| Maidenhead Under 11s made the long journey down to
Brean Sands for their annual tour. With many of their
opposing teams looking as if they were ready to start
shaving, drinking and full-time employment, it was clear
that Maidenhead would have to play some of their best
rugby to enjoy any success. As it turned out, the boy's rugby was testament to the enormous strides that they have made in the past couple of months. Commitment and an eagerness to support one another were the features of a hugely enjoyable festival that resulted in Maidenhead just missing out on the main prize by a single try. The first game was against Moortown. The hard ground and fierce tackling led to three injuries in the first half that finished scoreless. From the restart the opposition kicked the ball deep into the Maidenhead half, an outlandish bounce and a second's indecision let in a Moortown forward who ran in to score. It was going to be a full 24 hours before Maidenhead were able to fully appreciate the effect of that one slip. They spent the rest of the second half trying to equalise. Strong runs from Tom Morgan, Mark Williams and Tom Plumer came to nothing. At the death, Oliver Styles made a darting run from a scrum and passed to Tom Lewis who was stopped just short of the line. The second game, against Colchester, started with the opposition taking an early lead. Far from making Maidenhead dispirited, it simply spurred them on. Elliott Hawkes, playing at inside centre, raced through two tackles before releasing Tom Kay who scored the equaliser. A brilliant passage of play, involving most of the players, concluded with Andrew Foot darting along his wing and releasing Williams to charge over. Soon after, Plumer went on a bullocking run, popped the ball to Styles who fed it to Tom Hocking who then weaved through the defence to make it 10-3 at half-time. In the second half Sam Stefan was unlucky not to score from a run that included two marvellous dummies that completely wrong footed the defence. Stefan was involved again a few moments later when neat passing from him, Chris Parrott and Steven Garrett left Hawkes with an easy run in. Despite some stout defence, including a great tackle from Ashley Hanks, the opposition got a second. A scrum led to the next try. Parrott worked hard and then unselfishly allowed Hawkes to score again. The third game, against Hertford, was another encounter that demanded huge courage. Maidenhead made lots of unforced errors early on but then slowly began to string a few passes together. Chris Richardson and Morgan worked particularly hard in the scrum. Winning a ball against the head, Maidenhead inched towards the Hertford line. Wave after wave of pressure appeared to be coming to nothing until Stefan, a couple of metres out, juggled the ball from behind his back and over the line. The second half was very even but it wasn't until the very last moment that Garrett and Lewis, working as a double act, made a try saving tackle ensuring Maidenhead finished the first day on a high. The second day started with a game against the Welsh giants of Llantwit Major. Maidenhead rose to the occasion and a very even first half ended without advantage to either team. A feature of the second half was the thundering runs of Williams and Plumer. Continuous attacking play from Maidenhead was repelled by the Welsh team who were defending their line for nearly 10 minutes. Richardson and Hanks both came close but, despite throwing everything at them but the kitchen sink, Llantwit stood firm. Next up were Bromley; the early favourites to win the festival, whose shirts were printed with such endearing names as 'Hitman', 'Nasher' and 'Pretty Boy'. Having soaked up a lot of early pressure, Maidenhead were awarded a penalty that Stefan cleared with a huge kick. The half, like so many others, ended without score. The second half included two injuries that required visits to the St. Johns ambulance. A fabulous passage of play that started on the halfway line, ended when the ball was passed to Lewis, some five metres out. Showing true captain's courage and determination, he rushed for the line -just squeezing into the corner and securing a memorable 1-0 victory. The final game was against Blackwood, with Maidenhead needing a win to secure the runners-up place. Early on, Kay collected the ball and stormed past three defenders to open the scoring. Blackwood pressure was staved off by a number of Maidenhead players who were literally lining up to put in crunching tackles Plumer, Kay and Foot among them. At the start of the second half Styles and Hocking linked well from a scrum to release Garrett who raced at least half the length of the pitch and past several despairing tackles to secure the victory. |
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