Bournemouth Festival 19th April
We arrived at a sunny Chapel Gate looking forward to the day's events
given the boys' performance on tour over the Easter weekend.
The pitches were the largest that we had played on all year and
should have suited our style of play. We were in a group with Bournemouth,
Launceston, Eastleigh and Wootton Bassett, three teams that we had
not played against this year and first up were the hosts.
Bournemouth 0 - Wimborne 20
The boys started slowly but managed to put some good individual
pieces of play together and we eventually ran out winners by 4 tries
to nil with everyone in the squad getting a run out in the first
game. Try scorers Luke 2, Alex M 1, & Reuben 1.
Launceston 0 - Wimborne 10
This was a stronger test for the squad with Launceston having a
couple of boys who were a lot bigger than ours and we ended up getting
in to a mauling game which played right in to their hands. Our defence
again remained strong with some big tackles, fronting up to their
strong running close to our line. The effort and commitment from
the lads could not be faulted. We deservedly scored two tries from
Tom and Alex S and continued on to our next challenge despite not
playing our best rugby.
Eastleigh 0 - Wimborne 30
Having watched Eastleigh play, we were able to see that they would
be the weaker opposition of the group. The coaches got the boys
together and we all agreed that we wanted to play a running and
passing game and, to their credit, the boys stuck to their words
and played some great running rugby with the ball being off loaded
quickly and passing through the team. We made a number of positional
changes and it resulted in the following boys scoring, Ollie L 2,
Alex M 1, Oscar 2 and Joe 1.
Wootton Bassett 0 - Wimborne 10
This was the second set of all blacks that we had played against
today and, true to the name, they played with the same tenacity
and stretched the boys on occasions but our defence remained resolute
and despite a couple of scares they never got that close to our
line. We were unable to get our running game together for the whole
match and it happened in fits and starts resulting in tries for
Luke and Alex S.
Unbeaten in the group we now progressed to the semi final against
Ringwood & Ellingham- one of our local rivals, with the other one
played out between Salisbury and Bridgend.
Ellingham & Ringwood 0 - Wimborne 20
This was a much better game and the boys knew that they were in
for a good game as they renewed old acquaintances. Both teams started
strongly with the E&R fly half making some good breaks but our
defence, with Oscar playing the full back role, swatting anyone
who had broken through gave the boys in front great confidence.
We managed to get our passing and off loading game back as well
as the pressure that we put on in defence. We ran out worthy winners
with some fine tries from Tom 1, Luke 2 and Ollie L 1.
Next up was the final against Bridgend whose squad had won their
age group at the tournament last year. This was a real bruising
encounter which you would expect from a Welsh team and both sides
played with determination and vigour. The commitment to the tackle
and contact situations from the Welsh team was better than we had
come up against all day and proved to be their strength as both
sides were pretty well matched. It was end to end stuff and just
before half time Bridgend managed to cross our line for a score
in the corner. It was a bruising encounter and we rotated all the
boys in the squad on to the park throughout the game. The second
half continued as the first had left off with Wimborne trying to
recover that score to get us level again. The Bridgend defence remained
firm despite some surging runs from the boys. The lads showed fantastic
commitment to the cause which was borne out by a 30 yard track back
from Luke to put in the tackle of the day on their flying winger.
Despite all our attempts to cross the line we were unable to do
so and we conceded a dubious try on the last whistle with their
player seemingly in touch. We lost the game 10 - 0 and Bridgend
were worthy winners and good opponents to play against.
Squad:- Tom Andrews, Joe Burden, Reuben Elcock, Max Hewson, Oscar
Howard, Ollie Longmore, Max Mallinson, Alex Mason, Tom Mayhew, Luke
Mehson, Alex Sands, Jack Stonell, Ollie Weekley, Charlie Whitham.
Dorchester
Festival 19 April 2009
The Dorchester Festival attracted some strong teams for a tournament
played on large pitches in bright Spring sunshine. We faced two teams
in our group - Winchester and Dorchester.
First up were Winchester - a strong team who had already beaten
Dorchester by a wide margin. We put in some good tackles, but we
could not sustain our defence consistently as Winchester attacked
repeatedly and won comfortably.
The second game against Dorchester was much closer. We tackled
more consistently, with Eddie, William and Sebastian leading the
way. We attacked more effectively - Eddie and Jamie used their pace
to exploit the width of the pitch while Nick and Matthew used their
strength to drive forward in the tight. We also passed more fluently,
with one counter attack involving almost every member of the team.
Ollie and Jack formed a good half back pairing, providing good penetration
and quick ball to the fast boys outside. Unfortunately we could
not convert our pressure into points, and Dorchester scored breakaway
tries to seal the match. However our boys deserve credit for competing
well against strong opposition.
Squad - Matthew Buckfield, TJ Crocker, Nick Wetherall, Lawrence
Smith, Sebastian Hartley, Ollie Walker, Jack Taylor, Eddie Wilkinson,
William Hurd Wood, Angus Livesey, Jamie Tointon
