Marlow B Tournament
by Chris Addis
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Marlow B Tournament
On a weekend, which saw the England team fail to retain the Six Nations through poor defence and a weak midfield, the Windsor U7 B team displayed extemporary tag rugby. As a team Windsor had always displayed great skills going forward but this had often been at the expense of a tight defence line. Something the coaches had recognised and had spent a lot of time in the training sessions trying to fix. But as every coach knows its one thing getting the boys to follow the drills in practise but totally different matter getting them to reproduce the drills in the heat of competition. But full credit to every one of boys, they did it!
From the moment they arrived to the moment Jamie held aloft the Winners cup the boys demonstrate everything quality the coaches have been trying to instil in them – passion, discipline and most of all FUN! We should never forget that these guys are only six or seven and that in order to keep them turning up every Sunday morning we must maintain the enjoyment level.
The B Team Squad was:
Jamie Hayes-Brown (Capt), Sammy Holden (Vice Capt) Loui Brogan, Alexander Lord,
Henry Smith, Billy Pratt, Matthew Jones, Matthew William’s, Tom Donohue, Joseph Brooke
So to the group games:
Windsor 5 v Ealing 0
Ealing turned out to be Windsor’s strongest group opponents. But in this match they were out played in part of the field. The Coach for Ealing even questioned Ray after the match – was this really our B team. Alex, along with major contributions from both Matthews and Tom produced some sublime running that at times even had his own team guessing which way he was going to go.
However it was the defensive discipline and tenacious tagging that stood out most for the coaches in this game. Lead by Jamie and Loui who between them bossed the middle of the pitch, and backed up by Sammy, Henry, Billy and Joseph the Windsor defensive line was impenetrable. .
Windsor 6 v High Wycombe 0
In this game Windsor continued where they had left off against Ealing, and in fact gave High Wycombe very little opportunity to cross the half way line. The newer players to the B team shined in this game with Matthew W, Matthew J, and Tom all making excellent runs and putting points on the board. There were also excellent defensive performances from Billy and Henry.
Windsor 6 v Beaconsfield 2
Beaconsfield came at Windsor hard and seemed to raise the game against us. However the dominance of Jamie, Loui and Sammy in the middle meant that Windsor wider players had plenty of space and gaps in which to wreak havoc. Joseph, Alex and Billy all had a very good games with some good runs and excellent defending. Special mention goes out to Matthew W for an excellent solo Try, in which he seemed to run round the whole Beaconsfield team.
Windsor 6 v London Irish 1
In this game Windsor cruised, knowing they were virtually in the final already. We saw some excellent team rugby where all the boys were involved and some clinical finishing from Alex, Tom, Jamie and both the Matthews.
Final:
Windsor 6 v Henley 4
The final saw Windsor come face to face with their old rivals and with season’s encounters tied at one win each it was always going to be close game with emotions running high. The game did not disappoint, Windsor came out fired up and quickly jumped into a two Try lead, which was then pegged back by a equally determined Henley side. The encounter was a fantastic example of what Rugby should be at this level – good skills, disciplined defending, determination and pure passion. It is the latter that took Windsor through to a fantastic final result. No one boy should be singled out as the whole team played their hearts out, and fully deserved to be the Marlow U7 B Champions!
It was a great day for the B team and what better way to replace the memory of Sammy Holden and many of the other boys being in tears after the golden try defeat to Henley in the Windsor tournament, than to see them win so well at Marlow.
A big thank you from all of the coaches to the Mums and Dads for your support, this was another day to be very proud of your boys. But the last thank you from the B Team goes out to the A Team who were shouting their heads off for us we really appreciated it!
Ray Brown & Chris Addis
Two very proud & emotional coaches!
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