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| Rugby Colts C Team 'Blog' |
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Match 8 - Saturday, 10th December v Lambrook Lost 22-60 (T: Connor Lim 2, Tharoonan Moodley 2; C: Ketak Chaudhari) What a great way to end the season! This was a 10-a-side match played on half a pitch due to frost. It was a complete contrast to last Wednesday; we tackled well, kept possession of the ball and drove hard in mauls and in scrums. The first half was end-to-end excitement with both teams scoring in succession. Connor scored two tries with his darting, meandering runs to the line and Tharoonan also scored a great try in the corner. The half-time score was 15-15, showing how evenly-matched the sides were. Connor scored another try early in the second half, which Ketak converted - the look of amazement on his face when the ball went between the posts was priceless! At this point we were actually winning 22-20 and the boys had belief in themselves for probably the first time this season. Unfortunately we were unable to capitalise on this and Lambrook scored six more tries, but we kept our composure right up to the final whistle and we were unlucky not to score a fifth try from Oscar's final push towards the opposition try line. The boys left the pitch with their heads held high and I am pleased that their final memory of the season is this good team performance. Well done! Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joe Belcher Tharoonan Moodley (c) Ketak Chaudhari Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Chris Vonchek Jack Small Oscar Heal James Scott Connor Lim Tom Ogilvie Carlos Rivas de Anta Will Brown Match 7 - Wednesday, 7th December v Yateley Manor Lost 0-50 This match was played on a tiny pitch without goalposts and there should have been end-to-end action. Unfortunately this was not the case and we were never in the game - it was completely one-way traffic to Yateley Manor. Our best player was Tom Ogilvie, who made some good tackles and marked the opposition well. A disappointing team performance today. Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joe Belcher Tharoonan Moodley Ketak Chaudhari (c) Joseph Fernandes Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Chris Vonchek Jack Small Oscar Heal Lewis Sharp James Scott Zak Tilley Connor Lim Tom Ogilvie Carlos Rivas de Anta Will Brown
Match 6 - Saturday, 3rd December v Highfield Lost 0-54 Unfortunately the words of encouragement in my previous blog did not have the desired effect and we were well-beaten by a powerful and skilful Highfield team. We were quite positive in the first half and Joe and Connor made some penetrating runs. However, we lacked positional awareness and too often our players ran sideways or backwards rather than straight for the line. The second half was one-way traffic and we made it too easy for Highfield to score. With the exception of Oscar, Joe and Tom, who tackled well and had the knocks to prove it, we lacked any real drive or determination. Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joe Belcher Tharoonan Moodley Ketak Chaudhari (c) Joseph Fernandes Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Chris Vonchek Jack Small Oscar Heal Lewis Sharp James Scott Zak Tilley Connor Lim Tom Ogilvie Carlos Rivas de Anta Will Brown Match 5 - Wednesday, 30th November v Aldro Lost 5-53 (T: Joe Belcher) We began the game well and Joe scored a try in the third minute - our first points of the season! Aldro seemed rattled, but they were able to regroup and they quickly scored a try to level the game. We continued to play good rugby until Aldro scored two more quick tries to make it 5-17 at half-time. Unfortunately our confidence deserted us in the second half and Aldro ran away with the match. I was impressed by the tackling of Tom and Connor and the kicking of Ketak and Tharoonan. The fact that a number of our players were carrying a few knocks by the end of the game shows that it was a physical contest and I am pleased that we made Aldro work hard for most of their tries. A weight has been lifted from our shoulders now that we finally have our first points on the board. Hopefully this will kick-start our season and inspire the boys to score a few more tries against Highfield. Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joe Belcher Tharoonan Moodley Ketak Chaudhari (c) Joseph Fernandes Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Chris Vonchek Jack Small Oscar Heal Lewis Sharp James Scott Zak Tilley Connor Lim Tom Ogilvie Carlos Rivas de Anta Will Brown Match 4 - Wednesday, 23rd November v Papplewick Lost 0-49 We lost to a physically strong Under 11B side today, but we can hold our heads up high and be proud of our performance. We had several good passages of play in the first half and second half, we tackled well and we made Papplewick work hard for every try they scored. The agile and skilful Oscar had a couple of chances to score and I was also impressed by the good running and tackling shown by Joe, Lewis, Evan and Connor. We will continue to work hard in our games sessions before our next match. Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joe Belcher Tharoonan Moodley Ketak Chaudhari (c) Joseph Fernandes Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Chris Vonchek Jack Small Oscar Heal Lewis Sharp James Scott Zak Tilley Evan Lim Connor Lim Tom Ogilvie
Match 3 - Wednesday, 16th November v Cranleigh Lost 0-47 Despite the heavy defeat I am pleased with our performance today and we played our best rugby of the season so far. Seven of Cranleigh's nine tries were scored by two players; without them the sides were quite even. Our best move came from Joe's mazy run into opposition territory early in the second half which almost resulted in a try. I was also impressed by Tharoonan's drop kicking. The two undoubted stars of the show were Evan and Connor, who were playing in their first rugby match. I lost count of the number of fantastic tackles both of them made. Hopefully we can fully utilize Connor's pace on the wing in our next match. We are making progress and the boys' desire to get some points on the board is tangible. Let's make it happen against Papplewick! Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joe Belcher (c) Tharoonan Moodley Joseph Fernandes Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Caspar Talbot Chris Vonchek Jack Small Oscar Heal Lewis Sharp James Scott Zak Tilley Evan Lim Connor Lim Match 2 - Saturday, 12th November v Feltonfleet Lost 0-53 This was an 11-a-side match due to absences. Unfortunately we were completely out-played by a skilful and powerful Feltonfleet side. I am pleased that we never gave up, and during the second half we made a couple of good breaks through Jack and Lewis, but we never threatened the opposition try line. In our games lessons next week we are going to work hard on our tackling and our distribution. Hopefully we will put in a more determined performance against Cranleigh. Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joseph Fernandes Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Ketak Chaudhari (c) Caspar Talbot Chris Vonchek Jack Small Oscar Heal Lewis Sharp Will Brown Christian Gale Match 1 - Wednesday, 9th November v Hall Grove Lost 0-45 This was an exciting first match of the season. The scoreline implies that this match was completely one-sided, but this was not the case and in reality the teams were of a similar standard. Our passing was accurate, Ketak kicked the ball well, we won about half of the scrums and we made many tackles, especially from the outstanding Carlos. Our weakness was on our left side where, despite a 'rotation' of players, we were unable to stop some very powerful and fast Hall Grove boys scoring tries. Tharoonan made a couple of penetrating runs and just before half-time we came within a metre of scoring a try, but unfortunately Hall Grove defended their line resolutely. We actually were the dominant team for the first ten minutes of the second half and therefore it is disappointing that we came away from the game without any points. We have made a positive start to the season. There is definitely a foundation upon which we can build and we will continue to work hard in our training sessions. Match report by Ben Mono. The team Joseph Fernandes Don Vatanatham Thomas Williamson Ketak Chaudhari (c) Caspar Talbot Chris Vonchek Tharoonan Moodley Jack Small Tom Ogilvie Carlos Rivas de Anta Oscar Heal James Scott Lewis Sharp Will Brown Zak Tilley |
