Sidcup U10s at the Bromley Festival

Drawn in our group were Medway, Cranbrook, hosts Bromley and Park House - all of whom we've enjoyed some good tussles with in the past - and so we knew it would be a tough day's work

First up was Medway - they possessed some very strong ball carriers and tacklers (especially Charlotte who put some of our boys to shame !!) but more importantly they were quick to the breakdowns and rucked well. We matched them, but one quick break and a weaving run from one of their backs saw him over for a one nil lead. As the game wore on it was tough going, and we conceded one too many penalties. The ref called last play, and rather than play out of defence, Medway decided to run the ball straight into touch and so secure the win.

Medway 1 Sidcup 0

Second up we played Cranbrook who we'd had a good game with at last year’s Kent Finals. This time it was one of those games where we clicked - we tackled hard, ran hard and were much quicker to the ruck and started clearing out much more effectively. We eventually ran out 4-1 winners and it was a really impressive performance.

Cranbook 1 Sidcup 4

Third up was hosts Bromley for a game that contained our perpetual dodgy refereeing decision where Bromley got away with murder. One try scoring move containing 3 forward passes. Bromley were strong, this team were previous the Kent Champions when U7, but they were definitely given a helping hand, and this distracted our players. I think the score ended up 3-1 to Bromley but could be wrong; I was too busy getting the red mist out of my eyes !!

Bromley 3 Sidcup 1

So, our final pool game was against Park House. Their coach has done a great job in developing their team; when we first played them a couple of seasons back it was quite one sided, and I think our players thought it was going to be the same today. We were given a rude awakening, as their number 9 showed a great turn of pace to run down the wing and dot down in the corner. After that we had to fight really hard to get back in the game - and I was really pleased with the resilience and we scored a couple of good try's to run out 2-1 winners; made a meal of it but got the win.

Park House 1 Sidcup 2

This meant after an age calculating the tables we had placed third and so went onto play Tunbridge Wells in the Bowl Final; we turned up to meet a very tall TW team; one boy in particular was about “6ft 2” - but luckily he proved to be cumbersome tall rather than powerful tall. We played a fantastic game, were aggressive, skilful, moved the ball, rucked over and cleared out brilliantly and the result was never in doubt and probably should have been more than 2-0....but that's being picky!

Tunbridge Wells 0 Sidcup 2

So a great effort and our first silverware of the season - hopefully much more to come.