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U13s at Brean Sands Festival 5-6th May 2007 |
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The end of an era was celebrated in style as Maidenhead Under 13s rounded off their final visit to the Mini and Junior Festival at Brean Sands by winning the Bowl, their third consecutive trophy at the event. Such is the strength in depth of the age group that two squads were entered – Lions and Tigers – even though this is an A team tournament only. The Lions squad were therefore always going to have a tough time but did themselves and the Club proud with phenomenal spirit in a series of hard fought matches with some terrific individual contributions, Iain Whiteford emerging as the squad’s leading points scorer. In the other pool the Tigers started the tournament against old rivals Cwmbran, who once again fielded a well-drilled and physically intimidating squad. Undaunted, the Tigers started very brightly and went in to an early lead as the backs moved the ball down the line for winger Max O’Connor to score. Sam Maguire added the conversion and moments later kicked a penalty after another surge upfield. To their credit, Cwmbran reacted positively and the pressure came on, eventually allowing the Welsh side to pull back to 7-10 at half time. The second half was ferociously contested, but ultimately the stand out player for Cwmbran ran two tries through the outside centre channel to shift the balance of the game and Maids could not come back. The next opponents were Dorchester, but in the first period Maids barely let them in to the game, building what appeared to be a commanding 19-0 lead by half-time, with a brace of tries from powerful winger Markus Olivier, both converted by Fraser Brooks, and a third coming from centre Leo Smith. The phrase “game of two halves” came to mind after the break, however, as Maids slackened off, perhaps feeling the game was won, and were nearly caught by Dorchester, who scored twice before Maids got their tackling back in order to close the game out 19-12. Some harsh words from the coaches had the desired effect in the next game, against Kidderminster Carolians, as Maids finally played to their potential, delivering an emphatic 40-0 win. Number 8 Alex Avery opened the scoring with a trademark burst before turning provider for the second with a great offload to winger LD Basson. Chris Dow added the next two tries, the first a triumph for strength as he carried 4 players with him, the second a triumph for speed as he left the defence behind. Markus Olivier scored the next after another great run, and Alex Avery rounded things off, with conversions a long the way added by Sam Maguire, Fraser Brooks and William Thompson (3). After this try fest the next game provided a stark nail-biting contrast as Maids faced Old Richians. Maids got off to a good start applying plenty of pressure with several good runs ending just short, but then a great pass from Leo Smith put winger LD Basson in to give a 5-0 lead. Old Richians were a strong side, however, and their well organised back line would not be breached again, despite at least 75% of the game being played in their half. They had shown the ability of their own runners in previous games, but Maids in their own right tackled superbly and the pack, with Sam Balfour and Fred Reid to the fore, contested every ruck and maul to starve the opposition of possession. Final score 5-0. The final pool game was against Irish side Terenure, unbeaten for 9 years until they had lost to Cwmbran (eventual overall winners). They had one outstanding runner who had been scoring at will, and operated superbly as a team, but with the advantage of a strong wind in the first half Maids contested keenly and the game turned around with Maids only 0-5 down. Maids came out all guns blazing in the second half but the Irish side played the conditions well, and time after time sent Maids back into their own half as the wind assisted kicks sapped energy and morale. A couple of weak tackles on the Irish star resulted in a second try and the game looked out of reach, but Maids pulled one back with a blind side run from Alex Avery. The game was in the balance with Maids applying the pressure but the clock was against them and the 5-12 defeat meant Maids would contest the Bowl final against Painswick. The final game at Brean Sands and the final game as Under 13s was one Maids were not prepared to consider losing. Painswick were a big side and within 5 minutes of the start Maids had lost both their wingers to injury, but the pressure was all coming from Maids and one felt it must only be a matter of time before a score came. So it did, with centre Daniel Andrews-Jones combining pace and power to burst through, but a 5-0 lead at half time did not reflect the run of play nor leave any feeling of great comfort. However, Daniel Andrews-Jones took matters in to his own hands and a fantastic run from half way saw him extend the lead with Fraser Brooks adding the two points. This knocked the stuffing out of Painswick and shortly afterwards Fred Reid ripped the ball from a maul and ran up the blindside to seal things with a final try, Sam Maguire kicking the last points of the season to make the final score 19-0. The squads: TIGERS: Edward Kaye, Calum O’Flaherty, Blake Nicol, Michael Trevena, Nick Jones, Fred Reid, Sam Balfour, Duncan Jones, Chris Dow, Alex Avery, Luke Thomas, William Thompson, Fraser Brooks, Max O’Connor, Leo Smith, Markus Olivier, Daniel Andrews-Jones, LD Basson, Sam Maguire, Gareth Orwin, Piers Baron |