Sunday 8th October 2006 - Foxbury Festival U9 Match Report Squad - Jacob, Michael, Max, Harvey, Emily, Shabs, Elliot, James, Cameron, Harrison, Eddie, Alex, Jack, Ben Other attendees - Vishnu & Luc Photos of the matches more.. First Match - Old Dartfordians - we lost 4-0. As a coach (and hopefully as a parent), this match was simply astounding to watch. Our squad seemed to take on board all of what they have learnt since the beginning of the season and put in into practice. Our forwards, Jacob, Michael and Max, were superb and could only improve by pushing over a little more often. We defended brilliantly, and realistically we lost the game as our backs had become a little disorganised and were unable to deal with breakaway runs down the wings as they had been drawn infield. It would have been nice to score at least try but it wasn't to be. This was one of those games that ended up with a big (ish) loss, but really was quite even in open play. Second Match - Westcombe Park Panthers - we lost 3-1. Squad rotation came into effect in this game and Harvey saw his first competitive action as a front-row forward. He acquitted himself superbly with some great tackling. Emily Thorne, playing on her birthday, also got her first cap as Hooker. Eddie Tolmie was having a great match, he was noticeably coming infield to help out if needed but was careful to get back to his wing as soon as possible. It was in his defensive winger role that he performed a splendid try-saving tackle that ended up with him being studded in the crook of his arm. It was very painful and a nasty swelling ensued. I'm sure it's a nice bruise by now too. Unfortunately he had to retire for the remainder of the tournament - much to his chagrin. Ben Obee took his chance and came on to good effect. Jack Pitman replaced Alex Donovan on the other wing. James Golding took his place as replacement Scrum-Half. Westcombe Park were clearly fired up and were very determined. Our tackling and defence was superb again and our forwards continued their previous good work. “Shabs” scored a typical sniping Scrum-Halfs try by taking the ball from the scrum and running up the side of the scrum into a gap. But our backs were being drawn infield again and we suffered. This too was a great performance, considering the inclusion of our substitutes/”understudys”. Third Match - Old Elthamians Gold - we won 5-1. One word - WOW! With our first choice squad on the pitch (except for the injured Eddie) we looked imperious. An exhibition of rolling mauls ensued. Max got his first try. He was also "pinged" for a lovely hand-off that wouldn't be out of place on a premiership pitch - but is regrettably not allowed in mini-rugby. We may well have to gaffer-tape his hands to the ball!! We had made a change in the backs, Elliot took scrum-half duties and “Shabs” moved to fly-half. This resulted in a better back line - not perfect yet but much better. Harrison Lear showed us his "snake-hips" have not yet seized up like ours have, with a couple of classic side-steps and a series of ranging runs. Michael Rochester showed us a new form of tackle that looked suspiciously like a martial-arts move - think it was probably illegal though. Just superb. Fourth Match - Beckenham - we drew 1-1 Our big forwards were getting tired by now having played out of their skins so they were rested for the first half and our “understudys” got their second call-up of the day. We did very well and our big hits saw a few of the Beckenham boys needing on-pitch treatment. But we squandered a few chances and went in at half-time one up. Emily Thorne got a bump on the head, which effectively finished her tournament - she had played brilliantly. Our first team returned to the pitch and proceeded to try and work their way up the pitch to no avail. Finally Beckenham broke through with a scrappy but determined last effort to draw the game. This was not before Max Braddock nearly took a Beckenham lads ears off with a very high tackle. The angelic/innocent look on his face as the ref spoke to him was a sight to see. If you look at his dad Martin, you will see that a high-tackle at our level would probably be around knee-level in a Max vs. Dad training session. Max was not the only Braddock to play for the team on Sunday, we had an aspiring referee in the shape of his dad Martin, whose touchline prompts to the actual ref resulted in a slight scolding. We will be speaking to Martin about taking a course to get a badge and do the refereeing thing for real. Harrison's dad, Michael, had also been told off for a similar offence earlier in the day, but had retreated to a safe distance by this match. A special mention to Vishnu & Luc who turned up in full kit to cheer their team-mates on, even though they had not been selected. I know, from fairly constant pestering, that both lads were straining at the lease to get onto the pitch so hopefully they will be raring to go when we face Old Colfs next weekend. There were sooooooo many positives to take away from this weekend. Cracking forward play, superb defence, great mauls, good support play, no offside’s and only two offences of coming in at the side. As coaches we are soooooo proud of our team and with a little more luck we may well have progressed further. Our backs got progressively better but we need to work on keeping the width across the pitch. We hope that the kids and you parents are just as proud as us, as their performance at Foxbury was a credit to them, their parents, their coaches and their club. We could only get a few photos published on this website, but all of the photos taken by Vic Tokarski on the day are available to view here - http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/4172470 Del, Nick & Gig - U9's Coaches