A depleted U13 Squad succumbed to the Medway visitors 15-1 at home

Ok, so we can all read the final score but I was proud of our lads for many reasons on Sunday. Let me talk about some of the points that stuck in this match reporter's mind from watching the match:

• Amid atrocious weather conditions, our lads were...very cold....soaked....losing....but STILL they kept playing on Sunday - they did not surrender, refused to a man to end the match early and they showed real resilience until the final whistle sounded.
• Our squad was depleted due to many missing players through illnesses, absences and injuries and the lads playing knew it was going to be a tough game against the bigger visitors but STILL they tried to tackle and win the ball. A good period of sustained Sidcup pressure through several phases of play saw Medway’s armour crack but their staunch defence held out and Sidcup were finally repelled.
• Aaron showed a return to form and growing confidence as he did his best to tackle those bigger lads time and again, and saved a number of tries.
• Sam I'A tried his best time & again to catch some really fast runners and almost tackled them on several occasions. - well done !
• Om and Ollie tackled, rucked over and then tackled & rucked over some more - what is more they won the rucks more than they lost them !
• Daniel and Sam W caught balls, made runs, ran into some tough opposition, were tackled, picked themselves up and tried again.
• Mat C ran, was tackled, offloaded and ran some more against some tough opponents.
• Harry W caught the ball and made some runs.
• Harry L was being marked by a lad twice his height but he attacked over and over again.
• Isaac kicked that ball and chased it 15 times and still he came up to scratch and kept on attacking.
• George B put in tackle-after-tackle and even made some headway against the bigger opponents.
• Charlie made some good runs and suffered some heavy tackles but he picked himself up and kept going.
• James (welcome back) put in some big tackles time and again and didn’t look as if has missed a season.
• Jamie kept on attacking the visitor's defensive line time and again (sometimes single handedly) making impressive dents in their armour.
• Ted attacked and tackled time and time again, scored a try and did his best to sprint & defended over and over.
• Our scrum-halfs, Aiden and Jake, consistently got recycled the ball out of the rucks at pace time and again.
• Finally, our lads did not surrender and kept on trying - under the difficult circumstances, we couldn't have asked for more!

Yes, there is much to work on and training on Sunday will provide the opportunity to reflect, move on and improve further ! Let's focus some more on those tackles on bigger lads, winning the scrums and how to cope when we are behind on the scoreboard.

Both teams, coaches and supporters retired to the Clubhouse to warm up and enjoyed the best post-match meal of the season. Daniel attempted the team award of downing a pint of squash with a Mars bar for his tireless work rate but fell well short of the mark as Medway drank and chomped ahead. We still wait to uncover the U13’s drinking champion ??!!

Teamwork - Respect - Enjoyment - Discipline - Sportsmanship

Dean Barham