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Droitwich U7's finish runners-up at Moseley Tournament

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

After last week’s success at Stratford, Sunday saw another great day for our ever improving Under 7’s squad who finished as Runners Up in the competitive Moseley Tournament.

In a different format to last week's Stratford event we played all the other teams in a 'round robin' with the final positions being decided on a league basis (3 points for a win, 1point for a draw).

The boys showed tremendous resilience, guts and stamina as we were the only team in the competition that had to play four matches in a row without a break!

Our efforts were even more creditable as we lost one player to injury during the first match and he was unable to participate during the rest of the day. We also had another one who was suffering having been ill on Sunday morning whilst a third player was coming back from a week's illness.

So it's well done again to our fantastic squad: Nathan Joss, Miles Petit, Archie Jones, Arthur Carter, Ben Keepax, Adam Shaw, Joseph Neale, Ben Lee, Aran Foster and Harry Alldritt for another great effort.

The eventual winners were Worcester ‘B’ who scored 39 tries whilst our total was 32. It would therefore be fair to say that on the day the best overall team won the competition even though they didn't beat us!

Our results were as follows:

vs Moseley Griffins - Lost 6 - 4
Try Scorers - Joseph Neale 3, Ben Lee 1

vs Worcester 'B' - Drew 6 - 6
Try Scorers - Arthur Carter 2, Ben Lee 2, Aran Foster 1, Harry Alldritt 1

vs Worcester 'A' - Won 8 - 3
Try Scorers - Joseph Neale 2, Ben Lee 2, Arthur Carter 1, Miles Petit 1, Adam Shaw 1, Harry Alldritt 1

vs Moseley Bulls - Won 5 - 4
Try Scorers - Arthur Carter 1, Joseph Neale 1, Ben Keepax 1, Ben Lee 1, Adam Shaw 1

vs Widnes - Won 5 - 3
Try Scorers - Joseph Neale 2, Ben Lee 1, Adam Shaw 1, Harry Alldritt 1

vs Hereford - Won 4 - 2
Try Scorers - Harry Alldritt 2, Arthur Carter 1, Ben Lee 1

Droitwich Under 7's win Stratford Tournament

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Well done to our magnificent squad of ten—Will Bishop, Adam Shaw, Joseph Neale, Aran Foster, James Webster, William Blackledge, Jakob Terry, Ben Lee, Harry Alldritt and Joe Corlett—who emerged victorious from the Stratford Tournament on 27th April.

The boys played “out of their skins” to achieve a well deserved victory - they were a credit to themselves, their parents and the club as a whole. It was a great team effort from all ten players who can feel very proud of their performances in Stratford. Tagging was absolutely superb and the cornerstone to our victory, with the number of tries scored also proving to be crucial.

Our results in Group 2 were as follows:

vs. Daventry: Won 7 - 5

Try scorers: Aran Foster 2, Adam Shaw 2, Will Bishop 1, Joseph Neale 1, Joe Corlett 1.

Special mention for William Blackledge who played for Daventry when they were a player short, and even scored a try for them as well!

vs Bromsgrove 'A': Won 7 - 5

Try Scorers: Joseph Neale 2, Adam Shaw 1, Aran Foster 1, James Webster 1, Jakob Terry 1, Ben Lee 1.

vs. Cheltenham 'B': Won 6 - 2

Try scorers: Joseph Neale 2, Will Bishop 2, Joe Corlett 1, James Webster 1.

vs. Stratford Lions: Won 4 - 1
Try Scorers: Adam Shaw 2, James Webster 1, Joseph Neale 1.

We therefore went through as Group Winners to the Semi-final.

vs Bromsgrove 'B': Won 5 -1
Try Scorers: Adam Shaw 4, Ben Lee 1.

Final vs. Cheltenham 'A': Drew 4 - 4
Try Scorers: Ben Lee 2, Adam Shaw 1, Joseph Neale 1.

After an anxious wait we were told that we were to be crowned Tournament Winners based on tries scored throughout the whole event. We had scored 33 compared to Cheltenham's 29 and wild celebrations resulted from a jubilant group of players and parents.

Droitwich 3 - Stoke on Trent 18

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Droitwich failed in their attempt to gain promotion to Midlands Division Two—going down 18 points to three at the Memorial Ground to an efficient Stoke on Trent side.

What will disappoint Droitwich the most is not so much the result, but more the manner of their defeat. They never got into the game, and certainly failed to secure very much quality possession, and what they did get they often squandered.

Playing into the stiff breeze in the first period Droitwich looked clumsy and nervous, and it was the visitors who made the running, although the home defence was strong with Nick Godfrey, Phil Horton and James Davies making some good tackles. All too often, however, Droitwich infringed and gave away penalties, and were fortunate that the Stoke kicker had an off day, slotting only one of his four first half attempts.

The one bright spark during the first period was a fine break by full back Critchlow, who raced forty metres before linking with Steve Poke, who then found Sean Walker who was tackled into touch five metres from the visitors’ line. Droitwich though could not maintain this pressure, giving away a penalty to allow Stoke to relieve the pressure. With the clock running down on the half Stoke laid siege to the Spa line, forcing a series of scrums before eventually muscling their way over for a try.

Turning round at eight to nil Droitwich must have believed they could use the strong wind to gain territory and the initial exchanges belonged to the home side as Duncan Hughes slotted a penalty.

More pressure saw Droitwich go close, but the Stoke defence was good and Droitwich were often guilty of choosing wrong options and sloppy passing. Poke and Jon Andrews both went close but could not quite get over the line.

A long kick from the visitors relieved the pressure, Critchlow fielded the ball and ran out of defence, but a wayward pass was not dealt with by the Spa midfield allowing the Stoke right wing to gather the ball, sprint down the field and score under the posts.

This was a body blow for Droitwich who, for the first time in the match, had threatened to get out of second gear and make a game of it. Just to add insult to injury Droitwich were penalised, only for some back chat to see the free kick upgraded to a penalty for the visitors to increase their lead. It was now a lost cause and Droitwich tried everything to get back on terms, but to be honest never really looked like scoring.

The final whistle brought the curtain down on a failed promotion bid, and it must be said the better side won, but Droitwich will be disappointed they could not produce some of the quality rugby they have shown at times during the season—a sentiment echoed by retiring, veteran outside half Duncan Hughes, “We are obviously very disappointed. There was a large crowd today and we failed to deliver. We have an awful lot of young players so I am sure this experience will make us come back stronger next year.”

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