UNDER 11s
Petersfield Stoop but don’t conquer
A wise man once commented that you have to lose yourself to find yourself, and so it was in west London yesterday. A win would come later in the weekend on home ground, but in the shadow of Twickenham, Petersfield struggled to find their way.
The portents were bad from the start when some of us failed to find parking inside the M25. A hike around the stadium got the blood flowing in the face of a stiff breeze from the east, before confusion reigned when trying to locate the correct pitch. Pulborough were first up in a group of five including Battersea, Upminster and our nemesis, New Milton.
The game started out a tense affair with tight forward play in the middle of the pitch. Christian and Caspar put in some strong tackles early in the contest but overall the team lacked confidence against competent, but by no means superior opposition. This was clearly evident in the scrums. The pack was loose and failed to get low in the face of a well-drilled opposition, collapsing twice before finally gelling the third time of asking. Adam made a piercing run into Pulborough’s half but they soon counter attacked, exploiting an overlap in the backs with swift passing interplay. A kick deep into Petersfield’s half was well taken by Issac but the advantage was lost when a penalty was conceded for a knock on. Pulborough ran the ball well for a first try just before the end of the half.
In the second half Pulborough began where they left off with some aggressive offensive play. Their backs were slick in possession and they fully exploited Petersfield’s recurrent failure to tackle properly, going 2-0 up.
A second outing against Upminster was almost a carbon copy of the first match and the game finished 2-0 again. Petersfield’s confidence seemed fragile. The pack lacked cohesion again. The backs were flat and passing was poor. When the team did attack too often it was as a result of an individual player’s effort rather than a collective assault. David Devlin surged down the line but faced a wall of opposing players. He was left with nowhere to run and went to ground well before the whistle for half time saved our blushes.
The first two defeats felt totally avoidable but Battersea were as powerful as their town’s eponymous landmark. Petersfield conceded an early try but came back with a promising attack, kicking deep into Battersea’s territory. Nick was back to his furious best and chased down the counter kick. He collapsed to the ground winded. The parents winced at the thought of his stitches giving way but he was back on his feet in seconds.
After conceding only one try at half time the second half was primed for Petersfield to finally find their feet. Frustratingly, Battersea ran through the entire team to score a second try. Suddenly the team seemed to have completely forgotten how to tackle and were soon 4-0 down.
After three defeats with progressively poorer performances it was always going to be difficult to take on New Milton. Sadly there was to be no final resurgence. New Milton sliced through the team again and again taking a 4-0 lead by half time. The second half was barely any better finishing 7-0.
There were some positives to take away. The team lost each game with good grace. There were moments when heads dropped and tempers frayed but in general they maintained their spirits and gave everything. That said it is impossible not to reflect on how different the day could have been if the team had remembered their basic drills – giving each other a target to pass to, tackling, getting low in the scrum as a pack, and running straight in the backs rather than traversing across the pitch.
The team would finally find their winning ways on Sunday. If they remember the basics they needn’t get lost again.
Richard Hird
Hampshire Tournament
Saturday 6th March proved to be a demanding day at the Harlequins Stoop in the Etihad cup semi finals against some very strong opposition from London and the south of England. On Sunday the Petersfield U 11 turned out for a second day of Rugby at Penns Place in the Hampshire RFU U 11 tournament that included a broad range of teams from across Hampshire and the IOW.
The first match against Trojans was a well contested and even match but with sadly "the Field" losing to one try despite a strong and positive team effort.
The second match against Portsmouth was an even affair with the home side going close a number of times, the match ended 0-0 but led to the early retirement through injury of two players Dougie Mileham and Daniel Woodward.
Petersfield continued to work hard however lost 4-0 to a confident Winchester side despite some strong and consistent challenging in particular by Casper Hird who for the second day put in an outstanding individual performance with consistent, reliable & ferocious excellently timed tackles in every match.
The boys continued to play well despite this loss, keeping their concentration and passion. By now they had formed well as a team working very hard. This work led to a draw with Andover , Petersfield after going behind and a match saving tackle by Dave Devlin, worked hard into the last minute and saved the match with a strong sustained push forward with a match levelling try by Nick Blumlein.
"The Field" dominated their fifth match with a 3- 0 win and rewarded the hard work of the coaches over this season with a great performance. A significant improvement was seen in the front and second row with different combinations in Dino Jacobs,Jake Eves, Harry Hicks, Luke Ullyott and Sam Birkett who gelled well, fought hard and won many rucks with strong drives enabling the backs to run. A long dodging run by Joseph Heath led to a try in the far corner. Freddie Rainbow on the wing who was consistent throughout was unlucky not to score on the right hand side in the second half.
In the Bowl quarter final Petersfield triumphed against Tottonians 3-2, sustained pressure by the team led to good surging runs by Adam Haldenby and Joseph Heath. Christian Bottomley fell short on two occasions with match saving tackles by Tottoniuans on the line. Luke Starley worked the ball well and two tries by Nick Blumlein put the game beyond reach, however, indiscipline and a couple of careless hand offs allowed the opposition back in the game through penalties. This led to a good strong surging run by Tottonians which despite a number of efforts "the field" were unable to stop with a last minute try.
The seventh and last game of the day saw Petersfield play Romsey in the semi final, despite this being the teams 11th game of the weekend and lacking substitutes they started well with strong pressure in what appeared to be an even match, sadly a lapse of concentration with a mis timed high tackle resulted in a ruck deep in the Petersfield end and a try by Romsey.
The Petersfield boys by this time were very tired however a fantastic run by Christian Bottomley from deep inside his half led to good gaining of ground but a try saving tackle by the last player to beat stopped his run.This run gave a "the field" an opportunity and a late try again by Nick Blumlein" drew the match.
All players had a fantastic day and worked exceptionally hard as a team, every boy rewarded the work of the coaches and inspired by Liam Starley put in a sustained and hard working performance in every game playing their hearts out in a fantastic effort in every match.
The Petersfield RFC are very keen to encourage players of any ability and if you would like to join the U11 squad in a very sociable and family orientated squad please contact James Blumlein ...
Andy Bottomley
Petersfield U11's travelled to London's Twickenham stoop to take part in the 2009/2010 Etihad Airways curtain raiser cup. Then joined their club mates for the guard of honour at the start of Harlequins v Scarlets match. The team consisted of William Birch-Tomlinson, Nick Blumlein, Christian Bottomley, Dave Devlin, Rupert Butcher, Finlay Bishop, Alisdair kid, Jacob Eves, Joseph Heath, Freddie Rainbow, Luke Ullyott, Nic Ward, Sean Ward, Daniel Woodward, Alfie Coles and Billy Barnes. The U11's are going from strength to strength season after the superb result a few weeks ago at our Petersfield's own tournament and yesterday winning two out of three games, securing a place at the semi finals on Saturday 6th March.
Petersfield 3 vs Uckfield 2
Petersfield made a lively start from the kick off the ball moved through 5 phases before Nick Blumlein broke Uckfields defence with an amazing run to score after 3 minutes. Uckfields response from the restart was immediate, winning their first ruck they drove over to score in the corner.
The game continued in end-to end fashion. Back in the Uckfield 22 Petersfields pressure resulted in their second try again from Nick Blumlein. The see-saw action had Uckfield driving back towards Petersfield Line, where a lapse in their defensive organisation led to the try count tied at half-time 2 each.
After absorbing an intense opening spell Petersfield spent the remainder of the game camped in the Uckfield's 22, eventually crossing the line to win the match and register a hat-trick for Nick Blumlein.
Petersfield 1 vs Reeds 0
The first half was evenly contested, both teams defending with determination and neither able to dominate the rucks or line-outs. The game sparked into life after the restart as Christian Bottomely split the Reeds defence with a blistering break and sprinted in for a try from 60 meters out.
The remainder of the game was an intense affair, Reeds had the territories advantage, edging out Petersfield in the scrums and taking advantage of several penalties awarded in their favour Petersfield's defence held out due to some outstanding individual tackling to hold their advantage at the full-time whistle.
Petersfield 0 vs Sutton & Epsom 5
Sutton& Epsom started strongly with a series of powerful drives taking them deep into Petersfield territory. Inevitably the pressure told as the Surrey team pounced on a loose ball to take the lead.
Sutton& Epsom maintained their lively start and continued to threaten the Petersfield line and after series of rucks breached the overstretched defence in the corner. The second half followed the pattern of the first. Despite some spirited defending Petersfield were unable to contain the well drilled and hard running Sutton& Epsom who ran out winners by 5 tries to nil
Petersfield Festival
The sun shone on Penn's Place as the Petersfield Rugby club U11 squad put in an excellent performance, at the annual Petersfield Tournament, winning all of their 4 group matches to reach the final of the cup competition. Ever member of the 17 strong squad played their part in qualifying: a rotation system saw each playing at least 2 full matches. The route through the pool games witnessed 'Field beating Portsmouth 7-0, Hayward's Heath 2 12-5, Chichester 2 5-0 and Gosport & Fareham 12-0. Petersfield met Hayward's Heath first team in the final and fought valiantly to the end but unfortunately succumbed to a very strong side and lost 0-14. An outstanding effort to finish second overall in their age group.
Every member of the squad put in a fine committed performance with scores from Nick Blumlein (2 tries and 3 conversions), Christian Bottomley (2 tries), Joseph Heath and Dougie Mileham (A try each).The try of the day was scored by Christian Bottomley following a sharp pass, from the back of a surging ruck, by scrum half Alfie Coles to Isaac Tarling at Stand Off. Isaac took the ball flat, at pace and immediately passed to Christian who carved inside his opposite number and ran in to score. Text book rugby from 10 year old boys.
A great day's work from the squad: Billy Barnes, Nick Blumlein, Alfie Coles, David Devlin, Jacob Eves, Joseph Heath, Harry Hicks, Tom Littlefield, Dougie Mileham, Freddie Rainbow, Luke Staley, Isaac Tarling, Luke Ullyott, Dan Woodward, Christian Bottomley, Nic ward, Sean Ward.
Player of the week
Every week the coaches choose the player of the week. The player of the week is awarded to the player who has shown a combination of attitudes during the training session.
Christian
Sean
