U8s complete amazing treble at Newbury festival

Sunday 22nd April 2007

Under 8s complete amazing treble at Newbury Festival

A team

Maidenhead's Under 8s rugby team crowned a glittering campaign by raising their third trophy of the season at the Newbury Rugby Festival on Sunday. The tournament is always one of the country's best attended festivals, attracting over 1,200 players from 21 different clubs, and Maids knew they would have to be at their very best if they were to successfully follow up on the trophies they had won at the Maidenhead and London Irish tournaments.

Maids' A team was pitched into a tough group where the only certainty was that every match would be keenly contested and Maids' fantastic record this season would come under intense pressure. They began their campaign against Petersfield and took a little while to get into their stride but eased home by 7 tries to 4 in the end, with Gregor Peberdy's beautifully crafted, long-range effort the undoubted highlight of the match. The other tries came from Harry McCaffrey (2), Thomas Maclean (2), Gregor Peberdy and Harry Wells.

Next up was a powerful and energetic Manchester team who had travelled down the day before to prepare for the tournament. The Mancunians adopted a very physical approach, but Maids weren't daunted and more than held their own. 2-1 down at half-time, they came back strongly in the 2^nd half, finishing up on the right side of a 7-4 scoreline. Harry Wells' 5 tries and Alex Sutton's heroic defending delighted Maids' enthusiastic supporters. Harry McCaffrey also bagged a couple of tries as he regularly popped up on the end of Maids' very professional passing moves.

A 5-3 win over Ealing in their final group match - with Thomas Maclean touching down in the corner after making a splendid catch and Harry Wells adding another 4 to his try haul - saw Maids top their table and progress to a semi-final with local rivals, Windsor. A controversial match at the recent Marlow festival added extra spice to the fixture, but Maids remained focused on the task in hand. They never looked like relinquishing control and a wonderful try from Harry McCaffrey inspired them to a comfortable 8-5 victory. Other tries came from Thomas Maclean, Alex Sutton (2) and Harry Wells (4). The prize was a place in the Cup Final against Manchester who had dumped out home-club, Newbury, in the other semi-final.

As the sun shone down, Maidenhead put on a display of champagne rugby which impressed even the opposition supporters. Harry Wells, who had been outstanding all day, ran in another 3 tries to take his total for the day to 17, with Alex Sutton, Jake Jenkins and Thomas Maclean (2) also touching down. A final scoreline of 7 tries to 4 ensured Maids were crowned as champions of the Newbury Festival and saw them complete an unprecedented treble.

It has been a fantastic season for the Maids, which has seen them win 44, draw 6 and lose only 2 of their 52 matches, scoring 312 tries in the process - a record that one of their old boys, Wasps star, James Haskell would surely have been proud of!

Maidenhead Under 8s A team: Harry Wells, Athena Peberdy, Alex Sutton, Thomas Maclean, Olie McGregor, Gregor Peberdy, Harry McCaffrey and Jake Jenkins

B Team

The Under 8 Bs also put in a spirited performance against stiff competition at the Newbury Festival. They were a little slow off the mark but after a couple of motivating chats by the coaches, they were off!

They lost their first match against Cobham 4-2, with George Harris and Saul Payne scoring the tries.  The second game against hosts Newbury saw Maids notch up their first win, a comfortable 7-4 rout. Cameron Reeve scored the first two tries, and these were followed by touchdowns from Saul Payne, Jake Holden, two from Moose (one of which was beautifully set up by Reeve) and George Harris. One of Maidenhead's strengths throughout the season has been their brilliant support play and team ethic. Today was no exception with Marc Hedouin, Taran Uppal, Amar Sidhu and Zac Sanders all working tirelessly throughout the tournament for the benefit of the team.

The third match against Ealing was very close, but Maids were undone by a heartbreaking try just before the last whistle.  The final score was 5-4 and Maidenhead's tries were scored by Moose (2), Cameron Reeve, Jake Holden, and Saul Payne, who also had another very good try disallowed by the referee! 

One win and two close defeats in their pool matches saw Maids progress into the Plate competition, where they came up against well-drilled outfits from Southend and Huddersfield. Against Southend, Maids were on the wrong end of a 6-4 scoreline, with Moose, Harris, Reeve and Payne all chalking up scores. 

The final match was against Huddersfield and this game saw Maidenhead play their best rugby of the day. They won 5-3, to cap a most enjoyable day's rugby.  Saul Payne excelled himself, running in three tries in a powerful display, with Moose and Reeve also contributing.

The Plate competition was very tight and all three teams finished with one win and one defeat. However, Payne's hat-trick in the last match meant Maids had done enough to take the trophy on points difference. Well done, boys!

Maidenhead Under 8s B team: Saul Payne, Tom Green (Moose), Jake Holden, Cameron Reeve, Marc Hedouin, George Harris, Amar Sidhu, Zac Sanders & Taran Uppal