Under 12s Dream End To Season - Winning Stratford Tournament

Date: 26-04-2009
Venue: home
Opponents: Stratford Tournament
Result: Win

Stratford Under 12s finished their last season as Minis on a real high by winning their home tournament against quality opposition. Stratford U12s had two teams in the tournament – the Tigers and the Leopards. Both teams displayed great determination and teamwork and throughout the day there was no let up in the effort and commitment required and given.

First to kick off were Leopards. A strong and quick Worcester dominated the first half but the Leopards rallied from the restart, matching Worcester and running in two tries finishing 10-30.  A 15-15 draw against Droitwich followed, but Bromsgrove and Birmingham & Solihull proved to be too strong with scores of 0-25 and 10-20 respectively. The Leopards put in a strong performance right to the end. The pack were continually driving forwards and there were fine attacking runs from the backs that came close to scoring tries. On another day the outcome could have been quite different.

Tigers fared better winning 35-5 against Birmingham & Solihull, 10-0 against Worcester, 30-10 against Bromsgrove and 15-10 against Droitwich to finish an exciting day and deservedly take the Tournament Cup. Captain and scrum half Matthew Newman provided strong direction. The mobile Tigers pack were solid in their tackling, and continually kept the opposition under pressure, excelling in their rucking and scrummaging. The backs maintained their defensive lines, linked together well and were quick to exploit any gaps with incisive play.

Tournament try scorers from both teams were: Harry Clark (4), Henri Collins (3), Rory McMeekan (5), Oliver Jackson (6), Luke Hammond (2), Matthew Newman, Cian Cheesbrough, James Hodkinson (2), Charlie Blake (2), Oliver Matthews (2), Tiarnán Catton, Alex Cox, Barney Fidler (2), Bailey Fear and Willie Priestley.

The excellent performance and the commitment of all players bodes well for next season which will be their first season as Juniors.