Sidcup U10s at the Foxbury Festival

Under beautiful autumnal sunshine a squad of Sidcup U10’s travelled to Eltham College today for the Foxbury Festival which the organisers proudly informed us was the oldest mini’s festival in Kent.

First up today was a match against Westcombe Park - maybe Sidcup were still asleep or all still digesting their hearty breakfasts because this game was a rude awakening into U10’s rugby. We seemed to be startled by the speed and aggression required at this level, especially in the ruck. Having said that the first try to Westcombe Park was clearly a forward pass and in the breakdown the penalty count against Westcombe Park kept piling up as they committed too many players to the ruck, despite this Sidcup were not able to cross the try line.

Sidcup 0 Westcombe Park 7

Next up Old Colfeians - Sidcup began to put passages of play together and the score line does not reflect the improvement in the performance from the first game.

Sidcup 0 Old Colfeians 8

Our 3rd match saw us pitched against local rivals Dartfordians and this was the game it started to come together. It was like the team finally realised they had permission to be more aggressive in the ruck to push and keep pushing the opponents off and fight for the ball. A close fought game saw us cross the try line for the first time in the 2015/2016 season but still end up on the losing end.

Sidcup 1 Dartfordians 2

Last up Old Elthamiams. We seem to come up against OE’s in every festival and sometimes on tour, but alas this time no repeat of our resounding victory against them in Great Yarmouth. Once again OE’s route one to the try line, by passing to their very fast winger, kept catching us napping. Despite a very solid defensive display tired legs started to show as OE’s ran in 5 tries.

Sidcup 0 Old Elthamians 5

Despite the score lines of the individual games there were lots of positives from today. The team as a whole remained focussed throughout the festival on the task at hand and their efforts levels in each game increased. The four players playing competitively for the first time improved in confidence in each game and we saw flashes of Max’s speed, Luke’s willingness to run with the ball into the tackle and both Oliver and Sam putting in some strong tackles and getting involved in the rucks. A few bumps and bruises picked up during the games are testament to the effort all the players put in today.

The Sidcup player of the festival was John, who sometimes seemed to be in two places at once with flying tackles, aggressive rucking and the try.