Salisbury Mini Festival

17 October2010

U12 Match Report

The U12 squad arrived at the Hallowed ground that is the first XV pitch of Salisbury Rugby Club, for what would be their last ever run out at our home club Mini Festival.
A bright morning, a helicopter arriving and a palpable air of excitement, would bode well for our team, who would have a tough day ahead of them and who needed all the guidance and direction of their coaches they could absorb, if they were to pull off their 6th consecutive win at Salisbury Festival.

To all gathered it would prove a viewing challenge as our unbreakable contract between Club and Minis, stated that on no account were any spectators, parents, coaches or players (unless playing or in official capacity) to cross the barrier and tread the only flat and level pitch that Salisbury can boast. The threat of forfeiting a game was enough to keep this reporter at a distance and relying on the keen eye of our pitch marshalls for detailed analysis.

SALISBURY v SWANAGE AND WAREHAM 0-0

A confident and relaxed Salisbury squad, faced their opposition with well rehearsed positioning and communication. Swanage and Wareham evidently had closely studied the Salisbury squad over the years and played a good game that mirrored Salisbury skills and matched their determination with gutsy replies to Salisbury attacks.
Within the first 2 minutes, S&W had lost possession of the ball through a misguided kick that gave Salisbury an opportunity to make good ground. With calls from the coaching team to wake up, Salisbury mustered a good passage of play that saw neat passes between Bates, Leggett, Lawrence,Trowern and Cardew but did little to secure much ground as S&W tackled instinctively and regained possession. Yet more kicking gave S&W more territory than Salibury, but soon proved over zealous and a long kick landing past the dead ball line, resulted in Scrum down at the half way line with a Salisbury put in that was executed well and won quickly.
The play remained mid field and the only break from this was for S&W to kick their way clear of trouble. Or so they thought, but with the sure hands of Blumer to catch their high kicks , the game promised to awaken the Salisbury players and deliver a tantalisingly close sniff of the try line, with a dash from Mactaggart and strong driving from the forwards the team surged to within inches of the try line, only to be thwarted by good defence from S&W.
A similar second half, but with fresh players, meant that every Salisbury boy experienced the adrenalin they would need to carry them through the day and draw on in measured doses. With Salisbury hesitant to kick, the territory was not gained unless by forward play and powerful tackling which although conducted effectively , meant the game remained a stand off with a 0-0 outcome.

SALISBURY v BRADFORD 12-0

The mid Wiltshire team of Bradford showed immediate aggression and were met with a vigorous response from Salisbury who gained advantage before the pea in the refs whistle had even settled.
A lively string of tackles and well structured positioning saw Salisbury topple the Bradford side in a series of ground shaking tackles that set up the most beautiful move of the day. With Bradford carrying the ball for a rare moment, Salisbury unleashed their 'fresh from the Coaches bench', brand new "Puma Move"* which had McEwan, Leggett, Allison, Arnold, Cardew and Bourne stride along by their opposite number, gain precious inches of ground then, with the element of surprise turn and face the ensuing players who saw no option but to kick the ball clear, but which bounced fatefully off the chest of Bourne and into his hands within the same sublime move which he touched down over the try line safely. ( *please see Coaching staff or players for a more detailed explanation of this killer move). The half time score stood at 5-0.
All players made the mid field play look far more exciting than usual and a number of speedy breaks from Nichols, Murley and Dembinski, allowed Ellis to elegantly score the 2nd try of the day which was deftly converted by Bradby leaving the score at an encouraging 12-0.


SALISBURY v ANDOVER 21-0

Having experienced the highs and lows of polite playing and received harsh interpretation of the meaning of 'tackling' from some of our visitors, Salisbury allowed themselves to explore the side of tenacity that had hither to eluded them. Due to this new level of conscious play, Salisbury performed in quick succession 3 disallowed tries which displayed the intent of the Salisbury boys and showed their teeth to Andover.
With their backs to the sun, Salisbury shattered the opposition and scored a try from Horlock and a conversion from Bradby followed by decisive and skillful ball handling and a far better level of communication than we had previously heard. Allison to Nichols to Gatehouse made a good run through the opposition.

Andover did their best to kick the ball clear, but as we know knew, Blumer would receive the catch and then run it to the try line, breaking through numerous tackles to take the score to 21-0.


SALISBURY v WIMBORNE 14-0

An action packed match was kicked off with the ball rolling from a Salisbury boot into touch , resulting in a line out that gave Wimborne temporary possession . After a series of penalties, line outs and scrums, Salisbury emerged as quick to turn over the ball and recycle it successfully. With pressure from Salisbury forwards , Wimborne tried to regain some pride but gave away a penalty for coming over the top of the ruck. The penalty saw the ball taken to the line with Bates scoring the corner try. Murley converted. 7-0
With half time came fresh players and a gritty determination to see this thing through. A scrum 5m off the Salisbury line due to a knock on by Salisbury, saw pressure on Wimborne Fly Half and then Bates making yards, despite a high tackle which took him into touch. Bates then scores and Brady converts 14-0.
The second half restart sees Mactaggart take a high tackle and although no penalty was awarded, Salisbury maintained their lead by not conceding a single try all day. Smith collects the line out ball and makes good ground, denying Wimborne any further possession.


CUP FINAL
SALISBURY v SHERBORNE 7-0

A determined Salisbury side, much bolstered by the support of fellow players and a civilized home crowd, flew into action with a spirited performance that resulted in an early penalty against them for diving in! Sherborne pushed hard and kept hold of the ball and even forced Salisbury to lose the ball twice in contact over the next few tense moments, but Salisbury responded with immense driving and took the ball forward with considerable skill. A long and high kick by Sherborne was caught by Blumer and run back to the half way line. Not seeing the error of their ways, Sherborne kicked again, this time caught by Nichols and again returned to safety.
The tension of the second half , permeated out through the hopeful crowd and all gasped as the Salisbury boys stepped up a notch and took the ball to within kissing distance of the try line ,only to lose possession at the last. Not discouraged, we saw Herculean strength from our forwards who produced the ball out of the scrum and with the skies turning orange and glowing at the end of a beautiful day, Salisbury secured a clean try from Ellis to the sound of ringing applause and cheers!
The conversion was made and the play continued with the score at 7-0.
The final whistle heralded Salisbury the champions and the victorious team proved that committment throughout their Mini Rugby careers, has been rewarded with 6 consecutive wins at Salisbury Festival. Well done to all players, supporters and volunteers - a triumph!