Tetbury run over by a Laurie!

Match notes now dried out so able to put together todays match report !

Stroud travelled to a wet Tetbury to first of all take on the elements and a determined Tetbury team, and then followed on by an Army assault course challenge.

Drill sergeant Jenks led the warm-ups at a quick tempo to keep everyone moving and warm. With the success of the pre-game drills last week vs Painswick they were repeated this week. Unfortunately they claimed their first victim – a brave Callum who was still recovering from illness managed to get all the way to the end but was unable to carry on into the games due to only running on 1 lung !

After being allocated new secondary schools at the start of the week it was time for the coaching staff to ring the changes and allocate new positions to make up for some of the missing regulars. Edgar would play some time in the forwards, James would play on the wing, Archie E would move inside to centre, and Alex would drop back to play full back.

A nice long and wide pitch should play to their strengths but would make them work hard to contain Tetburys attacking runners. With a driving rain in their face and running uphill how would Stroud get on in the first game?

Game 1

The Tetbury kick-off went straight out of play. Stroud started strongly by winning their own line-out and setting up a driving maul with Tom H shouting out the instructions. Chris O would have been proud of this move! At the right time the ball was released out to the backs and they set up a sweeping move through all the hands out to Sam on the left wing. He cut inside and then the passes went back to the right wing, even with offloads in the tackle. The wide pitch was helping Stroud and they repeated this attacking move 2 more times to get upto the Tetbury 22nd were play slowed down. It was a stunning passage of play with everyone getting involved, and even more impressive given the slippery conditions in hand and under foot.

At the next breakdown Stroud won this and the ball came out to Archie who nearly scored in the left corner. Tetbury picked up the knock-on and came back straight down the wing and a good tackle by Dave thwarted them.

Laurie won the lineout and attacked. The ball went to Liam and he was tackled hard, Will H picked up the ball and weaved through the middle to score a try. Unfortunately the ref – his Dad – had called a knock on from Liam’s tackle and the try was disallowed. Should make for an interesting discussion over tea about the merits of how to referee the game in wet conditions!

Stroud kept going strong though. They won the Tetbury scrum and Tom H at scrum half did a great feed out to the right and Ryan managed to stay in bounds on the right wing and was unlucky not to score. Tetbury attacked straight back and one of their big guys managed to get up a head of steam and break a number of tackles. Alex positioned himself well and did a Finn-esque style tackle to bring the guy down and actually force him out of bounds.

Tom O did a great lineout throw to the back and Laurie caught it cleanly and set off to the left. He showed his pace and managed to outrun the Tetbury defence to score in the left corner to give Stroud a well deserved 1-0 lead. A well earnt reward for the dominating play by both the forwards and backs.

Another Tetbury kick-off went straight out of play. At the Stroud throw it was Stoners turn to take it and set up the next phase of play. The ball came out to the backs and they quickly moved it out to Sam on the left. Just as we thought he had escaped the last tackle he was forced out of bounds. Tetbury came back strong and good tackling by Keyan stopped their bigger players from breaking through.

The game was stopped for an injury to Dave. At the restart Laurie and Keyan put together a good attacking move supported well by Liam and Tom O. Tetbury were penalised for slowing down play. At the resulting scrum Stroud won it and the ball came out to Sam on the left wing who managed to cut back inside. In the tackle Laurie picked up the ball and went on another rampaging run towards the left flag. He was unlucky to not score because as he attempted to ground the ball he was pushed out of play by a desperate Tetbury tackle.

Stroud kept the pressure on the Tetbury line though and won a turnover and tried to punch it in a few times but resolute Tetbury defence stopped them. Not to be denied the ball came out to Ryan and instead of passing it to the right where we had an overlap he cut back and scored up the middle – great decision to give us a 2-0 lead as the half time whistle blew.

The 2nd half started with a well judged Will H kick-off and just as the ball landed Will T cleanly tackled the receiver. The ball came out to another Tetbury forward and just and before he even knew it he’d been hit by Stoner to setup a Stroud turnover. The ball came out through the backs and Archie E ran well and got the ball out to Dave. He attacked the wing but was forced out of play by another good Tetbury tackle.

It was Tetburys turn to attack now and they made up a lot of ground with some equally impressive passing moves. Just as we thought they were going to score the ball was stripped in the tackle and Dave picked it up. He kicked it long and the backs set after it. The Tebury full back did well to pick up the ball but as soon as he did Ryan tackled him and as the Tetbury guy tried to offload it from the ground an alert Archie E intercepted the pass and ran half the length of the pitch to score the 3rd try.

This was the start of a dominating period of play. Stroud attacked down the right with Ryan, the ball came back inside to Dave and then he passed it back to Ryan who scored in the right corner to make it 4-0.

In the next passage of play Tetbury were penalised . Will H did a good kick to touch. At the resulting lineout Tom O’s accurate throw found a leaping Liam who took it straight up the pitch. He was brought down though but good rucking and clearouts from Edgar and Jed set up the backs to get clean ball. Tom H delivered a great pass to Will H who cut inside and then drew the tackler. He offloaded it to Dave who started right and then cut back inside to score in the centre for a 5-0 lead.

Stroud did not take their foot off the gas though. They kept attacking and only a forward pass denied them another try scoring opportunity. After Jo had spent Saturday afternoon at Fromehall ‘observing’ that the GRFU ref had not had the correct position (20 yards wrong to be precise) to call a forward pass against his beloved Stroud 1st team we had to agree that Jo had positioned himself well enough to deny his beloved U11 Stroud team a great try! Considering the speed the game was played at, and running downhill and with the wind behind them it was a credit to all the Stroud players that they limited their forward passes and dropped passes. The hookers from both teams were doing well in the lineouts also to throw straight balls that were fiercely contested with Stroud often coming out with possession.

Stroud were winning everything now. At the next Tetbury attack they managed to win another turnover and this setup a good move with the backs. Ryan ran down the right and was well supported by Dave who received a well timed pass to score another try and make it 6-0.

Tetbury kicked off and Alex caught it in the centre and ran back down the left wing. Just as we thought he had avoided the majority of their defenders on his weaving run he was tackled out-of-bounds. From the lineout Tetbury attacked and got upto the Stroud line. Great defending though on the line stopped them from scoring. At the resulting scrum Tetbury won it but an alert James put in a great tackle. Tetbury to their credit were not despondent and kept the pressure on with more attacks. Another turnover in the tackle meant the ball came out to Will and he put in a long kick. Unfortunately a Stroud knock-on gave the ball back to Tetbury.

At this stage of the game Tetbury deceided to call in re-inforcements and the Army turned up in their big truck to start setting up the assault course. Luckily the PT Instructors were deemed too old to play U11 Rugby – the bushy beards and tattoos gave it away!

The next passage of play was deep in the Stroud half. A lovely flowing move though multiple hands set up Liam to run through the centre. Just as we thought there was another Stroud try on the books the next pass was intercepted by an alert Tetbury player who ran it straight back and a desperate chase down by James and Alex wasn’t enough and Tetbury scored a deserved try to make it 6-1.

In the last phase of the game Tom H showed there was more to his game than scrum half passes and sniping runs. He made 2 or 3 great tackles that we normally expect to see from the likes of Will T and Stoner. Inspired by this the rest of the Stroud forwards led by Jed, Will T and Tom O kept up the pressure and dumped Tetbury players on their backsides at every opportunity! Tetbury were unlucky not to score again when a try was disallowed for a knock-on. They kept the pressure on though and a good tackle by James stopped them and Dave cleanly picked up the ball in traffic. He was quickly hauled down though.

The full time whistle went and Stroud were rewarded for a dominant 2nd half display with a victory

Final Score: Tetbury 1 – 6 Stroud

Game 2

Could Stroud win another game or would Tetbury make them work hard ?

From the kickoff there was another Stroud lineout. Liam won the line-out with the parent quote of the day from Stu “by rising like a salmon”. I know it was Scottish weather but I think that Liam would rather be compared to a shark or a dolphin, not a diddy fish !!

Stroud started the 2nd game like they did the first by using the great platform generated by the forwards to allow the backs to run the ball. James picked up the ball well from the ground and the ball was spun to the right wing and then back to the left. Stroud had another overlap in the backs but Dave somehow managed to cut back inside and weave through a few tackles to give Stroud a 1-0 lead. I think if he’d missed that opportunity with the overlap he would have ben subbed off and we’d have subbed his Dad the coach as well !

Tetbury were strong again in their attacks and pressured the Stroud line. The ball was turned over though and Alex brought it out and did a lovely loop move with Tom H. Tom H dodged a few tackles and got the ball to James. He kept up the attack with a good run and managed to offload it to Laurie. The attack was stopped though by defiant Tetbury defending. They came straight back and only another strong tackle by Alex near the Stroud line stopped an equalising try.

Tetbury kept attacking though but Stroud were resolute in their defence. Unfortunately a penalty was awarded on the 5 yard line and while Stroud were organising themselves an opportunistic Tetbury player saw a gap and did a quick restart to score an easy try. Score 1-1.

From the kick-off Stroud played well again with Edgar and Jed winning the breakdown. Just as we thought they were showing us the art of winning the breakdown we were shown a masterclass from Laurie. Tom H went on another mazy run and as he was brought down and set the ball back a domineering Laurie cleared out 2 players and was harshly adjudged to have given away a penalty.

Stroud wanted to go into the break with another try and another good forwards and backs move ended up with Sam being tackled, then Alex picking up the loose ball who then fed Dave. He managed to avoid a few tackles and was then pushed out of bounds. Half time was taken with score 1-1.

The 2nd half started with a long Tetbury run. Sam bounced off the tackle but he was immensely brave to take on the big guy. Luckily Alex was in support and stopped another Tetbury attack. At the next lineout Jed did a great take. Will H went on a great run to the left. Tetbury was penalised and at the restart the ball was given to Keyan who ran up the middle and scored to make it 2-1 to Stroud. We were sure we heard the words ‘that’s another quid from my Dad!’ as he touched down. The parents were just relieved he had scored for Stroud this week after his starring performance for Painswick the week before !

Tetbury were not going to let Stroud run away with it though. They attacked straight back from the restart and managed to score in the left corner making it 2-2. Stroud’s legs were starting to tire – could they hold on for another victory or draw or would Tetbury make them pay ?

Stroud won another scrum and the ball came back to Will H. He darted left and then cut back to the right. As he was taken to ground he offloaded it to Dave who scored in the right corner to give Stroud a 3-2 lead. Could they hold onto this for longer?

Tetbury kicked deep and the ball bounced around a bit. Just as we thought Tetbury would score again Dave managed to pick it up and pass it back to Alex who had found his full back boots and kicked it long to relieve the pressure. Play yo-yo’d back and forth for the next few minutes. Stroud were starting to gain in confidence again and this was demonstrated aptly by Jed going on a long run and even having the audacity to throw a fake pass!

Tetbury kept up the pressure though and in their next attacking phase it was only more tackling by Stoner and Keyan that kept Tetbury in check. Keyan was now trying to claim financial payback for his tackles – anything to make up for only scoring 1 try !

Tetbury changed tact in the next passage of play and instead of running the ball through the backs they kicked it to Sam. He attempted to catch it but was taken out totally by a big Tetbury tackle. To his credit he soon jumped up and carried on playing. It was Alex’s turn next and he managed to deny another attacking run and for his endeavours got an elbow to the face. Tetbury were penalised so this shows you can turn defence into attack !

The game finished off with another Will H and Archie E good run, supported by Ryan. When play slowed up their was great supporting play from the forwards to stop Tetbury snaffling the loose ball.

Full time whistle went and Stroud had been made to work much harder in that game and had held on for a tense 3-2 victory.

Final Score: Tetbury 2 – 3 Stroud

In keeping with the great atmosphere the game was played tunnels were formed and the players clapped each other off.

Overall Score: Tetbury 3 – 9 Stroud

Now it was time for the debrief huddle where Jo told the team how impressed he was with their all round play and great handling skills. Laurie was awarded man-of-the match trophy for ‘clearout of the season’.

Now it was time to move onto the Army assault course. The kids took it in turns to race around the slippy apparatus and cargo nets. This was all just a warm-up though for the main event which was ‘Battle of the Coaches’. Mark took on one of the Tetbury coaches. He was leading upto half way until he got penalised for missing out some of the cone touches. He had to run back to repeat that section and that was enough for the Tetbury coach to create a gap and hold on for victory. At least we got a Samak forward roll to enjoy! As a penalty for this I think the kids might make Mark do the warm-ups next week vs Widden and feel their pain as well.

Video footage from Phil of Marks run available at:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwdXS8OWV93Vb205OGY0QXhrX2c/edit?usp=docslist_api

To see the rest of the photos in photo gallery you might need to be logged in with Stroud Pitchero website account.

The most disappointing aspect of Mark losing the coaches battle was that we had lost out on the opportunity to trade-in the Samak party bus for the Army 38 tonne battle bus. The kids were really looking forward to travelling on that to their next away fixture. Going into Glos we might need that protection to stop them nicking our wheel hubs. That would rally put the frightners on Widden if we turned up in that !