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Under 8's win Cheshire Cup ! |
On a beautifully sunny day, the Under 8's travelled to Old Anselmians for the last fixture in a very long season. The competition was arranged around 4 groups, with 4 teams in each group. Winners of each group would go through to a semi-final. Clearly it would be necessary to win the group matches. Drawn against us in our group were Port Sunlight, Crewe & Nantwich, and Chester.
Group Matches
In the event, Port Sunlight failed to show up, so first up were Crewe & Nantwich who we had previously drawn against earlier in the year. For possibly the first time this year, we actually started a game at full speed, and despite the narrow pitch managed to put together a couple of nice looping support moves to take an early 10-0 lead. Crewe fought back determinedly, but the game was always under control. In the second half, the very hard conditions underfoot caused a minor worry as we had to make a substitution caused by a heavy fall, but the team had done enough to run out comfortable winners by 20 points to 10.
So a good start, but next up were Chester who had drawn their match with Crewe & Nantwich. A win or a draw would see us through to the semi-finals. Chester knew that they had to win the game and from the outset adopted a very physical approach. Perhaps their cancelled fixtures recently was because they had started early training for next year's under 9's. In any event the Sandbach defence stood up magnificently to them, taking some big hits in what should be a non-contact game at this age. Once in possession, Sandbach controlled the ball well and steadily worked their way up field to create an opening in the Chester defence from which we went 5-0 up. A quick rally by Chester soon levelled the scores and as we went into the second half it was still all to play for. Sensing that attack was the best form of defence Sandbach controlled the possession for much of the second half before squeezing a try in the corner from a well timed support run.
Chester continued to give it their all to the end, but time ran out with the final score 10 - 5 to Sandbach and a place in the semi-final.
Semi-Final
Facing us now were Winnington Park. They had also won all their matches, and we knew from recently when we drew with them at Sandbach that they are a very well organised team with some quick players. The game lived up to expectations and was a good spectacle of open, clean and fast under 8's rugby. W.P. lost the call for the kick off and so from the start we were able to slowly make our way towards the W.P. try line, but their defence was solid and they were very quickly up on the ball, limiting the space for us to work in. The defensive pressure of both team led to a number of handling errors with the possession changing hand a number of times. First to score were Sandbach from a quick series of passes to create a gap on the right hand side. The Sandbach support arrived quicker than the W.P. defence and we were 5 - 0 up. W.P. came back strongly and found a gap in the midfield. Despite a 3/4 length of the pitch chase, their pace proved too much and they levelled the score. In the second half, again W. P. looked very dangerous on the break, their support play was exceptional and once again they broke through for a long run in to the line. For the first time in the competition, Sandbach were behind and faced a true test of their determination.
Two key points followed which captured completely the effort and commitment that the whole team displayed on the day. Firstly, whilst we were camped on the W.P. line, a slightly over ambitious pass resulted in an interception and it looked once again that W.P. would race to the line for a 15-5 lead from which recovery would have been impossible. But with everything counting on the one tackle Sandbach made a heroic chase and got the W.P. attacker just before the line. Shortly after this W.P. lost possession, but we were near the end of normal time and the next stoppage would be the end of the game. Making every pass count, we slowly worked our way back up the field until we were once again camped on the W.P. line.
With the clock showing nearly 3 minutes of additional time, the pressure finally told and a gap opened up in the W.P. defence. Seizing this opportunity, we finally broke through to level the score, and so the referee promptly blew the whistle for the end of the game.
We were then facing 5 minutes of sudden death extra time, this time with no extension waiting for the ball to go dead. Our turn for the call for kick-off, and we got it wrong. W.P. to start the sudden death! With once again everything to play for but no room for error, both sides began a little cautiously. Nerves were starting to show, the ball was dropped and first on it were Sandbach. Our chance to try to win it. With the clock ticking down, an unfortunate handling error once again gave W.P. the ball and we were back on the rack. As the referee repeatedly checked on his watch, we were forced back onto our own try line but still managed to thwart the attack.
A mixture of relief and apprehension greeted the final whistle as we were now placed in the unenviable position of deciding by the toss of a coin, who would go through to the final. The two captains met and shook hands, whatever happened it had been a great game of rugby with neither side deserving to lose. It was W.P. who were to call on the toss. They called tails. And for the third time that game, the caller got it wrong. We were in the final.
Obviously there were a few tears at this point, not only from W.P. as it had been a great contest, and both sides sportingly congratulated each other on a fine display of rugby.
Final
As it often the case, the home side seems to make the final, and so it was today with us facing Old Anslemians, who themselves had also not lost a game all season. We approached the game in a confident mood, knowing that O.A. had only narrowly beaten Lymm in their semi-final, and that we had already beaten Lymm twice this season. From the O.A. kick off we quickly got the ball and straight away looked dangerous as we made a number of half breaks though the O.A. defence. The pitch for the final was slightly wider than the other ones and we were starting to use it. The pressure told and after a short period of attack near the left touch line, we quickly moved the ball out wide to provide enough space for a (relatively) simple run in to open the scoring. O.A. lacked the incisiveness of our semi-final opponents, but through our solid defensive line, their one or two fast players were contained to running from side to side across the pitch. We hoped this would eventually tire them out!
Slightly embarrassing moment at this point as the coach had to temporarily leave the pitch due to cramp. Half time arrived, to give everyone (including coach) the opportunity for a breather. We had gone off the boil slightly, but still held a narrow lead. Unfortunately, the rest period had also allowed the O.A. team to recover and shortly after the re-start they managed to find a gap in our defence to run through to level the score. This had the effect of re-focussing the teams minds and efforts, as from our re-start we now stepped up a gear to create a number of chances that the increasingly stretched O.A. defence just managed to stop. Again, the sustained pressure took its toll, and finally we crashed over in the corner to re-take the lead. With time running out, the team realised the necessity to prevent another score, as we didn't want or need more extra time. As the referee informed both teams that we were at the end of normal time, we just had to hold on and not make any mistakes. Finally our defensive pressure told as in desperation O.A. made a forward pass. Dead ball, game over, Sandbach the winners.
A key point for the day was the support of the team by players and parents. Every member of the squad made the journey to support the team, even though with 15 players it was clear that not all would be able to play. The coaches would like to thank all the players for their efforts this season, as without doubt it is having a squad capable of providing two teams that has allowed all the players to develop their abilities this year.
William Bordill
Chris Burrows
Joe Barton
Elliot Moore
James Stops
Jack Robinson
Katie McEvoy
Ben Sharpe
Jordan Johnson
William Jepson
Nicholas Muldoon
Thomas Jackson
Daniel Beresford
Alex Clutterbuck
James Ferrier
Jack Speake (on holiday)
Well done to everyone for a brilliant, undefeated season.
Derek Jepson
Mike Stops
Paul Moore
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