Successful day at
Diss
U7s runners up in plate
U8s won plate
U11s runners up in cup
U12s winners cup
Diss Tournament Report – U12 –
14th March 2010
U12 Winners - Woodbridge
The Woodbridge U12 team
arrived at Diss as defending champions – having won this
tournament last year at U11 level. The gazebo was erected, the
Mothers Day picnic food discussed and the parents safely
corralled behind the fence, the tournament began.
The first match in the pool
was against Swaffham. Woodbridge immediately attacked and following
a strong drive from Patrick and a good pass to Jake, the ball
reached Lukas who scored with Will D converting. The second try quickly followed
with a darting run from Will D over the line, followed by a
conversion. Woodbridge
again attacked strongly in the second half with Adam crossing the
line with several Swaffham players attached to him – but he didn’t
realise where he was. Despite everyone screaming at him, he
unfortunately carried on to the dead ball line. Shortly afterwards Adrian forced
his way through the Swaffham defence to score (Will D
converting).
Swaffham’s best run of play was stopped short by Kate taking out
their biggest player, when it seemed his charge forward was
unstoppable. Finally,
a concerted effort by the forwards saw Rhys cross the line –
converted by Will D.
First game final score 28-0.
The second match was
against Wymondham and was more evenly matched. Despite this Adrian broke free
and with one of his trademark runs, ran most of the pitch to score
– Will converted.
There followed a period of good passing and tackling from both
sides, but a high tackle by Wymondham virtually on their line, led
to a penalty, from which Rhys powered over to score – with Will
converting. Second
game final score 14-0
During a break for most of
the Woodbridge team, 4 players joined the under-strength North
Walsham team. The rest
of the Woodbridge U12s started attacking the various picnics and
goodies that people had brought along.
The third match saw
Woodbridge against Holt. Holt began and the ball went
straight to Will D. He
ran forward, passed to Adrian – who scored. Will D missed the
conversion. The second
try came from a long throw at a lineout, which initially went
wrong, but was rescued by Will D picking it up and crossing the
line – followed by a conversion. Try three came from the forwards,
with Rhys using his strength to mow down the Holt defence to cross
the line – again Will D missed the conversion. The second half began with Adam
finding the right line and scoring, although he missed the
conversion. Jake then
crossed the line carrying two Holt players – he also
converted. And finally
Will D showed his persistence and strength with a superb solo run
through the Holt defence from about the half way line, to put the
ball down – this time Adrian converted. Third game final score
36-0
The final pool match was
against North Walsham – with Chris, Will G and a Holt U12
bolstering their squad to form a team. Virtually all the play was
at one end of the pitch with Woodbridge
dominating. Will
D scored first with Patrick S converting. The second try was scored
by Rhys, with Will D converting. An excellent passing move
across the field ended with Bertie scoring the third (Will D
missing the conversion as the ball fell over during his run
up). Rhys then
scored again and Lukas converted, while the final try fell to
Ryan followed by Will D’s conversion. Fourth game final score
33-0
For the final, the
Woodbridge U12s faced Fakenham – who had won their group having
scored one more try than Diss. In the event of a draw, the match
would be decided by the first try scored. Immediately Fakenham surged
forward, taking Woodbridge by surprise. Their nearly successful
assault was stopped by the stubbornness of Kate at the
back. Woodbridge
immediately rallied and Adrian darted forward through the robust
Fakenham to score – followed by a conversion. This was the hardest game
Woodbridge had played at the tournament, but their spirit and
teamwork saw Jake over the line (Adrian converting), before
Fakenham pulled one back. In the second half, Woodbridge
powered forward, with Fakenham defending energetically, but again
the speed and passing of the Woodbridge backs prevailed and Adrian
scored again and converted. Fakenham continued to fight and
pulled back a late try, but it was too late – with a final score of
21-14, Woodbridge U12 had won.
A fine performance by the
Woodbridge team throughout the day
The squad: Kate, Patrick G,
Luke D, Bertie, Jake, Will D, James, Lukas, Rhys, Ryan, Will G,
Chris, Patrick S, Adam and Adrian
