U9s win Plate Final at Burnham-on-Sea Rugby Festival

5th/6th May 2007

Maidenhead Rugby Club U9s performed well last weekend to return home with the Plate from the annual rugby festival held at Burnham-on-Sea, with a result of 3^rd place out of 14 teams playing in the U9 tournament.

On the road to this win the Maidenhead U9 Tigers and Lions squads had to play 6 matches each over 2 days, on Saturday and Sunday and if they did well enough, a final.

On Saturday the Tigers had to play 3 matches and won all. In their first match they met Kidderminster Carolians, which the Tigers won 10 - 0. Demonstrating great attacking and defence from the start, the Tigers achieved their first try from Scott Prince in the first half. This was a closely fought match and some great tackling from Will Lawrence, the Tigers managed to pull off another try scored by Abigail Dow.

In their second match the Tigers met Old Rutlishians and the Tigers continued their strong start, winning this match a convincing 20-5. In the first half the Tigers showed great attacking, support and passing achieving 2 tries from Scott Prince and Will Lawrence. This was soon added to with a try from Joel Greene and a great pass from Scott Prince to Reggie Pay for Reggie to score the 4^th try.

In their 3^rd and final match of the day the Tigers met Redingensians and again won the match 10 - 5. With excellent play and passing overall, the Tigers gained their tries from Abigail Dow and Julian Guy.

The Lions squad had 4 matches to play on the Saturday against Old Colfeians, Ampthill Tigers, Sidcup and the other Plate finalists, Chelmsford. In their first match, the Lions fought well against a very strong side, but despite superb tackling from Will Hogan and overall good team play, they lost the match 30-0, beaten by a superior side.

In their second match the Lions met the eventual Cup winning team, Ampthill Tigers and again, despite great defending and support by the Lions, they lost the match 15-0. With sheer determination the Lions went into their 3^rd match eager to win and score tries. In this match they met Sidcup, who they'd beaten as U8's in the 2006 festival. This match was more closely fought with a great run by Kieran Evans and a try from Julian Guy. The match nearly ended a draw, except that Sidcup managed a second try seconds before the end of match whistle and the game was lost by the Lions 5-10.

In their final match of the day, the Lions met the eventual Plate competition finalists, Chelmsford and with a much improved performance, an outstanding run from Kieran Evans and 2 tries scored by Kieran Evans and Reggie Pay, Chelmsford won the match 15-10.

Moving into the second day of the tournament on Sunday, the Tigers faced 3 matches and the Lions 2.

The Tigers 1^st match was against Hertford, which was an incredibly closely fought game by both teams. The Tigers showed great strength and fantastic defence in the 1^st half, just not letting Hertford through. Joel Greene pulled off a great run in the second half but equally, just couldn't break through Hertford and the math was drawn 0-0.

In the 2^nd match the Tigers met the eventual Cup winners, Ampthill Falcons. Again this was an incredibly closely fought match and it could have been won by either team. With great attacking and defence and driving from Shane McKenna it was nail-biting match to watch, but it was Ampthill who managed to score the only try of the game, so the Tigers lost 0-5.

In their final match, with the Tigers wanting to get into the Plate final, they met festival hosts, Burnham-on-Sea. The Tigers demonstrated excellent rugby with their first try scored in less than 10 seconds of the start with a great run from Scott Prince. This was closely followed by a second try from Scott. Within minutes Abigail Dow had scored the Tigers 3^rd try. With 2 further tries from Abigail Dow and Daniel Cutler, the Tigers were ahead 25-0 at half-time. Going into the second half, the Tigers just ploughed on and with a great run from Chris Cousins and passing, Scott Prince scored the Tigers 6^th try, which was the match winner, and the match was won 30-0. This sealed the Tigers place in the Plate final later in the day.

For the Maidenhead Lions, they met Cwmbran in their first match of the day, who was a very strong side. Despite great overall play and a try from Ben Lawrence that was set up by Will Doolan, the Lions lost the match 25-5. In their 2^nd match of the day, the Lions met Westcombe Park and showed great driving and tackling, with no score at half-time. They went into the second half with determination but lost the match 15-0.

So, it was the Maidenhead Tigers in the Plate final (3^rd and 4^th place final) against Chelmsford. This was an incredible match to watch and both teams showed great rugby, but it was the Tigers who demonstrated sheer strength, determination and team play, with their first try, again being scored less than 10 seconds into the match by Scott Prince. Will Lawrence delivered a second try and the score was 10-0 by half-time. The Tigers knew they had to keep this up to secure the win in the second half and kept up the pressure driving the ball into Chelmsford's half to score the eventual match winner, with the final try scored by Julian Guy. The Maidenhead Tigers won the Plate final by a very convincing 15-0.

Maidenhead U9 Tigers and Lions squad at Burnham-on-Sea:

Abigail Dow, Alastair Graham, Ben Lawrence, Chris Cousins, Daniel Cutler, Jack Nicholls, Joel Greene, Jonathan Matthews, Julian Guy, Kieran Evans, Lawrence Hull, Reggie Pay, Sam Hoxley, Sasha Gill, Scott Prince, Shane McKenna, Will Doolan, Will Hogan & Will Lawrence.