pressure on and continued to dominate play, but again a quick break led to a second try. Despite the obvious disappointment the boys kept piling on the pressure and it was only a matter of time before they were going to cross the line, problem was the time did come, but a high tackle resulted in no try! Instead we were awarded a penalty and had to drop back 5 meters, nevertheless, the pressure continued and as we got to the line another high tackle was made against us and despite the ball being popped and us crossing the line for what we thought was a try, we were again awarded a penalty and again had to drop back to take it. In fairness Edenbridge defended well, they were under such enormous pressure and managed to stop the boys from going on another try fest. A disappointing end for the boys, but despite losing 10 – 0 they were quite rightly proud of their achievement, which let’s face it if you score 22 trys and only concede 2, you would normally expect to have won I think it is only a matter of time before their day arrives.

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East Sussex Festival of Rugby 13^th March 2011

Team: Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Henry Hicks, Owen Lloyd, Sam Bing, Ben Mcdaid, Josh Moore, Tom Waterman, Dan Astill, Jack Sambrook, Joey Lambden, Harry Mouat.

Firstly I would like to thank East Grinstead Rugby Club for hosting such a great festival, they avoided playing on their own pitches for 6 weeks to ensure that they were in as good a condition as possible and despite the weather, they held up well.

In our age group Brighton are and always have been the team to beat and have been the County Champions for 3 years running.

Our first match was against Brighton and from the start it was clear that nothing was going our way – Brighton admitted ‘Playing to the Ref’ and off-side, horrendous tackles and scrum spinning seemed to be acceptable! Despite that, Brighton’s well rehearsed set pieces and overall dominance was sufficient for them to have the game go their way. I think it fair to say that even if the poor judgements had gone our way, the result would have been the same. Final score Brighton 15 Crowborough 0.

Our second game followed immediately after our first and was against a rested Heathfield side – this game was different, we were dominant and obviously the stronger side, however, they were awarded a penalty try which as a referee I still don’t understand. It is always difficult and as a referee I do sympathise with the difficult job – however this decision was enough to see us out of the final and into the Plate play-off.

Our next match was against Uckfield and the boys were really up for the game. We were extremely dominant and the enormous tackles coming one after another. It wasn’t long before Alex and Henry went over the line to give Henry the first try of the day, followed by a long run from Tom to pick up his first and then Harry picked up a third. The Uckfield persistence did pay off and eventually they pulled one back – final score Crowborough 15 – Uckfield 5.

Our play off match to get into the plate final was against Hastings, a very new team and not the strongest of teams. Despite this, they really tried hard and should be complimented on their effort, which was 100% even when the match was well and truly lost. Tom kicked off proceedings with his 2^nd of the day, Henry then picked up his 2^nd, Ben Chapman followed with his 1^st of the day, then Alex ran his 1^st of the day with a ‘Ashton’ finish (luckily for him he didn’t drop the ball during his triple pirouette somersault effort!!), then it was back to Tom for another try, then Jack and although technically the game was now over (6 clear tries), the ref continued and allowed Joey to get his first of the day. Final score Crowborough 35 – Hasting 0.

Plate final time and we had Uckfield as the opposition. Confidence was running high as we had already beaten them once. This time Uckfield really stepped up their game and our boys didn’t get it all their own way – however after some really impressive rugby Owen Lloyd ran a fantastic try, which was quickly followed by one from Ben Chapman..... As the boys tired Uckfield pulled a try back which set up a very nail-biting few minutes. The boys held on and eventually were awarded the win and the Plate..... Well Done to the whole team.

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7^th November 2010 Crowborough Mini Rugby Festival

Team : Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Harry Mouat, Dan Astill, Sam Bing, Henry Hicks, Jamie Beck, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Joey Lambden, Tom Waterman.

Expectations were running high after the performance at the Hastings Festival, the boys looked fired up, the coaches were fired up and as always the parents were most certainly fired up.

First match was against East Grinstead and from the kick off, the boys were dominant using their pace and strength to devastating effect. The boys enjoyed most of the possession and the tries were just a matter of time away.... Joey Lambden ran in the first try, quickly followed by a fantastic run from Owen Lloyd and a third being run in by Ben McDaid. Final score Crowborough 15, East Grinstead 0.

The second match was against Tonbridge Judds, a team that has really given us a hard time in previous meetings – but that was before and today, Judds faced a very different team. I could hear the Judd coaches saying that Crowborough were clearly the team to beat, a real compliment and very accurate. Hit after hit, tackle after tackle, the boys dominated play. Defence was impeccable and attack was awesome. It was only a matter of time before the scores would come and Ben Chapman broke through the Judds defence to score the two tries of the game. The game was very much a game of nearly – I haven’t seen so many disallowed tries in a game, we had slight knock ons, a couple held up and all credit to the referee, the decisions were right. Final score Crowborough 10, Tonbridge Judds 0.

Still with a clean sheet it was time to meet Tunbridge Wells, another team that had well and truly beaten us in previous encounters – but not today. Our defensive play was unbreakable and Tunbridge Wells just couldn’t get close to scoring. In contrast we were having opportunity after opportunity with Ben Chapman breaking through to score the first. Tunbridge Wells managed to stop us touching down a couple more time, before Joey Lambden broke the backline and touched down for his 2^nd of the day. Final score Crowborough 10, Tunbridge Well 0.

Our Semi-Final was against Eastbourne who had conceded 7 tries the last time we met. This time was to be a similar story. It was a one sided game, Alex Mason blasted through their defence from the kick off and racked up the first try, followed shortly by Tom Waterman with the first of his touch downs and then Ben Chapman ran his 3^rd of the day. In the second half Tom Waterman made a run from almost the Crowborough line, he side-stepped his way through the whole team and touched down for his 2^nd of the game. Final score Crowborough 20, Eastbourne 0.

Confidence was high, we had made our first Festival Final and were up against Sevenoaks, the team that managed to get a win against us at Hastings (against all the odds). This time they were stronger, they used their size to great effect and all credit to our boys for containing them. Although the visitors managed to break through and score a single try, the defensive play displayed by Crowborough was just out of this world. Ben McDaid....!!! Total Respect, he hit some really big lads and saved the score running away. Final Score Crowborough 0, Sevenoaks 5.

I can’t sum up the performance any better than Ginge did, when he said the Team deserved the ‘Player of the Week’ Medal.... There was no selfish play, the boys finally really gelled as a team and were a just brilliant. WELL DONE...... They really did deserve the runners up medal

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10^th October 2010 – Hastings Mini Rugby Festival

Team : Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Harry Mouat, Dan Astill, Sam Bing, Henry Hicks, Jamie Beck, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Josh Moore, Joey Lambden, Tom Waterman.

After our less than successful friendly at Edenbridge, our expectations were not as high as perhaps they should have been. In our pool we had Hove, Sevenoaks, Hastings and East Grinstead and with the exception of Hastings, our records against them have been less than ideal. Since moving onto full contact all the teams have proved difficult opponents and have mostly beaten us convincingly.

Now all that has changed – that is ‘History’ and hello Crowborough Under 10s A Team...... Welcome to the world of Rugby. What a difference a week makes, they say a week in politics is a long time, but that is nothing compared to the transformation seen in the team ranks and I think a special thank you should go out the coaches who have given their time to make this happen.

Our first match was against East Grinstead, a team which played us twice last year and although we did win one of the matches, they were both decided by a single try...... This year there was no doubt, it wasn’t close, our scrums were devastatingly powerful and winning virtually every scrum regardless of which side was putting in. Our rucking was dominant and proved to be too good for the opposition. The tackles were coming in hard and fast, all the boys made huge tackles and even some of our less sizable players, especially Josh Moore, made some significant tackles and coupled with his ball handling and impressive runs, really established his place out on the wing. The passing down the line and speed of play was very impressive and saw both Tom Waterman and Jack Sambrook run in two tries each. With Josh Moore scoring the other try the boys were ready to celebrate a very convincing 25 – 0 victory.

Arguably the best match of the festival was against Sevenoaks. The opponents were extremely big, a team of giants against us. We had already seen them hold Hove to a draw and had seen just how physical they were – but not deterred, the boys went on and demonstrated what the words ‘physical’ and ‘dominance’ really mean. Although we lost Josh Moore and Owen Lloyd to injuries, Crowborough dominated play, we saw about 75-80% possession and there only every looked to be one outcome, however, a penalty at the 5m line allowed Sevenoaks to cross the line and clinch a victory against all odds. This was one of the best games I have witnessed at any level.

Our third match was against Hove and despite how quick Hove played the game, our boys kept shutting them out and dominating the physical game. Hove were handing off all through the game, something that seemed to be overlooked and when they were eventually penalised, we were awarded a scrum! This seemed to be the turning point for Hove, the Crowborough side seemed to nod off for a few minutes and in that short time, the speed of Hove allowed 3 quick, successive tries. It is worth noting that Joey managed to keep Hove out for the final move of the game, taking a player off the try line and out of touch, a great move. Final scored Hove won 20 – 0.

Our final match was against the hosts Hastings & Bexhill. As per last year the host side was only able to field a team of 8 players, so in sporting tradition we did the same. Crowborough rediscovered their form from earlier in the day and were again the dominant force, Jack Sambrook had a great run to kick off the scoring, Tom Waterman followed suit with a long run, before Alex Mason covered ¾ of the pitch before diving in true premiership fashion to pick up his first of the day. The forwards followed suit with Lewis powering himself across the line, reminiscent of something from Coppards Plant hire and Ben Chapman also picked up a try. The final score was from Joey, who made a great interception and then covered some distance before touching down. Final score Crowborough won 30 – 0.

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25^th April 2010 – Uckfield Mini Rugby Festival

Team : Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Dan Astill, Sam Bing, Henry Hicks, Ben McDaid, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Josh Moore, Jamie Beck, Harry Mouat, Archie Faulkner, Ethan Muress.

The team had been looking forward to this Festival, one they had one before. The team started extremely well, they dominated play against Stamford, a touring side that regularly attends the Uckfield Festival. The tackles were hard and most counted, Stamford couldn’t get any real play and before half time Ben McDaid crossed the line for the first try, a second came shortly with Ben Chapman powering himself across the line for his 10^th of the season. The touring side did get a consolation with a late try to leave the final score at 2 -1.

The second game was against Lewes, a side we expected to convincingly beat. The team were not as alert as they were in their first game and Lewes quickly ran in a couple of tries. During the second half the team stepped up and looked as if they might pull it back, Alex Mason bulldozed his way across the line, but Lewes also made a late break leaving the final score 3 – 1.

The third match was against Haywards Heath. The boys started off as they meant to continue with dominance and focus, tackles were excellent and Haywards Heath were given no opportunities. Ben McDaid made a great run, side stepping the opponents before crossing the line for a well deserved lead and his 9^th try of the season. In the second half Alex Mason had a good run and crossed the line to give him his 17^th try of the season. Final score 2 – 0.

Then onto Brighton Bees – they turned out to be unbeaten pool winners. The boys started well and looked dominant, but Brighton were disciplined and focused and to their credit kept our boys out. The game was extremely physical and extremely exciting. Eventually Brighton had an opening and managed to break to pick up the only try of the game. Final score 1 – 0.

18^th April 2010 – Westcombe Park 36^th Mini Rugby Festival

Team : Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Dan Astill, Sam Bing, Henry Hicks, Ben McDaid, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Joey Lambden, Josh Moore, Jamie Beck, Harry Mouat, Archie Faulkner.

What a fantastic day, the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and perhaps for the first time 50 years or more, not a plane to be seen. We had a tough draw on the day, we were up against various championship sides including Upminster, Blackheath and Sevenoaks, all of which fielded strong sides.

Our first match was against Sevenoaks, where we started extremely strong, dominating the first few minutes of play before Alex Mason made trademark run through and over everything in his path to score his 15^th of the season. At this point we thinking of an upset, Sevenoaks seemed to be the team to beat and here we were one up and looking very dangerous....... Then everything changed and unfortunately changed for the day, the boys started to play as individuals rather than as a team and Sevenoaks started to break them down. Tries came in quick succession and at halftime our lead had been taken away – two quick tries in the second half saw the final score being Sevenoaks 3, Crowborough 1.

The second match was against the Essex Champions Upminster, a very strong team who again saw their way through our line far too frequently. Our tackling was still good, the forwards were still very dominant, but the team work was not working well and by half time we were two down. More of the same came in the second half, not helped by a nasty coming together of heads, Jamie Beck & Joey Lambden clashed and by the close of play it was difficult to see who came off best – nursing significant bruising both players were taken out of the days proceedings by the organisers, leaving us two boys down. Final score Upminster won 4-0.

Our third match was against our old rivals Heathfield. Again we started strong, we had the majority of play and really dominated the game. Our efforts were eventually rewarded as Ben Chapman powered the maul over the line and despite tremendous efforts to stop him grounding, his power and determination were rewarded and he came away with well deserved try. The Reds continued to dominate play and a moments lapse in play allowed the Hurricanes to slip past and equalise. During the second half Crowborough continued to have their way, the tackles were hard, the ball handling had really improved, but their efforts were unrewarded – then in a moments break, the Hurricanes managed to slip through again to pick up a last minute try to win 2 -1....... very unrepresentative of the game!

Our final game of the day was against Blackheath, again the Reds started well, although we were struggling having several players down, we still managed to put up a good account of ourselves. Blackheath were extremely strong on the day and although the score ended 3-0 in their favour, I think it was a very flattering result.

21^st March 2010 – Heathfield Festival

Team : Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Ethan Murress, Sam Bing, Henry Hicks, Ben McDaid, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Joey Lambden, Josh Moore, Jamie Beck, Harry Mouat, Archie Faulkner.

Buoyed by their impressive play at the Sussex Festival, the boys were really up for the Heathfield Festival. Their first test was against East Grinstead who they had beaten the week before in the Plate Final. The game was fairly one sided, more so than the week before and the Reds dominated play Ben Chapman and Archie Faulkner ran in a try each and at half time with confidence running high, we rested three players – as we had back to back games. Grinstead responded in the 2^nd half and despite a valiant effort from Ben McDaid with an impressive run, he confused the dead ball line with the try line and had his try disallowed. Grinstead managed to sneak in with a couple of late tries and stole a 3 – 2 win.

Disappointment at the result, but added confidence from their dominant play saw the boys take on the hosts, Heathfield A. Again the Reds dominated the game and the result was very flattering to the home team. Ben Chapman and Ben McDaid both ran in tries to give a final result of 2 – 2.

The final pool game was against a reduced Hastings side. It had already been decided that because the Hastings team only had 7 boys, all other teams would play 7. Crowborough were in dominant form and huge tackle after huge tackle saw the Hastings team receive a battering, but they played on and all credit to the Hastings team, they were extremely sporting and managed to finish with 6 boys on the pitch. Jack Sambrook, Harry Mouat and Owen Lloyd all adding a try to their tally, whilst Ben Chapman ran in two. Hastings were rewarded for their effort with a token try towards the end, final score 5 – 1.

The final match of the day was for 3^rd place against Chichester. This was a hard fought match against a well drilled opposition. By half time and despite numerous attempts, no scores had been added and this continued deep into the second half before Henry Hicks made an impressive run from deep within their own half to take the only try of the game and giving the boys the 3^rd place. Final score 1 - 0

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14^th March 2010 – East Sussex Festival – Eastbourne.

Team : Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Ethan Murress, Sam Bing, Henry Hicks, Ben McDaid, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Joey Lambden, Josh Moore, Jamie Beck, Harry Mouat, Archie Faulkner.

The team arrived buzzing and ready to do battle, the coaches had been turning up the heat over the past few weeks and there is huge appreciation for all the work they have done. The first match was against Hastings and the boys played unbelievably well, the skills and training really came together to show a level of Rugby that any parent or coach would be proud of. Ben Chapman, Ben McDaid, Sam Bing and Harry Mouat all ran in tries. Everybody stuck to their positions, the Forwards were powerful and well disciplined and they really deserved their 4 -1 victory.

The second match was against Uckfield. This was a tough match and although highlighting refereeing deficiencies is unsporting, the fact was that the boys were playing against 10! After having two excellent tries disallowed, the result remained without score 0 – 0.

Brighton were the opposition for our third match. Unfortunately the team seem to be a little in ore of Brighton, a team that has a reputation. This is unfortunate, because on face value, the boys can easily hold their own against them and if they were to believe a bit more, they will cause a massive upset. Brighton started very quickly and racked a few tries before the Reds regained composure. Final score 4 – 0.

The first match in the Plate competition was against Lewes, another team with a reputation at this age group, but the boys were in awesome form by this stage, they were working well and suddenly things started to go really well. Owen Lloyd ran in 2 whilst Ben Chapman, Ben McDaid and Sam Bing all ran in a try each, final score 5 – 1.

The plate final was contested with East Grinstead. The game was hard and the boys worked really hard. They weren’t getting the run of the green and did an amazing job in stopping Grinstead crossing the line. Eventually in the closing stages Alex Mason ran in his 14^th of the season giving the reds a well deserved win. Final score 1 – 0. Congratulations to the team and the coaches, a job well done.

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7^th February 2010 – Crowborough A Festival.

Team : Lewis Pooley, Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Ethan Murress, Sam Bing, Henry Hicks, Ben McDaid, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Joey Lambden, Josh Moore, Dan Astill, Archie Faulkner, Jacob Turnam, Connor Scholes.

Because the of the weather this was a rearranged fixture and only 3 visiting teams were available. The boys started extremely slow, reflecting the lack of training and I suspect some loss of confidence after the Brighton trip. Tunbridge Wells A ran in 4 tries and despite the play starting to come together towards the end, the boys were unable to get the ball over the line – final score 4 – 0.

The second game was against Tonbridge Judds and despite our previous domination of them at Edenbridge, the boys just didn’t get it going and could only watch as the Judds racked up three tries. Final score 3 – 0.

In the final game against Cranbrook, the team came alive and not only dominated, they ran away with it, they tackled hard, the forwards rucked well and saw the Reds across the line 4 times, Ben Chapman and Lewis Pooley chalked up one each for the forwards, Dan Astill and Sam Bing ran one in each. Cranbrook managed to claw one back, so the final score was 4 -1. I think the comments from the Judds and Tunbridge Wells Coaches best summed up the day, they both said that they were glad they didn’t play the Crowborough team that Cranbrook faced!

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24^th January 2010 – Friendly against Brighton A & Rosslyn Park

With a massive interruption to training due to the weather, the boys had not played for over a month, so the fairly one sided matches didn’t really reflect the teams capabilities. Brighton ran 5 tries and Alex Mason managed to sneak one in for the Reds, final score 5 – 1.

Rosslyn Park were in a completely different league to Brighton, they trampled Brighton 6 – 0 and then faced the boys. With very little expectation the boys put up a good account of themselves and again the score didn’t really reflect the meat of the game.

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13^th December 2009 – Friendly against Hove A & B

Hove A were in extremely good form and their superior discipline saw them to hard victory. Just as the Uckfield match at the Crawley Festival didn’t really reflect the game, so this one flattered the opponents. The final score was 4 – 1 to Hove with Alex Mason getting our lonely try.

The second match against Hove B was also fiercely contested and again in my opinion, the score of 2 – 0 was very flattering to the home side.

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22^nd November 2009 – Friendly against Tunbridge Wells A & B

For some reason the team turned up half asleep and nothing seemed to work, ball handing, passing, tackling was all under par. Tunbridge Wells A were far more disciplined and crossed the line 3 times before Alex Mason claimed one back, final score 3 – 1.

Tunbridge Wells B put up more resistance than they should have and prevented us scoring until the closing moments of the match, Alex Mason scoring to give the Reds a 1 – 0 victory.

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15^th November 2009 – Friendly against Tonbridge Judds and Edenbridge (at Edenbridge)

Still flying high on the back of their Crawley Festival the boys put up an effective, if a bit unlucky, challenge to both the teams. The tackling was solid, but the reduced training had taken its toll on basic ball handling and passing. Despite both teams crossing our line, a total of three tries from Alex Mason ensured draws in both games. Judds 2 – 2 and Edenbridge 1 -1.

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11th October 2009 – Hastings & Bexhill Festival Team : Ben Chapman, Harry Mouat, Ben McDaid, Jack Sambrook, Jamie Beck, Owen Lloyd, Sam Bing, Jacob Turnham, Joe Lambden, Josh Moore, Dan Astill, Alex MasonBoys did quite well, they won 2 lost 2, mind you the loss against East Grinstead was questionable! They struggled against Hove, but all in all put in a very good account of themselves. The only obvious weakness was losing the ball and rucking, the boys were a bit slow on piling in, which is where they lost both games. By far the most ferocious tackles were from the Crowborough team and they were making lots of them - think the results were not representative of the quality of their play. Results were we beat Lewes 1 – 0, We lost to Hove 3 – 0, Beat Cranbrook 3 – 1 and lost to East Grinstead 2 -3.

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4^th October 2009 – Crawley Festival

Team : Ben Chapman, Alex Mason, Sam Bing, Ben McDaid, Jack Sambrook, Owen Lloyd, Joey Lambden, Josh Moore, Jamie Beck, Harry Mouat, Sam Martin, Dan Astill.

The boys started the festival in dominating form, tackling everything that moved – the match against Uckfield was one of the most one sided games I have seen, Crowborough made almost every tackle, they pushed forward and were unlucky to not come away with a win, a quick break away try rewarded a very lucky Uckfield side. The second match was against Heathfield and for some reason the team did not make a tackle or cross the line, eventually losing 6-0. The final pool game was against Midhurst, a better game with comfortable win over Midhurst, even if the score of 3 – 2 didn’t reflect it. Jack Sambrook, Ben Chapamn and Alex Mason getting the first tries of the season.

Moving into the play offs the boys faced Crawley A, but with a sniff of silver ware and a new found confidence the boys dominated play, there was some ferocious tackling from the Reds before Alex Mason and Jack Sambrook both crossed the line to give a 2 – 0 victory. Into the plate finals, they faced Eastbourne and a team that had struggled and made hard work of the pool games, was on fire, tries from Ben Chapman, Jack Sambrook, Ben McDaid, Jamie Beck and a hat trick from Alex Mason saw them win convincingly 7 -1.

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Match Reports

Can you help ?

Coach , Coach's Assistant, Parent, Grandparent or Guardian.

We are looking for someone within this age group to write a match report after each fixture.

It doesn't have to be much, You may like to mention the score, try scorers, try saving tackle etc.

If you are intrested talk to your head coach first - then please forward to Ian Geering CRFC Mini/Junior Fixture Secretary before the Monday evening following the fixture. His email address is itag.geering@btinternet.com.

Thank you.

U11's Match Report

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