U10s County Festival at Hertford.

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We entered 2 teams, in the Cup and Plate competitions

It seems odd, sitting nice and relaxed at the PC on a Sunday morning during the rugby season. No cries of “well where did you last see your shorts!?” ringing round the house. U10s day at the County was Saturday, hence the day off today. Still, there’s the Saracens v Wasps game to look forward to later (What a game 29-40!). Brave and committed play by our lot, but sadly no real reward, as neither team makes it out of the pool (but we did beat Stevenage!)
Cold and windy down south. Thank goodness the Moon family brought a fantastic tent for us all to shelter in. (Their U10s tour DVD is a triumph! Get your copy now. Lots of footage of the Court too. Wallace and Gromit T-shirt also brilliant. Tony and I have our revenge organised though!). What would the week before county be like, without the usual panic over RFU cards!
Saxons -Cup.
Dan, Oli P, Taylor, Aless, Frazer, Sam C, Oli Red, Tom, Will J, Ashley, OJ, Russell.
Game 1
The Saxons started against a strong Bishops Stortford team and soon found themselves 1-0 down, after a long run down the wing, almost from the start. A missed tackle did not help the situation. Oli P and SamC started to make amends with improved tackles, but the BS team were putting together fine moves. Despite Taylor’s driving play, they got another try before HT. A poor restart by Hitchin, lead to a score almost immediately after the break at which point, the BS coaches and replacements, obviously feeling that it was unlikely that we would score, hung around in our in-goal area. Despite a request from myself, they arrogantly refused to move. A quick burst off the scrum gave them another. 4-0 at the end. Not a dream start.
Game 2 was a far tighter game, with only 1 try in it. Sadly it was scored near to the end with an exaggerated swallow dive, much to the disgust of our players. Again a rather arrogant touch. In this match, the Barnet coaches were getting very animated and vocal. Hitchin did well to hold them and should have scored a couple of tries and won the game. A nice moment came when Aless unfortunately found a Barnet player with a pass. A look of incredulity spread over his face as if to say “Can I play this”? Better ball movement followed and Ashley, having missed the first game (did you use the Sat nav Mark?) made a trademark tackle. Oli Red nearly got in, but it was 0-0 at HT.
OJ and Russell came on for Oli P and Will J. Aless made a great hit and Oli Red picked up well. Barnet were clearly offside much of the time and despite Colin’s reminders, they stayed there. Tom nearly made it over, but a spilt ball down the wing, let them in at the close 1-0. Game 3 was versus Cheshunt, who had apparently beaten BS. They did have 2 ENORMOUS players, but Ashley dealt with one of them, with an ankle pulling tackle. Brave defence was evident as they tried to maul us over. Then a 5m scrum was held and Ashley made another big hit. We got over the line, but could not ground the ball. A soft try was conceded off a scrum, as we were expecting a big shove, but the Scrum half went solo. 1-0 at HT. Ashley managed to remove the biggest player from the pitch, with his ankle tap, but the ball was soon ripped away and a score followed. Despite a great sidestepping run by Ashley and strong running by OJ, we lost 2-0.
Oli Red was named as player of the day, for his industrious running and firm tackling. Coach Colin praised the players for their usual commitment. As often though, we were outclassed and outgunned by more skilful opposition.

Vikings-plate.
Maitiu, Aaron, Christian, George, Jack, Max, Ben, Bradley, Conor, Toby, Andrew, Sam J.

Game 1 was against the Saxons Nemesis, Bishops Stortford B, but the Vikings did well to hold them, losing only 1-0.
Game 2 was v Cheshunt, a close run thing, with a final score of 4-2 (Christian, Jack)against us. The players showed great commitment, with Christian and Jack rampaging around the field. These could well be 2 of our future 2nd rows in the making. By now the Saxons, finished for the day, had come to cheer their pals on. Ben was making good ground and the coaches were proud of the effort, despite the loss.
Game 3 A win at last (3-1 Maitiu, Jack, Christian), against the aulde enemy, Stevenage. We did look the more organised team and despite the usual commitment from their coaches, they were unable to make much ground. Maitiu showed fantastic power and pace at the start, nearly getting over. Aaron almost got a try on the wing, but Maitiu got over with a tremendous burst. Maybe his nickname should be “Matador”! Jack stretched his legs well to get the next, with a question form the ref about “in touch”? NO, said we in complete honesty. He could have scored 3 or 4 more, but was distributing generously and the opportunities went begging. Max was running strongly and the Vikings tried to play a good passing game. George was pinged for trying to dislodge the ball from a ruck too vigorously (it was being held by the S player) and a severe warning followed. Next time ping the S player before this needs to happen, ref! 2-0 at HT. Ben got over after the break, but was adjudged to have knocked on, but Christian made it 3-0 soon after. Ben went over again, but was pulled back. Sadly the clean sheet was spoilt, when S finally broke through, but with Ben, Jack and all Vikings tackling well, we kept them out. 3-1 at the end.
Player of the day was Maitiu, for his strong running and Scrummaging. A special mention for Christian, who played despite having a very important swimming match later in the day. Well done to all.
A final thanks to Dave, OJ’s Dad, who very kindly offered to ferry Colin Moon’s car to the hospital for him last week, after the injury to Taylor.

Next week (Sunday) .Vikings (plus Oli P) to St Neots for another tournament. Go for it!- Maitiu, Aaron, Christian, George, Jack, Max, Ben, Andrew, Bradley, Conor, Toby, Sam J, Oli P.

Saxons at home to Letchworth. We may ask to try some games under next years rules (kicking allowed)
Dan, OJ, Taylor, Aless, Frazer, Sam C, Oli Red, Tom, Will J, Ashley, Russell
A few words form Tony:
Saturdays festival, thank you to all. Big pat on back for Colin and Clare, the tent was great, Flags from Moon's and Sinclair's just fantastic, Collins ref bit, wonderful, (he did a final you know, and yes he is blind) and of course parents and players. Very proud to be part of the team. The players, ALL OF THEM, played some of the best rugby I have seen in Hitchin shirts. From last year we have stepped up "well, way good" (SEE I DO KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES") Shame no points with the Saxons, Vikings, good scores, but all games actually very close apart from B. Stortford in the opening game. We can now stand up and say that we are not far away from competing with the big guns. Just need that bit of luck really. Thanks to everyone for the commitment all year, David, Trev, Nick and Ian included. We are a good team and a good group. Heres to 2009 See you at the BBQ, I'm organising so Jack is likely to win again, sorry. Thanks for a great year, and I look forward to next season. More improvement, more fun and above all more smiles from the players. Tony.Tony Wuidart