Under 08

Whitchurch 10 - Sandbach 30 Sun 3 December 2000 Perhaps because of the enforced rest from training last week due to the Sandbach pitches being unplayable, the team looked raring to go and converted this enthusiasm into an early lead. After this, despite Whitchurch fighting back strongly, the Sandbach defence was solid and the team always looked to have the edge in control of the game. As the 2nd half progressed, this pressure was slowly but surely converted into points to give a final victory of 6 tries to 2 for Sandbach. The fact that all the Sandbach tries were scored by different players underlines what a good team performance this was. Try scorers: McEvoy, Moore, Stops, Bordill, Robinson, Jepson. Shrewsbury 10 - Sandbach 30 After watching the Shrewsbury team play against Whitchurch, we knew they had some quick runners and that this could be a closer game. This is how the match started out with both sides showing excellent ball retention albeit lacking some width to their attacks. Gradually the Sandbach defensive organisation began to grind down the opposition and mistakes started to appear. Tries were exchanges at both ends for a half time score of 10 - 10. In the second half Sandbach continued their pressure, making virtually no mistakes of their own and this resulted in more scores without further loss. With a further try on the stroke of full time, the final score of 6 tries to 2 for Sandbach was a little unkind to Shrewsbury but reinforced another strong performance by Sandbach. Try scorers: Robinson, Barton, Stops, Moore (3). Whitchurch 0 - Sandbach 40 (Under 7's) The warmth of the winter Shropshire sunshine was in keeping with a sizzling Sandbach performance, which saw the team play their best rugby of the season. A well-marshalled Sandbach team were superior in every aspect of line discipline, support play, passing, movement and special awareness. From the start of the opening game, Whitchurch were mesmerised by a team that pressured their opponents at every opportunity, and Sandbach ran in four tries to take a 20 - 0 half-time lead. The second half saw no let up from a Sandbach team that were visibly growing in confidence. We were able to gain ground at ease, and tackled with such impetus and pace that Whitchurch even when briefly in possession of the ball, were forces into making handling errors. The referee's whistle was greeted with relief by a demoralised Whitchurch team (and coach), with Sandbach triumphant at 40 - 0. A second game saw a Whitchurch team which had learned from the first, and were able to apply more resistance through improved organisation. A stubborn Whitchurch defence limited the halt-time score to 10 - 0 in Sandbach's favour. The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with Sandbach applying relentless pressure against what was becoming a bewildered and ragged Whitchurch line. The bombardment continued to the final whistle, with Sandbach scoring three further tried to gain another convincing 25 - 0 victory. Derek Jepson & Paul Moore