On a night where even brass monkeys headed for the clubhouse, our lads lined up against OA’s, Hemel, Woodford and of course Hertford in a delightful round robin competition under floodlights. All 5 clubs submitted teams in 3 age groups (under 10’s 11’s and 12’s) with total tries scored by each side determining age group winners, and combined tries from all age groups dictating overall winning club.

The first team pitch was divided into 3 playing areas – one for each group – with consequently very narrow pitches resulting in very congested matches. Our first game started well against a rejuvenated Woodford and we dominated the first half but were unable to turn possession into more than the single try. Woodford came back strong in the 2nd half and the 1-1 final score was a fair result overall. Key points stressed for our lads was the need to ruck in more numbers and ball retention.

Next up were Hertford, a club we had beaten convincingly in recent years. But boy did they want it. They were really fired up and competitive and in a very tight game they came out 1-0 winners. Again, we had our opportunities to spin it wide when defences were sucked in but failed to take these. We either took the ball into one contact too many (and lost possession) or tried to spin it too late under pressure and knocked on.

Penultimate game was against perennial winners OA’s and the 5-0 defeat did not truly reflect the combative nature of the match…with 2 breakaway tries and 1 interception. However, yet again we contributed to our own downfall by poor ball retention around the contact area and poor decision making when we did get the ball.

Our final game against Hemel was perhaps our most positive in terms of character. We didn’t see a lot of possession but our lads (very much now a skeleton 12 following withdrawals through injury) showed real grit and determination in defence. Constantly making tackle after tackle and holding them up on/behind the try line on at least 2 occasions. All the Hemel coaches commented on the strength of this defence with no weak links and everyone making their tackles. Well done boys.

In summary, although a bitterly cold night, the weather conditions (and refs) were the same for all but we seemed to have more handling errors and certainly lost more of the ball in contacts than we won. Certainly stuff to work on. On the plus our defence (OA’s apart) was usually solid. Final point was a reminder to us all that even in mini’s rugby, the side that is really up for the contact (especially when narrow pitches channel the action) usually has an edge.

I have purposefully avoided naming any of the lads in the match reports as all were equally deserving. However, Grant Muir does deserve a special mention for his continually, positive and never give up attitude. His head never drops. He plays every tackle and every contact and every phase as if it were the first or the last and is equally committed in all, irrespective of the overall relevance to final results. Well done Grant.

Steve Marriott