County Cup at Stow on the Wold

U8’s Semi Final
Chosen Hill 9 – Stroud 6

A good team effort was shown by Stroud U8’s despite being low on numbers.   The quarter final was against Chosen Hill and play began with the teams very evenly matched.  Chosen Hill took an early lead but was quickly equalised by an excellent try from Ethan Seville of Stroud with the help of some great attacking from William Frusher.  Stroud’s second try came from a fantastic weaving run by Matthew Cullimore.  Chosen Hill then took control of the first half by scoring a further three tries.  Not disheartened Stroud picked up and was rewarded by a text book try from Matthew Cullimore who left the opposition standing with his 10 metre dash to the line.  The half time score stood at 6 – 4 after Harry McNeil of Stroud stormed to the line in response to two further tries by Chosen Hill.  

The second half saw some great possession by the Stroud U8’s and in particular a great run by Chris Lusty to be finished by an inspired try by Matthew Cullimore.   Sam Stevenson and Harry McNeil both made great breaks for the line but it was again Matthew who managed to get the ball over the line.  This unfortunately was not enough to stave off a win by Chosen Hill who scored a further three tries.

Hucclecote B  11  -  Stroud 8
U8 Play Off

Stroud player Ethan Seville began this match with a exceptional run to the line from Stroud’s opening possession.  Then Hucclecote scored but Stroud immediately responded with a magnificent run down the left wing by Harry McNeil. Hucclecote scored two more tries despite some fantastic tagging by Lewis Glover.  This defensive play opened up the opportunity to turn over a possible fourth try by Hucclecote to Stroud’s advantage when Matthew Cullimore picked up a stray ball and ran the length of the pitch home to score what was easily the best try of the match.  Possession stayed with Hucclecote until Ethan Seville found a gap in the stalwart defence to score his second try of the game.

Chris Lusty opened the second half by outpacing Hucclecote with a half pitch length run to score by the right corner flag.  This try seemed to inspire the team into action as they delivered some of the best play this season. Hucclecote seemed to then take control of the game with three more tries but the boys responded well and indeed their final tries were a result of spectacular team play and two fantastic runs by Chris, both of which were turned into tries by Matthew Cullimore who commanded some excellent supportive play.