U10s sparkle in the sun

On a beautiful sunny morning the U-10s finally realised their potential and showed what they are capable of, which they had only previously shown in short bursts, by reaching the final of the Long Buckby Festival with some exciting play in the backs and strong and forthright forward play.

Match 1 vs Bugbrooke. Won 6-0
The festival began in the best possible way with a convincing win. Lawrenze was the first to score nipping down the blindside following a scrum. He was shortly followed over the try line when Rhys scored the first of his tries after a period of sustained pressure.
The second half began in much the same vein when Jacob T. added to the score. With Bugbrooke looking bewildered, Sam ripped the ball out of the opposition's grasp and sprinted over half the length of the pitch to the try line. Rhys added a fifth following another scrum won by the increasingly dominant forwards and then mesmerised the Bugbrooke defence by weaving in and out of some ineffectual tackles to complete his hat-trick and a thoroughly emphatic victory.

Match 2 vs Towcester. Won 5-1
The game began in a rather scrappy manner, but Scouts soon found their rhythm again when Sam made another break. He was held up short of the line, but slipped the ball to Lucas who did the rest having offered excellent support. Scouts then momentarily switched off with Towcester scoring immediately following the restart. Normal service was soon resumed, however when having been held up over the line, Rhys dotted down from the ensuing scrum for a 2-1 half-time lead.
The second half was more one sided with the forwards again getting the upper hand over their opposite numbers and securing some good ball for the backs to work with. This resulted in further tries for Ruaridh,[/b] Sam and finally Lucas to secure another comfortable victory.

Match 3 vs Casuals. Won 2-1
This was a tight and entertaining match between the 2 unbeaten teams in the pool, knowing that a place in the final almost certainly awaited the victors. Early penalties conceded gave the early advantage to Casuals, but they were unable to capitalise and couldn't break through the Scouts defence. Scouts improved as the game wore on, but the half-time whistle went without any score.
Scouts took the lead early in the second half with Ruaridh wriggling his way out of a couple of tackles to score. Unfortunately just as in the last game, Scouts went to sleep and Casuals were able to equalise immediately. However after more good play by the forwards Lawrenze went over to the great delight of an increasingly excited and animated group of parents and coaches to secure a tight, hard fought and deserved victory.

Match 4 vs Long Buckby “B”. Won 7-1
Scouts ensured that were no banana skins on the way to the final by demolishing Long Buckby “B” in their final pool match. Ruaridh opened the scoring when he darted over following a scrum close to the line. Long Buckby briefly sensed an upset when they equalised. However Scouts retook the lead when Callum ripped the ball from a maul and barged his way over in uncompromising fashion. Ruaridh then took over scoring 3 more tries either side of half-time. Lucas scored a sixth in an increasingly one-sided encounter with just enough time for Ruaridh to run in his fifth of the match to set Scouts up for the final in fine style.

Final vs Long Buckby “A”. Lost 4-0
Having met this opposition a number of times already this season we knew what to expect and the strength and size of the Buckby lads took its toll in the end with a couple of crash ball tries from penalties conceded near the try line putting Scouts on the back foot from which they never recovered.

Although there were a few tears of disappointment at the end, the lads should hold their heads up high following this sustained superb performance. By the time the awards ceremony took place they were smiling again when they received their runners-up medals. They also more than played their part by scoring 20 tries in their contribution to Old Scouts winning the highest try scorers award and the overall festival winners award.

Well done to all age groups on a great acheivement.