After a close defeat to West Bridgford last week, the team were raring to go against Southwell RFC.
It was a great turn out for the U7's with 11 players turning up to play. The team was strengthened half way through the matches when Dylan Jowlett showed up after his dad had taken him all the way to Southwell for an away match!
Three games were played and every single player gave 100% effort which was great to see. Southwell proved to be a very strong side that were well drilled (Moderns coaches take note!). Their entire team was made up of year 2's against our side that had younger players from reception, year 1 and year 2. Losing all three matches was no disgrace and all players should be very proud of their efforts.
Game 1: Moderns 4 - 9 Southwell
Highlights of the first game were well taken tries from Jacob Careless, Evan Brown and two from Thomas Wilson. Moderns did some excellent defending with all players getting stuck it. Thomas Wilson, Eve James and Henry "Terminator" Wilks made some excellent tags, but the Southwell players supported their runners extremely well which made tries a virtual certainty. Southwell won the match 9 tries to 4.
Game 2: Moderns 2 - 6 Southwell
After a short break and pep talk Moderns came out for the second game ready to do business. This game was much more closely fought. Both sides ran extremely well and put together long sequences of play. Darting runs were made by Seb Blair, Colm Greany and Charlie Norwood but didn't result in a score. After a close first half, Moderns were just 2 tries behind after a snaking run from Jacob "Cobra" Careless. Shortly after the re-start, a great passage of play with the ball being passed through many pairs of hands resulted in a great try in the corner from Dylan "why is nobody at Southwell?" Jowlett. Special recognition has to go to Eve James, Henry Wilks, Charlie Norwood and Thomas Wilson who all played their part in this try. Sadly, the pace of the Southwell team showed and holes started to appear in the Moderns defence. Despite our best efforts, Southwell pulled away to win 6 tries to 2.
Game 3: Moderns 4 - 8 Southwell
As all the players were having such a good time, both sides agreed to have a third match. This was the cue for Henry "Terminator" Wilks to do his thing. Henry ran his heart out and scored three great tries showing poise, pace and determination. Well done Henry – your dad now owes the coaches a jug of beer! Thanks to some excellent tagging from Sam Collis, Thomas Wilson and Jacob Careless, Moderns were in touch for the majority of the match. As the game drew towards the final few minutes, Ryan Webb made a darting break from a pile of bodies scoring in the corner. Unfortunately, the two previous games started to take their toll and tiredness crept in. The older, stronger team from Southwell capitalised pulling away winning 8 tries to 4.
It was no disgrace losing to Southwell, they were a strong well organised side. All of the Moderns players contributed to the team effort which was great to see. The games were played in a sporting way with parents from both sides appreciating the efforts made by all players. I was particularly impressed by the support play from Evan Brown and Dylan Jowlett who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Well done boys.
Just to remind you that there is no training next week as it's the Christmas Party and we have arranged a visit from a big fat man in a red suit. I for one can't wait!
Rob.
