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Photographs taken during the under 17s impressive 17-5 win over Fiveways. So many players have improved during the last 2 seasons it will be great to see them run out for the senior teams in the next 2 or 3 years.


 

 

Sunday 2nd December - Y's v Sutton / Bromsgrove


A big thank you to everyone who turned up on what was a cold Sunday morning the previous week in Bournnville.  We should all be very pleased that we did as everyone played really well and we won all our matches !

With 13 players we split in to 2 teams:    

In the team on the pitch where Simon was reffing all of our players scored tries. We were very pleased to see Leo back playing for the under 7s and he quickly made an impression, powering through for the first of his many tries.   Riley also scored quite a few (I think 7) tries with his usual mix of fast and direct running.  Plus he did some outstanding and very brave tagging.  Alfie continues to get better with every game, he is a hard runner and difficult to tag, so he scored lots of tries too. Ben showed his usual elusive running, managing to avoid most attempts to tag him with his swerving, also scoring lots of tries. George, as usual skipped and stepped round players and just managed to avoid the touchline, scoring one less try than Riley. It was good to see Rio run well with the ball and show how good he can be when he gets the ball, scoring 2 tries.

The team on the other pitch was: Bayley, Carys, Finn, Jake, Harry, Charlie & Flynn.  All the team played really well and all crossed the line for a try at least once which was very pleasing and was achieved through supporting the player with the ball.  The team also defended really well and were able to get a few turnovers through some excellent tagging.  We outplayed Bournville and looked the better organised side

To think that only a few weeks earlier we were at the same venue, but the improvement was very noticeable - confidence, awareness of pitch boundaries, commitment to tag and all round alertness.  Just superb, well done.


As well as lots of really good individual play, it was really good to see you playing more as a team – you can’t always score yourself, but as many of you found if you follow the player with the ball and stay close by in support, you can often then score when your teammate is tagged and passes to you. In the New Year we will be working more on playing as a team and the importance of passing to each other and good support play.   
 

Sunday 2nd December - Y's v Sutton / Bromsgrove

Y's 9 - 9 Sutton Coldfield

A triangular tournament on a crisp December morning with old Y's facing Sutton Coldfield in the opening game.  With frost on the ground, tackling was a little hesitant from both sides to begin with, which resulted in the scoreboard freely ticking along, Alex and Damon both crossing the line early to keep things level with Sutton.  A very even contest, and a good game of Rugby, Dan Giles and Presley both determined to carry the ball forwards, linking up with Kaylem, Lewis and Charlie resulted in Alex scoring in the corner.  Tristan received the ball from a great beak from Presley and drove and twisted his way to the line to score a fine solo effort try, but Tristan's day was made by his tackling, which was relentless, he consistently formed the heart of the Y's defence.  in the second half, Kaylem (2), Presley, Damon (3), Alex (2) all scored to make it 9 all, a fair result from a very even game.

Bromsgrove 14 - 0 Sutton Coldfield

It is fair to say the 7 boys from Bromsgrove showed a magnificent display of both attack and defence to keep a 0 score line against a spirited Sutton team, winning a fairly one sided encounter quite convincingly.

Y's 2 - 10 Bromsgrove

It was with some trepidation that Old Y's returned to the pitch having seen Bromsgrove defeat Sutton, but some big hearts and great determination kept those young heads up, as Bromsgrove picked up where they had left off.  After an early onslaught resulted in some points on the board for Bromsgrove, Kaylem showed that even the bigger boys come down if you get the tackle just right, the fight back was on.  Tristan, Presley, Lewis and Dan Empson putting in the hard work tackling the Bromsgrove battering rams, supported by  Kaylem, Alex, Damon, Dan Giles and Charlie chasing down the Bromsgrove wingers. The attacks started to break down and the Bromsgrove scoreboard slowed.  A turning point came when a Bromsgrove attack up the middle was firmly stopped by Charlie, the ball was spilled, to be collected by Lewis who off loaded to Tristan, Dan Empson and again to Dan Giles, and the break was on, he weaved and the team drove him for the line to score a very well deserved team effort try. 

With that try, the confidence rocketed, all of a sudden the Bromsgrove breaks were cut short, the ball didn't make it out to the wings, and Y's had their share of possession, even turning the ball over with a set of 7 tackles.  Now it was Presleys turn, a break from Kaylem, to be taken on by Damon, and finished off by Presley, a second try for the Y's.  It didn't matter that the score was already out of reach, the heart and spirit of Y's u9's was summed up in the dying seconds.  Several phases of direct attack meant Bromsgrove were camped on the Y's line, looking for the score to finish the match, but Tristan, Damon, Charlie, Kaylem, Presley, Lewis, Dan E, Dan G and Alex, came together in defence and spoiled the Bromsgrove party, even after Bromsgrove pushed over, Y's didn't give up, they drove the ball back holding it up from being touched down resulting in a knock on from Bromsgrove and the end of an excellent game of rugby.  

The cheers and applause from both sets of supporters was testament to real effort from all three teams, with lots of positives to build on in training next week.

R Dickson

Images from the game






















































Y's vs Bournville

This years U9's squad has come a very long way in just a short few months.  A great display against Bournville on 11 th November saw a lot of the hard work being put into action.  Being Remembrance Sunday the first game was stopped at 1/2 time for 2 minutes silence, Old Y's can be proud of their whole minis section who observed the silence with the utmost respect.  With the chimes of the Birmingham university clock in the background, there were a few teary eyes to be wiped when the whistle blew for the start of the second period.

Results were balanced with a defeat for old yards in the first game, but a solid performance in the second match saw us bounce back to a victory, 4 tries to 2.  The deciding game went to Bournville, who were struggling to give each of their 29 squad members a game, but the 10 boys of Old Y's gave every ounce of effort right up to the final whistle.

R Dickson