Ampthill Match Report

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A long, but enjoyable morning this Sunday for players, coaches and parents. We travelled to Ampthill with two teams, played a total of 7 matches and did not finish until 12.30pm – I don’t know about the players but I was exhausted!!! Ampthill had enough players to field three teams so the Panthers played three matches against their experienced team and the Jaguars played a small triangular tournament of four matches against their two remaining teams.

Hitchin Panthers v Ampthill

Game 1: Lost 5-6

An excellent first game of the morning with two well matched teams playing some very good rugby. Hitchin started well when Ethan scored a very good individual try with the first move of the game and we continued to play some good attacking rugby with some fine running & passing by Connor, Sam and Alex. We scored a further two tries in the first half through Sam but Ampthill responded with three tries of their own, so at half time the scores were level at 3-3. It was noticeable at this stage that by playing on a small pitch (we are used to playing on a larger pitch) we were not getting the usual space to set our fast runners away. On the smaller pitches support play is essential and in this area Ampthill were superior creating some excellent team tries. The second half continued as the first but we had to defend more to stay in the game and there was some fine tagging by Guy and Connor. We scored a further two tries, an excellent individual score by Naomh and then a good team try by Rory, with good support play by Ethan. In the end we were just ‘pipped at the posts’ as they say as Ampthill scored with the final play of the game to win a very even match.

Game 2: Lost 4-6

The second game was another close affair. I was with the Jaguars at this point so did not see the match but my sources tell me (Helen, Rob & Tom) that we played well again and maybe did not get that little bit of luck we needed. Our support play improved and we started to adapt our game more with people changing the direction of the attack, which I was pleased to hear. In this game there were tries for Connor (2), Ethan and Sam.

Game 3: Won 5-3

An excellent finish to the morning for the Panthers with a good all round performance. In a very tight first half both teams defended really well and there was some good last ditch tagging by Holly & Ethan. We also created an excellent team try for Sam with some good passing and support play by Alex, Connor, Rory and Guy. With the score 1-1 at half time I asked the players for one last big effort for the morning and I was not disappointed. In probably our best half of the morning we played some really good attacking rugby with some fine passing, running, dodging and support play by all players, especially Connor who scored three tries. There was also a very good team try to finish the game for Ethan which was set up by two excellent passes by Naomh & Rory.

Hitchin Jaguars v Ampthill Sharks & Ampthill Tigers

Game 1: Lost 2-5

The Jaguars played the Sharks in their first game, and after a poor first half they came back strongly in the second half. Adrian was with the Jaguars for this game and he mentioned that our attacking play was good but we defended too deep giving Ampthill plenty of space to attack and we missed too many tags. However, I was pleased to hear how we came back from being 0-3 down at half time. In the second half we created two good tries for Dylan and Laurence and there was some good passing & running by Milly & Henry in particular.

Game 2: Lost 2-3

This was a far better performance from the Jaguars against the Tigers and it was good to see some of the new players getting more involved in the game. In a good first half there was some very good passing & support play by Dylan & George, two fine individual tries by Harry & Chris and some excellent tagging by Laurence & Jamie. At half time the scores were level at 2-2 and in a very tight second half there was some good running from Ben & Milly which nearly led to scores, but in the end one further try by Ampthill settled the match.

Game 3: Won 5-4

Another improved performance led to a well deserved win in this second game against the Sharks, with tries coming from Laurence, Milly (2), Harry and Henry. As I was with the Panthers at this stage Tom ran the team. I understand our attacking play was good again with some fine running by Dylan, Harry & Henry, some good passing by Laurence and some excellent support play by Milly.

Game 4: Drew 4-4

The final match of the morning was another close game with the Tigers. In an excellent game both teams played some very good rugby. The first half we had to defend well as Ampthill had a lot of ball and there was some last ditch defending by Dylan and Laurence, which kept us in the game. There was also a good try scored by Milly with some fine support play by Ben. In the second half we had more ball and there was some really good running by Harry and some excellent passing by Chris & George. We created three further tries, two excellent individual scores by Milly and Laurence and a fine team try by George.

Tries: Connor (5), Ethan B (3), Sam (4), Naomh, Rory, Laurence (3), Milly (4), Dylan, Harry (2), Chris, Henry & George

Although some of the results did not go our way on Sunday in general I am happy with how the players are developing. We have used the last two weeks to introduce a number of new players and it was good to see how both teams improved as the morning progressed. Playing on the smaller pitches today was a good experience, especially for the more experienced players who had to develop and adapt their game. Ampthill have a very good set up and their experienced team were unbeaten so it was a fantastic effort by the Panthers to push them so close in the first two games and then to win the final match of the morning. The Jaguars also did well and I was particularly pleased with how the experienced players Milly, Laurence, Dylan and Henry helped the new players during the morning. We have some things to work on at training this week, such as tagging and support play but it was good to go through a morning and not have any tries disallowed for diving or carrying the ball in one hand !!!!

Well done to Jamie & Chris who played their first games for us today, I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

The ‘Player of the Week’ award went to Laurence Hidle. Laurence was chosen for his all round performance for the Jaguars. He was involved heavily in all games, scored three tries during the morning, did some excellent tagging and made some fine individual runs. Laurence is one of our experienced players and it was important he played well as the Jaguars had a lot of new players, so the way he gave 100% effort in each game was great to see. Keep it up Laurence, you are improving each week.

I would also like to say thank you to Adrian and Tom who helped me run the teams and also to Helen and Jo who were recording the scores on both pitches.

This week – Sunday 11th November we have training at the club at the usual time 10.30am.

See you all on Sunday.

Regards

Andy Dudley
Hitchin U7’s Coach
07803 160382