Disappointing Day at Matson U11 Festival

We all arrived at the alpine resort of Matson, looking forward to carrying on from our dominating victory the week before vs Dursley. Would the forwards dominate and give great ball to the backs, or would it be a slug fest in the snow, sorry mud?

As festivals go at least it was slightly less muddy under foot than the poor souls who have suffered Glastonbury trench foot disease. After clearing the pitch and training area of fireworks and sticks we were ready to go. If only the groundsman had turned up because they had also forgotten to mark out touchlines and try lines. This was bound to cause problems during the games with the kids not knowing where they were on the pitch.

Match 1 vs Widden Old Boys

The game started with both teams attacking and defending in equal measure. Widden were first to score with a well worked try in the left corner with recycling the ball through the forwards and backs. Stroud came back strong with Stoner and Will both playing well in the forwards which gave Tom H chance to get good quality ball out to the backs but a few high tackles denied us momentum and weren't penalised. Even Jedd got taken out high so how tall must the kid have been who clotheslined him ?

2nd half started much better with Stoner making a good break through the forwards. The game then became a battle of field position with both teams kicking the ball backwards and forwards. Widden were winning the positional battle and we though they were going to score a 2nd but a great tackle by Finn stopped them and with the turnover Stroud then managed to attack and get up to half way through good play by Laurie. Tom S (aka Dave) deputising at #10, while Will's knee recovers, had a great run down the centre and across the right flank. Just as we were about to exert some pressure on their try line the ref blew for full time and the final score was Stroud lost by a single try. Hard luck boys.

Match 2 vs Old Pats

This game was all about the forwards. Old Pats were very strong here. Early on Stroud lost a scrum and Pats ran down left wing to score in corner. Stroud came back and were attacking down left wing when Liam went down with a knee injury and had to be carried off in pain and taken to A&E to be checked over. Delia did an initial diagnosis and then gave them a doctors note to make sure A&E gave Liam the correct treatment. Can't afford to lose our ball ripping prop for too many weeks.

The game continued with various lineout tussles - A1 Audi being our favourite call ! What confuses the parents is Sam and Mark drive a Saab and/or BMW ! Eventually Old Pats got down to Stroud line again and good defense by Stroud denied another try. Both Keeyan and Callum had some good tackling and attacks but Old Pats were dominating the scrum and in one occasion we got pushed over totally and Jedd landed badly and had to go off injured. Good defense by Edgar and Tom O helped stall the attacks but after this Pats scored a 2nd try in the corner.

In the 2nd half it was a similair story of attack and defense with numerous good Stroud tackles stopping Old Pats in their tracks. Archie playing scrum half and Archie E on the wing had some good runs to help get the ball deep into enemy territory. A long kick by Pats bounced around a lot and Stroud did well to defend in numbers and keep the game close. Finally the pressure told and Pats scored a third try up the centre. Lewis went off at the end with a nose bleed. Full time Stroud 0 - 3 Old Pats

Match 3 vs Clifton

Stroud started well with some good tackles and winning the ball at the breakdown. Clifton came back strong and with quick hands through the backs made a lot of ground and only another good tackle by Finn stopped them taking the lead. Other Clifton attacks were also denied by Stroud. After a highly competitive 1st half the score was still 0-0. Could we take over at nick a try in the 2nd half?

The 2nd half started badly with Clifton kicking long and Stroud missed the ball and Clifton ran it in for an easy try. During this Finn was injured and carried off. George (or Kevin as he nicknamed himself) came on to play the full back role and it wasn't long before he was clobbered and went down injured. Luckily he was able to carry on with renewed vigour - I think his last words to Delia were - "If I want to get in the match report I need to score or make big tackles, not be an injury statistic !"

Clifton then had the attack of the game with the ball being passed through all the backs and drawing the contact and offloading it at pace to the next back. They scored in the left corner to make it 2-0. While we were still admiring their quickness they scored a third with a mazy run that some how missed all our tackles. Just as Delia was having time for a breather Callum went down with a kick to the face so it was his turn to be taken off for some medical attention. Laurie was playing well in the forwards. Arthur had another good run but final whistle was blown. Final score was 3-0 to Clifton but in the spirit of optimism we'll call it 1 half to us and 1.5 halves to them. Clifton were definitely going to do well in this tournament and we did so well to match them for the 1st half.

During the gap between games Archie and Lewis realised they needed nicknames to get a mention in the match report so they came up with the names 'Flash' and 'Dash'. I think you can work out which speedster gets 'Dash' and which confident scrum half gets 'Flash'. There is a 'Flash' that plays fly half for Stroud Senior 1st 15 so perhaps thats where they get their inspiration from?
'Flash' then dished out his sweets to provide a much needed energy rush for the team.

Match 4 vs Thornbury

Before the game started there was a revelation from Jedd. He'd had a haircut. While the parents tried to work out how and where this had happened, and was he due a refund for lack of hair removal it was pointed out that he'd only been chopped at the back. Perhaps this was to stop his mane getting in his eyes when running at top speed, or give the defenders less to grab hold off when trying to tackle him. Anyway enough of male grooming tips and onto proper sport.....

Thornbury's nickname is Broncos but with the yellow and black tops they looked more like wasps. Would their be a sting in the tail ? Would Stroud show up and play for pride and go out on a high. Both of these premonitions turned out to be true.....

Arthur had some good attacks and carried on making yards after contact. Thornbury came back and equally forced our defense into good tackles. In one case Alex had their big guy bearing down on him and before he could try and get out of the way managed to bring him down and stop an attack. Keeyan was also having a good game in the forwards with winning breakdowns and putting pressure on their players. Stroud had some good attacking kicking and in one passage Alex managed to recover a long kick and with good forward support from Will and Tom O Archie sent the ball back through our backs before Lewis was pushed out of play. At half time it was still 0-0.

In the 2nd half a folically challenged Jedd had a rampaging run down the centre. Thornbury did well to bring him down and then kicked for the corner and recovered the ball to score first try of game. Stroud kept their heads up and Finn caught a high kick and had a great run back. This then setup a good passage of attacking play. It was finished off by Arthur finding as gap from nothing and running half the length of pitch to score Strouds 1st try of the day to make it 1-1. Stroud were determined to win this game and Lewis, sorry 'Dash' had a good run. Just as we had resigned ourselves to a draw there was a contentious final try scored by Thornbury. In a scrum the ball came straight back out the side again and while Stroud expected a scrum reset Thornbury picked up the ball and scored the winning try. No time for another kick off as full time whistle went and the Wasps had stung us at the end and nicked a 2-1 victory.

During the team debrief Arthur was awarded man-of-match award for his constant desire to make forward progress with tacklers hanging off him, and also being a strong tackler. It was a hard group we were drawn into - the 'Group of Death' in World Cup football terminology. I wonder if Clifton and Thornbury went on to do well in the knock out phases of competition.

Special thanks to Delia for her medical support. You can tell its not your team’s day when she gets more name checks than Jedd ! Here’s hoping Liam isn’t injured too badly.

Liam’s update from his Mum on Sunday night is "just got bk from hospital, X-rays inconclusive fracture clinic Tuesday for double check. Got crutches for a few days. Seems to b in good spirits at mo - on Playstation so that has to b Good sign!! So pretty sure it's nothing to serious. Heard all the boys played well today - well done boys".

Next week its back to normal rugby with a wider pitch and longer games so playing more to the strength of Stroud Under 11's.
Heads up kids, you still did Stroud proud with your effort and strong showing in the first and last games.