HENRY DOWSWELL - DOGMANS u11'S REPORT

HENRY DOWSWELL - SUNDAY 4th MARCH

Sidcup hosted their annual minis festival on Sunday. It was a shame that the weather (heavy rain and wind) and the tiny pitches (it was not clear if they were for rugby or tennis!) were not conducive to our side's strengths out wide but that’s life and and I was immensely proud of how our boys adapted their game to a more front up style of rugby.

It was indeed a day when 'dog' and 'grit' were needed more than prosaic skills and the fact we only conceded one try in five matches showed that the team really stood up to be counted. The fact we also only scored one try also tells a story regarding the conditions! Virtually every game was a local derby and the events unfolded as follows;

Squad - Forwards - Davenport, Coleman, Powell, Novo, Page, Cain, Bristow Backs - Hally, Barton, Innes, Baldwin, Nightingale, Leigh, Aycliffe, Smith, Leigh (Captain), Lay, Jinks.

SIDCUP 1 BROMLEY 0

A good start to proceedings against our old rivals Bromley (special thanks to their coach who refereed a number of games above and beyond the call of duty over the day). The deciding try was scored by Jack 'Dash' Smith after a quick tap penalty and excellent offload in contact by Powell. Sidcup generally had the better of the play but defended well when required. Birthday boy 'Coleman' continued his recent rise to prominence with another solid display.

SIDCUP 0 BECHAMMIANS 0

After a lacklustre start by Sidcup where we were lucky not to concede (the rain had by now set in!) the game settled into something of a stalemate. Try as both sides did no-one could blow the others house down and I suspect that given the excellent defences it would have taken a long time before either side managed to cross the whitewash. Excellent discipline was shown by captain Leigh after an outrageous high tackle nearly decapitated him which demonstrates just how far he has come over the last year.

SIDCUP 0 OLD COLFEIANS 0

It was good to renew old rivalries against Old Colfe's (and their head coach Neill Baker) in what again turned out to be an uncompromising affair with space and time very much at a premium. Colfe's had recruited well over the summer and appeared to have signed Courtney Lawes in the second row. There was no need to crack their lineout calls to work out that they were throwing to the six foot plus boy at the front and to Sidcups credit (Cain, Novo...) we actually managed to disrupt a couple of their throws! Also the sight of Isaac Ayliffe our smallest but maybe also our hardest player downing the giant Colfe was great to see. Another solid performance with Innes to the fore leading his line well and Bristow, Powell and Davenport scrummaging strongly.

SIDCUP 0 EDENBRIDGE 0

This was the group decider with Sidcup needing to win to top the group. Edenbridge are always strong at this age group and yours truly had politely declined their request to change the tournament running order as one of their better players was going home. This added a bit of spice to proceedings and both sides defended valiantly with Sidcup being forced into a number of goal line stands. A particular highlight was Nightingale extricating himself from our own dead ball area by means of a 'disco dancing' run with left the coaches and parents in awe. Sidcup did tremendously to keep them out and could have no real complaints with the draw which resulted in Edenbridge narrowly topping the group and Sidcup progressing to the runners up Plate Final.

SIDCUP 0 WESTCOMBE PARK 1 PLATE FINAL

By this point hypothermia was setting in but we had one more game and it was clear from what had gone before that the boys wouldn’t use this as an excuse to simply roll over. As it turned out a large Westcombe Park pack had Sidcup on our own line for practically the whole first half with only occasional relief provided by a series of excellent clearing kicks from Billy Hally after very solid scrums and chases from Ayliffe and Smith. Somehow with an excellent team 'Rourkes Drift' defensive display we managed to turn around at 0-0. The second half followed much the same pattern but a breakout from our own line orchestrated by Baldwin will live long in my memory as he roared his way up the pitch like something out of "Braveheart". I was very pleased to finally see Jinks and Lay get a chance to play in the final and both made contributions during their short cameos. In the end the inevitable happened and Sidcup conceded their only try of the day after withstanding a large number of driving phases from Tiger Coombe.

Many thanks to our pitch Marshalls (Fiona, Linda and Barton senior) and all the parents for their great support. Also thanks to referee Andy Hinds to whom I owe a pint.

Finally special mention to Page, Lay, Jinks and Barton who despite very limited playing time were there throughout if called upon. The coaches and the rest of the team couldn’t have done it without the knowledge these players were there if needed and it is my intention at the upcoming Old Colfeians festival to play boys like these as much as possible with full support expected from the team regulars in return.

WELL DONE ALL