Match report from the Harlequins qualifiers - 07 February 2010
Under 9's - Nines Squeeze through to the Grand Finals!
Crisp and sunny - a perfect Winters day for rugby as we all arrived full of hope for the Quins semi-finals. However as the mud thawed it was soon clear it would not be a perfect day for running rugby. The mud got thicker and thicker - it was a day for "stick-it up your jumper" rugby and not a day for our winged flyers. However we have a good squad that mixes power with speed, so expectations remained high as we entered out first match.
This was against Haywards Heath . We knew little about them but it was soon clear they were a strong side and that the conditions suited them just fine. Angus Lovatt, Alasdair Bulman and Charlie Hubbard our fantastic forwards started putting themselves about. Finlay McManus and Ben Sambrook marshalled the troops behind and we made some progress, but it was not until we found a bit of space and a bit of traction towards the edges of the pitch that Connor Jones managed to let loose and sprint towards the line ably supported by Bo Beynon. But Connor was able to keep going and touch down in the corner. The rest of the match continued to be a tight affair. Although there were a few breaks from Dan Michell and Ollie Bliss we couldn't quite get free and it ended 1v0 to the Gs.
The second match was against Ealing and followed directly on from the first. Sometimes this is an adavntage as we are already in gear. Although from the look of the mud-splattered faces and the now brown jersies the Gs looked as if we played 3 games already! Ealing are a good side - we've come across them before. This would be a hard game - one for our big hitters, and the team took on its most beefed-up look. This proved to be the right call, with little width to the game. Both sides had periods of pressure without ever looking likely to break free. The first half belonged to the Guildfordians but the second was much more even and some strong runs from Ealing had to be snuffed out by strong tackling. Georgia Newman made some great tackles. Finlay and Ben got stuck into the breakdown and our runners jinked and slipped but this time we couldn't quite cross the try line and it ended 0v0.
The last game was perhaps against the weakest opposition, Westcombe Park, and the Gs needed to win well if we were to stand any chance of going through. However two hard games were beginning to take their toll and Charlie, Finlay and Ben had all picked-up knocks. We tried a new half back combination and went for the kill. However Westcombe Parked proved no push-overs and it was nil v nil at the break. At half-time the team were asked whether they actually wanted to win? The roar of the response showed their immense desire to succeed and the second half saw a different attitude. The forwards again started to drive forward, Daniel Sumner doing really well as replacement hooker. Spaces slowly showed themselves and the new half-back combination struck gold with a smart pass from Matthew Robinson releasing Tom Perceval through a gap for the first try. This followed soon after with a second from Tom as he leaped over the prone defence to score in the corner. Then we saw the sweetest move of the morning, Connor broke, released Ollie who realised there was an over-lap and wizzed the ball out to Nick Thorn who scored with pace in the corner. It was classic rugby - we could have been watching Wales!
Parents should be really proud of the way their kids played. It was a morning that again saw the full squad working their socks-off (and their boots-off come to that! Just ask Alasdair and Angus!) It was so muddy that in the last game you really couldn't tell who was who, but our 'Angels with Dirty Faces' really put the work in and worked exceptionally well as a team. We showed we can play the physical-game as well as the running-game. Unbeaten, with no trys conceded, speaks for itself. However Ealing scored one more try than us and progressed to the final. We had the long wait to see whether we had progressed as one of the best 'second-placers'. It was not until Saturday night that the Quins web-site was updated and we learnt that YES we had made it to the finals ....Phew!
As usual a great big thank you to all our supporters, especially those who put the tent up and down! Thanks for all your good natured support and bring on the Grand Finals on Saturday 3rd April!
Bo Beynon, Ollie Bliss, Alasdair Bulman, Charlie Hubbard, Connor Jones, Angus Lovatt, Finlay McManus, Daniel Michell, Georgia Newman, Tom Perceval, Matthew Robertson, Ben Sambrook, Daniel Sumner, and Nicholas Thorn.
Lee Sambrook - U9 Coaching Team