Andover RFC - Youth Academy
News from the Under 12s
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Sunday, 18th April 2010
Under 11 Match Report
Oakwood sponsored Andover travelled to Havant with a strong squad for the last competitive encounter of the season. It is an invitation tournament meaning the opportunity to play some quality opposition from the local area and as far a field as Brighton & Luton. This was certainly evident, with the standard of play being very high.
Pool Game 1 v Pulborough.
The first game involved a team from West Sussex, where which we knew little about, other than their location as I used to live in the village about 16 years ago.
The game started well with lots of pressure from Andover from the kick off and some great rucking. This told shortly afterwards with a strong determined run from distance by Ben Reed to open the scoring.
This was quickly followed up with another try by Stanley North following a blindside break from a scrum.
Pulborough then came back with a score themselves following a missed tackle. They then threw everything they had at Andover, but some good defence held them out for a 10 – 5 victory.
Pool Game 2 v Newbury
We knew this would be a tough encounter as Newbury had already won their opening two matches and they have about 70 players in their under 11 squad.
Newbury always looked dominant in this match and Andover had little ball to work with all game. Despite this the defence was immense. Had it not been so good, the score could have been a rout, but it finished only 15 – 0 to Newbury. All players stood up this game, but Josh Middleton, Ben Reed, Tom McGinnis and Callum Farr all deserved credit for their tackling.
Pool Game 3 v Brighton
We were confident of a good performance against Brighton. They too had lost to Newbury earlier so it should have been an even encounter. We did not however play our best rugby here. In the first half we were too hesitant in the loose, meaning lost possession and we lacked pace and aggression in our attacks too.
Things improved in the second half, with more determination and aggression, but vital opportunities to move the ball wide were wasted and we eventually lost 10 – 0. An ankle injury to Josh Middleton also meant we unfortunately lost him for the rest of the day and a trip to casualty was required.
Pool Game 4 v Redingensians
The game started well with some good play and pressure from Andover. This led to a try from Stanley North following some nice handling down the line. We continued this dominance in the first half, but did not execute to score several other opportunities. The second half saw us again waste more chances through not passing the ball and we let Reading in for a score.
The game eventually finished a 5 – 5 draw, which was a disappointing result.
Pool Game 5 v Basingstoke
This was a game we needed to win to guarantee a 3rd place pool finish. It started well with some strong running and good rucking. The breakthrough came after a blindside break from a scrum by Callum Farr, who off loaded to Stanley North to score.
This was shortly followed up with a great score. Stanley North kicked through, a good chase followed and the ball landed sweetly in Ben Reed’s arms after the bounce. He then off loaded to Finlay Waite who was in support who finished the move off in style.
The game finished 10 – 0 to Andover.
This meant we finished 3rd in the pool. A lengthy delay then followed following an injury, which required an ambulance for an Alton player in the other pool.
Eventually we found out we were to face the host club Havant in the plate semi final.
Plate semi final v Havant
Andover were well up for this game and played probably their best rugby of the season. It was delightful to see things suddenly click in such spectacular fashion and the backs, with good support from the forwards ran riot. We scored 5 unanswered tries and most involved interlinking play from far out, going through several pairs of hands in the process.
Simon Winchcombe scored three including one from close range, one following a determined individual break from well out and another following some excellent passing and support play from many players.
Rhys Thomas got on the scoresheet with a fantastic try. Again this was well finished and involved great interplay between Ben Reed and Simon Winchcombe. Finally Johnny Darling scored a great try showing a clean pair of heels and some good sidesteps following some good handling from numerous players in the build up.
Final score 25 – 0.
Plate Final v Redingensians
We were confident of a victory here following our draw earlier in the pool phases. We started well, creating some good pressure and Simon Winchcombe made the breakthrough, scoring with a drive from close range. A disallowed effort followed from Johnny Darling. Unfortunately, we then let them back into the game to make the score 5 – 5 at half time.
In the second half we were all over them and spent the majority of the game in their half. Two more disallowed tries followed and it looked like we would score at any point. With seconds to go Andover launched another attack close to the opposition’s line and in trying to pass the ball they intercepted and ran the length of the pitch to score, despite a tremendous chase from Findlay Waite. That proved to be the last play of the game and the season!
We lost the game 10 – 5, which was hard to swallow and finished runners up in the plate.
The players showed great sportsmanship in giving the opposition three cheers and were unlucky not to come away with their second piece of silverware of the season. They did however collect their runners up medals.
All in all, a good days rugby, with some great play at times. Despite this a disappointing result in the end.
We look forward to presentation day and next season!
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