Under 9s Match Reports
Devon RFU U9 tournament
Our final outing of the season was the annual Devon RFU U9 tournament hosted this year by Exeter Saracens.
With 21 U9 teams from all over Devon competing for trophies it promised to be an exciting day. Sidmouth started the day missing 5 of their squad to the schools tag tournament being held at Sandy Park which I can tell you Sidmouth Schools won!!
Back at Saracens the remaining of our intrepid boys kicked of their first pool match against local rivals Exmouth. In true form Sidmouth waded into their opposition with power, skill and determination and deservedly ran out winners 15 - 5. the next match was against a team from Plymouth, OPM's who were also dispatched clinically 10 - 0.
Sidmouth ended up unbeaten and top of their group therefore qualifying for the cup competition. At this point there was good news and bad news, the good was that we had a bye through to the semi finals, the bad was that we had a 3 hour wait to play it and to make matters worse the weather gave us a good battering!
So then followed 3 hours of messing about, training, eating, watching potential opposition and cowering in our gazebo! Finally the moment arrived and we discovered, having beaten Exeter Chiefs in their quarter final, Kingsbridge would be our semi final opponents. Sidmouth were fantastic in every aspect of the game except actually scoring a try!! they dominated the game and played it entirely in the Kingsbridge half but a couple of missed passes and an heroic defence left the game scoreless at the final whistle. Having scored more tries and conceded less than Kingsbridge on count-back Sidmouth would have been through to the final, however, the organisers decided drawn games would be decided on the toss of a coin so one shout of 'tails' later Sidmouth were heading home from a competition they could and should have won!
It has been a fantastic season with 37 matches played and only 4 lost! The bond that is growing in this team is very strong and bodes well for the future, I for one can't wait for next season. Thanks for following us and have a great summer.
Sidmouth U9's Exmouth Festival
They came, they saw, they were conquered!!!
Sunday saw the U9's play in their first full festival organised by Farnham RFC from Hampshire and played at Exmouth. Sidmouth were grouped in the strongest category with Farnham A, Exeter Chiefs, Withycombe A and Ivybridge A. The weather was bright clear sunshine, if not a little cold, the ground was dry and hard running rugby was the order of the day. Although results were not the be all and end all and there were no trophies to be won I am, never the less, very proud to report Sidmouth were unbeaten in their group finishing top!! I simply can't single out any one this week as all 14 players put in a huge effort and all rightly deserved the plaudits they received from all watching. They were unmoved in defence and rapier like in attack and are building a tremendous team spirt. The first team better watch out as their successors are coming!!
Sidmouth U9's V Topsham
Can they get any better?
This week’s victims, sorry I meant opposition, was Topsham, a great club with large squads in all age groups. We knew from previous meetings they are strong and would provide a stiff challenge.
As a favour to Topsham due to them being involved in a festival at London Irish and needing to field their strongest team we reluctantly strayed from policy and picked a strong team to face them for the first quarter. Thus started a very physical, technically excellent game of rugby with very little quarter given by either team however in the end it was Sidmouth's strike runners that overcame Topsham’s strong defence finishing ahead 0-5.
The second quarter involved the rest of the squad who decided that anything that happened in the first session could be repeated and in some cases, bettered and ended up increasing the lead to 15-25!
Back on came the initial team who were a bit lackadaisical and allowed Topsham to score in the first minute, however this fired them into life and through grit, determination and plenty of skill they fought back scoring 3 unanswered tries taking the overall score to 20-40
The final score showed no let up from the Sidmouth team who were now on a roll and dominating their opponents in every aspect of the game wining the final quarter 5-20.
Mentions this week to leading scorer Charlie McCaig, First try from Harrison Todd, excellent tries from Will Bond and fierce defence from Henry Williams! My congratulations to all the players for a job well done!
Sidmouth U9's v Kingsbridge U9's Home
Sidmouth U9's V Kingsbridge
We warned our players that if they took this weeks opposition, Kingsbridge, lightly they could be in trouble and for the first quarter that is exactly what happened with Sidmouth going in 0 - 15 down!
However after a bit of soul searching and a few changes in the line up normal service was quickly resumed and by half time Sidmouth were back in the game at 15 - 15. This was just what they needed and during the third quarter they kept the momentum and pressure up against a very handy opposition where any mistake was punished and went into the final break 30 - 20 up.
By now the supporters from both teams were getting extremely excited and very vocal urging the players on at every opportunity and the final quarter was very hard fought however it was the Sidmouth team that edged the battle finishing an hour of excellent rugby 45 - 30 winners and the praise of the all the coaches (including Kingsbridge) ringing in their ears!
Special mention this week has to go to Tom McAndrew for scoring a hat trick on his birthday and special thanks to his mum for the cakes!!! All the players were brilliant during this match and if we had room would all deserve a mention. Well done.
Sidmouth U9's v Cullumpton U9's
Another match another step forward.
This weekends opposition was Cullompton where, as usual, it was bitterly cold.
After a vigorous warm up the coaches decided to play 4 quarters changing the teams each time to stop any of the boys getting too cold. The first quarter was a close affair with both teams finding gaps through the defence and at the break it was even at 15 - 15.
That was the first and only time that Cullompton were ever in the game as from the second quarter on, even with Sidmouth mistakenly playing a whole quarter a player short it was one way traffic with Sidmouth averaging 25 points each quarter!!
As the previous week any possession the opposition had was turned over by powerful tackling and rucking. This team is really beginning to gel and work together, the support running and offloads are out of the top draw for this age level. A real pleasure to watch and coach. Well done again.
Finally thanks to all the Mums, Dads, Grand parents and siblings for all their highly vocal support, it really lifts the boys.
Next week Topsham away, meet at 10.00am.
