Match report from Guildford Floodlight Festival on 23 April 2010
U9's enjoy their night in the Spotlight
Well we got there in the end! The last festival of the season and what a fitting way to finish; rugby under the floodlights at local rivals Guildford with both Guildfordian teams sharing the Cup! Both sides were unbeaten with a hard fought draw between the Guildfordian Greens and Reds leaving them equal on points at the top of the table. It's been a long and at times frustrating season. Lots of disruption due to the weather, whether it was waterlogged pitches, pitches hard as rock, or pitches under a couple of feet of snow!
The ethos of the club and our age-group is 'rugby for all'. Training is always done for all players but in tournaments we will always try and play the right players in the right tournaments. Stronger teams at 'A' competitions, less strong at 'B' tournaments. That's why, for example, we mix our teams up at our own festivals. It's not as easy as you might think and we will sometimes make mistakes but all the coaches take great care to try and get it right and remember, we all volunteers just trying to do the best job we can. Friday night was no exception as we learnt that we were expected to enter 'mixed' teams - hence last minute tweaks and lots of "why am I not in that team?" and "that team is so much better than ours!" A big lesson then in "Belief". Belief in one's own ability, belief in one's team-mates (that they will be there to defend you and support you) and belief that 'yes, we can' win!
There were some great performances as Guildfordians simply blew the opposition away (and Effingham and Guildford are good teams). The Reds beat two Guildford sides and one Effingham side (6v0, 4v0 and 3v0), while the Greens beat two Effingham sides and one Guildford side (4v1, 5v1 and 6v0). It was a bit chaotic so our usual recording of stats fell by the wayside but it was nice to wind-up the season on a more relaxed note! Some of the highlights of the night for me were: to see Dylan Bailey storm halfway down the pitch before being forced into touch just before the line; Mattew Robertson jink his way right through a defence; Nick Thorn's awesome tackling (the tackling of the whole squad come to that!); Georgia Newman saying "see that big bloke - all you have to do is take his legs away!"; Nelson Pryer, blood pouring from his nose, in tears because he wanted to come back on!; Connor Jones and Tom Perceval run with the pure joy of wild horses; the incredible improvement in rucking and mauling since the Quins; and Charlie Hellier & Charlie Hubbard suddenly realising that "Yes, they can!"
The match of the night by far though was the titanic clash between the Guildfordian Reds and Greens. Someone said that they'd pay to watch this on 'pay to view'! It was that good! These guys do not like losing against each other. This battle in a dust-bowl was like a pride of Lions doing battle on the Serengeti, leaving carcasses scattered all over the pitch. I for one was happy when the Ref blew up and the result was 1v1. A fitting result as it meant both sides (deservedly) shared the Cup. A fitting result too that shows just what a strong squad we have - a squad that can compete at a very high level and one that will only go from strength to strength.
The night finished with a firework display that replicated the fireworks we had seen on the pitch. A fitting end to a great season. Thanks to everybody who has supported the club and the squad through the rain, the snow and the sun! Thanks too to all the kids for working so hard, playing so well and just being a pleasure to coach. Have a great Summer and see you next season.
The teams were:
Guildford Reds
Alasdair Bulman, Angus Lovatt, Henry Miguda, Finlay McManus, Ben Sambrook, Tom Perceval, Georgia Newman, Daniel Sumner, Bo Beynon, Luke Stokes
Guildford Greens
Charlie Hellier, Charlie Hubbard, Nathan Jones, Stephen Coughlin, Matthew Robertson, Nick Thorn, Archie Stevens, Connor Jones, Daniel Michell, Nelson Pryer, Dylan Bailey.
Lee Sambrook - U9 Coaching Team