U11s County Cup Agony

Harborough U11s featuring James Ayton, Cameron Boa, Matt Carter, Fraser Dalby, Oli Dawson, Will Ellis, Sam Grahamslaw, James Knight, Will Leng, Will Pollard, Finlay Quaid, Fraser Ralston, Mat Sankey, Geordan Stout, Henry Timm, Bryn Williams & Adam Wright were unbeaten during the preliminary rounds.

The first game was against a rejuvenated Leicester Forest side and from the kick off it looked like this would be close match with both sets of forwards competing hard at the breakdown for possession. Harborough had opportunities with some slick handling to break through the Forest back line but solid tackling prevented a score. Upto the last 60 seconds it looked like a draw when a Harborough conceded a sloppy penalty 15 metres from their try line. Forest tapped spotted the defensive gap and scored in the corner winning 0-1. Harborough beefed up the forwards for the second game against Loughborough and started explosively winning ball at will. It was from a rolling maul that Will Ellis burst from the breakdown and galloped to the score a well deserved which secured Harboroughs win 1-0. The team now knew they had to win their final game against Lutterworth to have any chance to progress. Playing their local rivals the Harborough team started well with both forwards and backs playing well. Several half breaks from Harborough showed their attacking intent. From a loose Lutterworth kick Harborough ran the ball back into space with real menance and combination of a decoy running from Will Pollard lead to Fraser Dalby outpacing the opposition to score a well deserved try. This lead to Harborough winning 1-0 although agonizingly did not progress to the finals as they had one try less than the other teams.

Victorious Villains vanquish the Vipers

The U7’s returned to their villainous squads for the final playing Sunday of the season. The Menaces and Mischiefs squads travelled to Leicester Vipers.
First up were the Menaces, who secured a 5:3 victory with a hat trick by Henry Bellamy and further tries by George Hooper and Frank Clarke. Will Deely and George Christison ensured the victory with some strong tagging. The Mischiefs meanwhile found themselves as ad hoc opposition for the Vipers U8 squad, a physically much bigger team. Great defence was followed by a great try for George Cook. The teams from then on took turns to score. Joseph Stamp and Cook combined to set up Stanley Cockerill to score, shortly followed by a try for Will Noble. Stamp then scored one himself almost from the re-start. Cockerill added another profiting from good support play. It looked like the Mischiefs would record a narrow victory but with the final play of the game, their elder opponents broke through to level the game 7:7.
The Mischiefs then took on the Vipers U7’s, recording a 8:4 victory. Noble, Cockerill, Stamp and Cook all added to their personal tallies. Trademark Noble tagging kept the visitors at bay. A good run by Jacob Dixon set up Stamp for another, before Charlie Latham added his name to the score sheet. Sam Halls and Will Salvesen provided great support play, with Cockerill and Cook each touching down again to seal a comfortable win.
The Menaces again played the Vipers U7’s in the final match
George Hooper was back to his best, scoring a fine individual try running the full length of the pitch. Vipers replied, but Bellamy then scored straight from the re-start. Casper Bird then scored after a Bellamy run. Clarke then scored try of the game, sending most of the Vipers team the wrong way with some great sidesteps. Hooper added another for a 5:3 half time lead. After the re-start, Max Vesty ran down the left wing to score in the corner. Toby Fletcher preserved the lead with a magnificent last ditch tag and Bellamy added the Menaces final try of the season as they finished victorious 7:5.

Hard baked pitches made for fast and competitive tag rugby as the U7 Rascals and Rogues visited Leicester Lions.
The Rascals fought really hard in their first match and with tries from Sam Whitford and Patrick Bairstow were 3-2 down at half time. The Lions however were on top again in the second half and despite Sam Whitford adding another try the Rascals were 5-3 down.  An extremely determined display however saw the Rascals scoring further tries from Daniel Priestly and Zak Deacon, after some excellent runs from Harry Fordham and Sam Bills. At 6-5 down and with the last play of the game Whitford went over in the corner to level the game. Result 6-6.

The second Rascals game was another very close match against a strong Lions side and the Rascals tagging was excellent throughout with Dominic Alston and Joseph Smith both showing great tenacity and determination. The Rascals were 2-1 down at half time with Patrick Bairstow scoring the only try. In the second half another battling performance saw Whitford go over for a great try but in the end the Lions crept in to win 3:2.
 The final fixture saw Racals depleted and they borrowed some Rogues and a Lions player too to put on a great display to even compete with the Lions. Two tries from Dominic Alston and one from the loan Lion ‘Jack’ saw the Rascals 6-3 down at half time. This scratch side tried extremely hard but found the Lions hard to stop, however Max Deacon and  Jack from the Lions got early second half tries and Dominic Alston completed a fine hat trick to keep the score respectable. Result 6-10.

The first Rogues game was close fought, Matthew Humphrey running half the pitch to score and Henry Joule went over for the visitors for a 2:2 at half time. Joule managed to find a way through a tight Lions defence in the 2nd half but this wasn't enough to win the game as Lions added 2 more to win 4 - 3.

Rogues bounced back against Lions B in their 2nd game.  A try from Billy Ellam and a hat-trick of tries from Joule saw the scores even at 4 all at half time. The second half was tense but Harborough dominated with excellent tagging from Humphrey, Luke Ainsworth and Ben Highcock keeping the Lions in their own half. Will and Zac Green combined well, enabling Zac to score and put the Rogues ahead. Billy Ellam got another and Ben Ridgeway continued his run of form to score. Lions only managed to break through the Rogue's defence once in the second half. A well deserved 7:5 victory for the Rogues.

It was all to play for in the final game of the season against Lions B squad but despite Ridgeway adding another to his season’s total the Rogues were losing at half time.  In the second half Joule managed to score twice and Zac Green scored 1 try to take the Rogues total to 4. However, superior support play by the Lions gave them the victory as they managed to rack up another 3 tries to win the game 6 - 3.  The Rogues left the field disappointed with tired legs and scuffed knees but they have showed that they have developed as a squad this season with every individual contributing to some excellent team performances. As Under 8's next year they will return in early September for another year's adventures.