Sidcup U12s shine even in hard fought defeat

Report from Justin:

Firstly a big shout to the parents, we couldn’t do this without you and everyone arrived at Beccahamians on time and in plenty of time for a full 50 minutes of joint drills and getting to know the opposition. I can’t stress enough how important a good warm up is. Getting to know our opposition is also what the rugby family is all about.

The first half was very competitive and was full of great play and exciting tries. Rugby is the ultimate team game but Sidcup had several stand out players in the first half. In the forwards Oscar and Murat each had several bullocking runs that knocked Beccs players around like skittles! They couldn’t do this however without the platform their fellow starting forwards, Matt, Mason and Dillon afforded them.

In the backs Dominic, playing his first full game at scrum half, got a lot of ball out to Draven who had an outstanding 1st half and would eventually be named Sidcup Man of the Match. His pivotal play at Fly Half brought the rest of his backs Lewis, Sam, Max and Harry into the game and the opposition coach commented in his end of game speech how impressed he was with our well organised back line shape. Lewis captained the side very well and the team missed his steadying influence and experience when injury curtailed his 2nd half. Max and Sam at wing and outside centre respectively hunted as a pack in defence and completely commanded their opposition in the first half. Harry also played very well and had several great offensive runs in the first half that asked lots of questions of Beccs’ flank defences, he was unlucky not to score and with the addition to his game of a side step and a cut in off his left foot he will become a prolific scorer.

The first half ended 3 tries to 2 for Sidcup. Draven scored with 2 excellent mazy runs that Beccs had no answer for and Murat ended an Oscar / Murat classic “bulldozer” master class move! It wouldn’t be a Sidcup game however with some missed tackles and losses of concentration, hence the 2 Beccs tries. All the subs took part in the first half with Kai coming in for Matt at Hooker and Shyan for Dillon in the 2nd row and Dean again for Kai.

The second half saw a couple more positional changes and experimental use of subs! Lewis’ heel was causing him some discomfort and so he didn’t restart the 2nd half. This saw Dillon come into the backs and pushed Max and Sam in one position each. Matt moved to wing to replace Harry. Kai started as hooker and Shyan started in the 2nd row. These enforced changes had some detrimental effect on our play as people got used to new positions.

Unfortunately this coincided with some fitness issues and the forwards intensity dropped off. I don’t think we had the ball for the 1st ten minutes of the 2nd half and we coughed up a lot of possession. Our receiving of restarts needs some work! Unfortunately our passing wasn’t going to hand and we were intercepted a couple of times resulting in scores. The intense pressure we put ourselves under meant we were kicking to relieve pressure and unfortunately Beccs had a very good fullback that returned our kicks with interest.

That said this gave our lads a chance to show us their defensive skills and the boys saved several Beccs tries by wrapping up their ball carriers on or near the line. Unfortunately Beccs did score 5 tries in the 2nd half. The final positive note though was an interception try from Draven to nail his Hattrick and cap off a very good game for him personally. Final score 7-4 to Beccs.

A “game of two halves” you could say! the 1st half was good enough for the coaches to know that the players we have, with more time together and more coaching, will become an excellent side. As a final note it’s worth highlighting that we played Beccs A team! So with more than half our team only being Sidcup players for a matter of weeks I think all in all the boys acquitted themselves admirably.

I’m also very proud of the spirit in which the boys play. Everyone one of them is a very honest player, by which I mean everyone gives 100% and there are no “passengers”. They respect each other, the opposition and the Referee and the game was played to the highest standard of sportsmanship. They are a credit to themselves and our club.

I can’t wait for the next game J

Justin