Stroud Rugby Club Under 11s Match Reports from Cheltenham Festival.

Stroud U 11s 0 Longlevens U 11s 5

Stroud battled well and soaked up a lot of pressure against the eventual tournament winners but lost by a solitary, well worked try in the corner. Stroud's player of the match was Freddy Stephenson who typified the Stroud team's resilience in this match.

Stroud U 11s 0 Banbury u 11s 5

Again Stroud lost by a single try but this time Stroud had the chances to take the points but made poor decisions when well place to cross the try line. Banbury for their part took their one chance well. For Stroud, a typical bullish performance from Dom Butcher saw him stand out.

Stroud U 11s 10 Ledbury U 11s 5

This match saw Stroud wake up and produce the performance they are capable of. A fine individual try by Harry Pavis gave Stroud the lead before half time. Joe Ashenford added a second try for Stroud after the break and Ledbury hit back with a late consolation try. Stroud's man of the match was Reuben Keating who made some great breaks forward to create the chances.

Stroud U 11s 5 Cheltenham U 11s 0

Against a well drilled Cheltenham side Stroud again played some good structured rugby to eventually win a tight match by a solitary try. The try came from a well thought out line out move. The ball was thrown long by Ben Pope, Ellery Thompson took it well and off loaded to scrum half, Oliver Greensweig who in turn passed to Joe Ashenford who jinked through to score a great team try. Stroud's star player in this match was the hard tackling Konah Dyer.

Stroud U 11s 15 Evesham U 11s 0

This match paired a physically huge Evesham side against a Stroud side still awaiting their growing spurt but Stroud were not to be intimidated and produced their performance of the tournament winning by three tries to nil. Joe Ashenford was the try scoring man of the match with a hat-trick but good contributions to the team play were made by Charlie Cox, Harry Ward and Jack Cullimore. A great tackle from Jonathan Butcher to bring down the Evesham giant on his way to the try line was also well worth mentioning.

Stroud U 11s 0 Stow 15

Having come a creditable third in their group Stroud were drawn to play Stow in a third placed play off match. This proved to be one match too many for Stroud's small squad and they went down by three tries to nil against an exceptionally well drilled and disciplined Stow side who to be honest were a far better side than any they had faced before on the day. For Stroud, Richard Siebenaller and Aaran Raith kept battling well in the face continual Stow pressure.

Thanks are also expressed to coaches Antony Greensweig and Rob Pavis for their efforts with the boys and to Sharon Ashenford for all her behind the scenes work.