NEWBURY TOURNAMENT 25th April 2010
The Under 7s travelled to the Newbury Rugby Festival, the finale of the season, full of expectation. The first match was against Banbury: Petersfield were caught asleep from the start and after only one tag Banbury scored. They quickly awoke and after a fine movement involving Joss Hall, Petersfield’s captain for this match, and Dan Eves, Fergus Evans scored. But again Petersfield were slow from the restart and Banbury scored immediately. Not deterred Eves showed great determination scoring a try through the middle of the Banbury defence and then managed a try saving tag when the Banbury player was on the point of scoring. 2 -3 at halftime was a fair reflection of the first half but again Petersfield were caught cold from the restart with Banbury just scoring. There was then a great diagonal run by Evans to score in the corner, but frustratingly Banbury scored from the restart. Tom Chad showed great resilience as he forced his way through the Banbury defence to leave the final score 4 -5 to Banbury. A very close and exciting game, Petersfield could easily have won.
The second game against High Wycombe proved equally thrilling and followed the same script: High Wycombe scored straight from the start but Hall slipped through the defence to squeeze in for a try for Petersfield. Yet again Petersfield conceded another try from the restart, this time getting two tags before High Wycombe crossed the line. Findlay Inche then scored after some good support and handling. High Wycombe added another and then Chad slithered over defying the grasping hands of the defence. High Wycombe led at half time 3 – 5 then Chad scored another try after a great run by Evans and Seb Liddle made a try saving tag to keep Petersfield in the match. Chad scored another try this time after an elusive run by Eves. Unfortunately High Wycombe came back with two tries before Evans, refusing to be outdone, burst through the middle of the defence to score. Great game that again could have gone either way; Petersfield just lost 6 – 7.
The third game wasn’t as close. Against a very strong Winchester A team Petersfield were always under pressure. Inche and Hall linked well and Petersfield were unlucky not to score but Winchester broke free and despite a valiant attempt by Tom Stratford-Tuke to tag a very fast Winchester player they scored and soon added another. Petersfield had some good phases of play involving all their players with Hall just putting his foot in touch but Chad wriggled free and side stepping his way through the defence scored a fine try. At half time (2- 4) Petersfield were still in the match but Winchester’s superior power and speed took over in the second half: there was first good defence from Evans and then he was very unlucky not to score at the other end, Evans had a very strong run but nothing could stop Winchester scoring tries. Chad scored one of his hall-mark tries slipping through undetected but the courageous Petersfield team had encountered a better side and finally lost 3 – 6.
Between games an unofficial match involved some energetic and at times illegal rucking and mauling led by Harry Kerr and Stratford-Tuke, Kerr emerged with the ball and Stratford-Tuke covered in mud: maybe a promising glimpse of the future? The final pool game was against Rumney, another strong side with some very quick and agile players. Petersfield were trailing 0 – 3 at half time which didn’t do justice to the great spirit that they showed. There were two great runs by Sam Price, two tries would have been just reward but undeterred they all battled on. A conciliation try was scored by Hall and Chad was denied at the line, all other than the referee had thought that he may have scored. A very tired Petersfield side left the field having lost 1 – 4. There had been notably displays by Seb Kelson, Freddie Bell and Kerr. Bell in particular shone when the going was getting tough.
Petersfield’s final game of the season was a playoff match against the hosts Newbury. They started strongly with the ever present Evans unlucky not to score with his foot just in touch. Hall broke free leaving the Newbury defence grasping at air after several phases of play involving most of the team, a great move! Newbury then responded with 4 tries and led 1 – 5 at halftime despite some good tagging by Tom Cooke-Priest. The second half was marked by two identical tries by Bell, one in each corner but Newbury also scored two. The final score line, 3 -7 to Newbury, flattered the hosts and didn’t do justice to the passion that Petersfield showed.
The day was topped with the presentation of medals to the Petersfield squad: well deserved and with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work next season, there will be even more and trophies, smiles all round! (Ps. Some of those smiles were less toothy than they could have been as Eves and Stratford-Tuke lost teeth during the course of the day; natural causes, not rugby!).
A special mention must go to the coaches Julia Whetlor and Jim Cooke- Priest for all their dedication and encouragement and of course to the manager Wendy Eves who proved she really can do anything including making the sun shine.
By James Stratford-Tuke.
County Tournament at Winchester 14th March 2010
Match 2 v. Andover The second game started much better with Joss Hall making a great break and feeding debutant Huw Binfield who scored with his first touch in a Petersfield jersey. Despite continued excellent tagging from all players and Freddie Bell in particular they could not stop Andover equalising. ‘Field went straight up the other end from the kick-off and re-stored their lead with Joss Hall, feeding Freddie Bell who in turn passed to Huw Binfield for their second try of the game. Unfortunately from there on in the team were prone to numerous minor handling errors and failed to take advantage of the very wide pitches they were playing on and allowed Andover to run in 4 tries either side of half-time. ‘Field hit back with tries from Freddie Bell and the final try of the game when Dan Eves broke and fed Alex Knights but a final score of 7-4 to Andover was disappointing.
Match 3 v. Trojans ‘Field faced an unbeaten Trojans team in the next fixture determined to put right the mistakes of the previous matches and to use their pace out wide. The result was a thrilling encounter of end to end rugby. After going down immediately 1-0 from the kick off, they responded with excellent running rugby Joss Hall and Fergus Evans getting out wide and both touching down for tries in the corner. Trojans too had some excellent running and also scored 2 tries with the score 2-3 at half time. The second half continued as the first with Jonty Page producing a slalom style run through the middle before passing to Noah Bundy and eventually Jak MacDonald to score and equalise. Then Noah broke and used his pace to put ‘Field up 4-3. Trojans hit back and took advantage of some more turnovers to make the score 4-6, before Fergus ran in an excellent try after sustained pressure to make the final score 5-6. Trojans went onto top the group and this showed how well our boys can compete with the best teams.
Match 4 v. Fareham After 3 defeats Petersfield new they had to win their last group match to qualify for the plate competition. Despite going 1-0 down early on, the team looked more composed and continued their excellent defence while running in several tries. First Freddie Bell fed Alex Knights who raced clear to equalise, then it was the turn of Joss Hall to get out wide and score in the corner. Joss was again the finisher after great work all round and a final pass from Noah Bundy. This left the team leading 3-1 at half time, after the break Fergus Evans scored a long range effort after excellent team defence and despite a couple of tries from Fareham, ‘Field were always in control with Alex Knights sending Fergus racing clear again and Huw Binfield completing the scoring to leave the final score 6-3 to Petersfield. A well deserved win and great all round performance.
Plate Quarter-Final v. TottoniansThis was always going to be a tough match against a Tottonians team who had finished 3rd in a very strong group. Once again though ‘Field showed how able they are to compete with anyone thrown at them. A very tense game saw excellent defence from both teams and it was a few minutes before Tottonians burst through to score and excellent try. Petersfield were on the back foot after a turnover but some superb consistent defence, with a sequence of over 10 tags taken saw them regain possession and a great run from Joss Hall saw them equalise. Tottonians engineered another break and went 2-1 up, but with Field pressing just before half-time they frustratingly had a try disallowed. The second half continued to see excellent defence and a maruading Fergus Evans produced a try saving tackle to keep ‘Field in the game. Tottonians were not to be denied and they extended their lead later on, before Joss Hall scored his second try of the game. Unfortunately there was no more time for ‘Field to look for the equaliser and so it saw them bow out 2-3. The day showed many positives from the team not least how much their defence has improved and when they used the full pitch they were a match for any team. Their other major plus was the strength of depth in the squad, with 8 different players scoring 19 tries from the squad of 12. Our thanks to Wendy Eves for organising and for Julia Whetlor coaching the team and refereeing, it was great to see the progress that has been made from the early September coaching sessions.
By Richard Knights
Winchester Festival 7th February 2010
match report to follow.
making a break
TAG!
Team talk
Wendy
