Newbury U14 Stags v Camberley U14’s
November 9, 2009
Self Belief abounds as Newbury U14 Stags win well against Camberley
Two weeks ago leafy Henley and the Thames this week, replaced by the micro climate of Monks Lane and cold dank winter morning, Newbury Under 14 Stags played host to Camberley another strong Junior Club from Surrey.
After the traditional rememberance 2 minutes silence dutifully and respectfully observed by all, the Stags kicked off into a light breeze and the training pitch work outs started to show.
Newbury began strongly attacking at pace and driving through the opposition at the breakdown and this gave Newbury a platform to release their growing in confidence midfield of Nicholls, Bates and Telford to put pressure on the defence. Camberley competed and defended well but continuous Newbury pressure began to pay off and after several ‘almost’ clear breaks Newbury produced one of their best sequences of play of the game if not the season so far with backs and forwards interchanging down the right flank only to be thwarted by an interception and break away from Camberley. Stoic back peddling in defence allowed Newbury to counter again and with great support Herrod-Taylor broke away to score under the posts for Bates to convert. 7 – 0 Newbury.
Newburys confidence was showing and dominant forward play, led from the front by Captain Ross Collington and well supported by the rest of the pack gave scrum half Andrew Maher time to run his back line. At each phase the backs attacked and broke the gain line, Bates particularly working hard to create chances and break down any Camberley counter.
More pressure was absorbed by Newbury and again after winning more turnover ball the backs combined to release Telford with a great individual run to score again under the posts. Bates converting 14 – 0 Half time
Coaches View
“Some really good passages of play. Much better in contact and we need to work a bit harder at that breakdown to release quicker ball. Pleased though, good first half and lots to build on”
Second half underway and a couple of changes brought Aaron Castle and Ollie Norman to the fray. Newbury’s effort had not waned and the guys stepped up play again to compete strongly at the tackle area. Camberley seemed more in control in the early exchanges but Newburys tackling and dominance of midfield showed no let up and Cole Bates with his midfield of Telford and Nicholls broke every Camberley attack to create a platform for Newbury.
Newburys pack drove on with Castle making an impact from the moment he arrived and this just added to Camberleys woes as the Newbury front five drove Camberley backward and the Newbury back row created more ball for the backs.
Inevitably Newbury continued to counter all that Camberley threw at them and again from a counter Herrod-Taylor broke the defence line to run in unopposed and make the score 19 – 0 with Bates converting 21 – 0.
All done except Camberley were having none of it and with Newbury tiring Camberley mounted a late charge to score in the corner and spoil a clean sheet but it was a well deserved consolation try for Camberley who’d competed really well throughout and given Newbury a stern test.
Final Score 21 – 5 Newbury and a job well done.
Coaches View:
“Good performance, Good effort and the training is paying off. Really impressed with everyone that’s played and this week they believed in themselves, defended and countered well and most importantly played as a team. Of course there are always good individual performances but the spirit in the whole squad is good and confidence of everyone is rising. Great to see the boys smiling and supporting each other.
Well done for another good all round effort.
Henley U14’s 5 - 12 Newbury U14 Stags
October 26, 2009
“Oxfordshire U14 Champions Henley succumb to dominant Newbury U14’s”
Newbury U14 Stags opened their 15 a side season with a trip to Oxfordshire Champions Henley on Sunday.
Newbury fielding a strong squad seemed to forget to put their clocks back and found themselves behind after 5 minutes with an opening score from Henley which put the Blues on the back foot.
From the restart Newbury began to wake up and after a lacklustre start managed to come back into the game with some strong attacking play.
Henley competed very well and Newbury’s big pack struggled to control the game, as they should have allowing Henley to take ball from them at the breakdown. However Newbury began to win ball and counter Henley and with excellent distribution along the back line Newbury threatened the Henley line on numerous occasions only to be foiled by a tackle or a dropped pass.
Newbury stuck to their task and began to dominate some of the close in exchanges Herrod-Taylor, Price-Richard and Bates breaking the gain line but unable to finish.
Henley were always ready to counter and with their strong centre always looked dangerous but the combination of Bates and Price-Richards at centre snuffed out the danger and allowed Newbury to keep coming back. No quarter given in this game and with more pressure Newbury broke from a ruck and the outstanding Greenshields drove in to score under the posts with Bates converting.
5 – 7 Newbury in front and half time beckoning.
At the break 5 – 7 Newbury.
Coaches View
‘Typical Newbury start….but once we got going things started we looked good. Back line worked well but the forwards just need to win more ball at the breakdown, we got there well and looked strong only to let Henley step over and steal….more work needed on the training ground. We were up at half time and were defending and counter attacking well considering the amount of ball we turned over”.
Injuries at half time meant some changes, Collington and Rees who’d worked tirelessly sustained knocks so could play no further part so a reshuffled pack to the second half. A debut for Andy Hardy who replaced the confident first half performance of Matt Nicholls.
This time Newbury, against a stiff breeze, could have easily crumbled but again what little ball they won allowed the backline to attack and take the game to Henley who thought they may be in with a chance.
End to end rugby with each back line gaining advantage only to be foiled. Herrod-Taylor, Price-Richards, Bates, Fane all attacking at pace. A break out by Henley a try in the corner, no, two tackles in one movement by Herod Taylor, saved the try produced a lineout in the corner for Newbury and the counter was on.
A scrum close to the Henley line saw Ollie Hart go close and in the following counter Henley conceded a penalty and with only two minutes remaining the bizarre happened. A penalty to Newbury in front of the posts, 3 points on the board was the call and Price Richards set himself to kick. A gust of wind the ball off the ‘T’ a call of ‘play it’ from the Head Coach and Price-Richards quick thinking allowed him to pick up, run at the bewildered defence beating 4 tackles in a maizey run to score under the posts.
5 -12 Newbury take the spoils in a well contested, good natured game.
Coaches View
“Overall we did well and winning is always good. The whole squad contributed today and although there were some good individual performances it’s the whole squad who made the victory possible so big credit to all the guys for sticking at the game and not giving any quarter. Henley were well drilled and competitive.
Biggest lesson from today was we need to have more self belief…oh and that we don’t have 10 minutes to wake up when we start the match!!!
Really pleased for the boys well done”
U14’s at Windsor Festival and Basingstoke
October 13, 2009
“No Wins for the U14’s but All Positives as the season moves forward”
Newbury U14 Stags travelled to their first tournament this season and with the bare 15 looked to give themselves a boost and put into practice the first months training.
First up were Beaconsfield who looked a good unit but Newbury showed the training had paid off and took the rucking game to a new level. Beaconsfield, who eventually won the competition ran out by two goals to nil 12 – 0 but Newbury’s makeshift squad competed very well.
Second up were the mighty Saracens and Newbury had huge pressure, rucking superbly and pushing Saracens to within 5 metres of their own line. But for a breakaway try Newbury were on top and at the break were 12 – 0 down.
Halftime and into the second half Newbury piled on the pressure attacking and counter attacking with greater confidence as each minute passed. A break out led to Newbury taking the ball the length of the field for the outstanding Cole Bates to score under the posts. 12 -7 and Newbury back in the game and in the ascendancy.
Unfortunately an injury to Jordyn Ramos, who had stepped admirably up to play scrum half cut the day short but with only thirteen players fit and Jordyn taken to hospital it was an easy decision to call it a day. Pride more than intact and fortunately as we later found out Jordyn not too seriously injured. We have a whole season ahead so common sense prevails.
Coaches View:
“It’s always difficult to gauge a tournament like this but overall really pleased with the boys. They played with great spirit and attitude and showed real character and most importantly, showed great Team Spirit and what they’d learnt on the training pitch delivered it into a match situation.
No negatives only positives. Confidence will start to build.
Cole’s try was a well worked counter attack which involved forwards and backs to release him to score so a good team effort. Well done to all the guys”.
Over at Basingstoke the Roebucks took to the field with just enough players and as with many of these games which are scheduled Basingstoke took to the field playing their main squad early on get themselves in front. This is always a challenge for the likes of our age group lucky enough to have a big squad so sometimes fixtures can be a bit unbalanced. However the Roebucks equipped themselves well and again did well at the breakdown but were outgunned by a much stronger opposition.
Coaches View:
“A really positive start for the Bucks but overall we must believe in ourselves more and most importantly get our tackles in. Something to work on in training but things are shaping well and a creditable effort from the guys”.
Newbury U14’s 24 - 29 Beaconsfield
September 28, 2009
“A good season beckons after a narrow defeat to Beaconsfield”
Newbury U14’s played host to Beaconsfield in a friendly on Sunday and although narrowly defeated 24 - 29 this was a real opportunity to look at the majority of the squad in a competitive game.
Beaconsfield had barely 15 players where Newbury, without some of the squad still had 27 players to choose from, a great advert for Junior Rugby.
In true tradition of a Newbury side the game kicked off, the opposition ran at Newbury and opened the scoring 0 - 7. Newbury then woke up.
From the kick off Newbury attacked and after a short phase of forward play Tristan Telford, who with Cole Bates dominated the mid field throughout the game, collected the pass and jinked his way under the posts with Cole Bates converting 7 - 7. All square.
The game was very competitive and some good running from both sets of backs gave both sides opportunities to score but equally good defence or a dropped pass thwarted the play and a score. After 15 minutes a counter attack by Newbury saw some quick passing with both Telford and Bates involved to set Freddie Fane running clear to score unconverted 12 - 7.
Newbury competed well but their early season rustiness showed, allowing Beaconsfield to push them off the ball at the breakdown and release their strong runners who ran in two tries to go in on half time 12 - 17 in front.
“Coaches View”
Good first half: some good individual performances from Bates and Telford with Collington in a new position at 6 and Captain led from the front and stirred the guys up well, with good support from Fane, Brady, Castle and Cresswell.
Lost our concentration on occasions and need to think about organisation on the field but overall pleasing start.
Newbury restarted well and considering the changes at half time the replacements slotted in well. Again the Newbury back line attacked well, Patrick Quinton-Smith running his back line well and after a quick break released Cole Bates to attack and run in to bring Newbury back on terms
17 - 17.
Beaconsfield regrouped and attacked strongly. Newbury defended well, tacking bravely but after sustained pressure Newbury crumbled and Beaconsfield where in front again 17 - 24.
Once more Beaconsfield countered Newbury pressure and ran in again to make the score 17 - 29. Considering the heat and pace of the game Newbury never gave up or dropped their heads and
from the kick off Newbury attacked and after a good passage of play Cole Bates tackled won the ball and ran in to score and convert 24 - 29.
With only 3 minutes left Newbury continued their hard work but were left defeated 24 - 29.
No disappointment in this friendly, 27 players had game time and long term injured assisted in carrying water bottles and being part of the whole team.
“Coaches View”
Some real positives, good defence, good spirit and good attitude. Things to work on, consistently win ball at the breakdown, we did it well in parts but not so well at critical times. Communication and Concentration is critical.
The kids all enjoyed themselves and it’s great to see a good squad effort and a building squad spirit, plenty to work on but really good with what we’ve seen.
And so to training next week in preparation for Windsor Festival and Basingstoke and some tough work on winning ball and skills.
Our Indian Summer continues and Monks Lane is lovely in September. If the boys work hard and keep improving the season will be good at Monks Lane….Not so sure about the weather though!
Match Reporter: Caroline Coombs