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U7  2009-10  -  Page 2
 
 
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Ivel U7 vs Chard vs Castle Cary   -  Sunday 15th November 2009
 
 

Thanks to all for turning up for a full squad to face Chard and Castle Cary in Ivel’s 3-way tournament. Also to the parents that helped with the team whilst I refereed the other games.

The first game was against a strong Chard, with Ben as captain. From the whistle Ivel soon became unstuck time after time with the same error of off-side. This allowed Chard to gain the advantage and to storm ahead with 3 tries before Ivel had the chance to start playing as a team, and keep possession.

After half time Ivel produced much better rugby staying on-side and having four very close chances denied them. With Chard on the attack Ivel kept them at bay with some great defending from all. Ivel gained possession by forcing a run out, and three quick passes ending at Wallis, saw her sprint hard on the touch line for an Ivel try.   Final score  Chard 5 – Ivel 1.  Player of the match was Wallis for eager tagging and Ivel’s only try.

The second match was Castle Cary with Thomas as captain. Ivel started in better form, playing some flowing cohesive rugby, with the ball being passed around with no dropped catches. Ivel worked the ball to C.Cs try line and with tight defending by C.C made for exciting play as Ivel tried to break through, which came when Matt as he ran round the back to open the scoring with a confident try. The game closely matched, C.C replied quickly with a try from the restart, and again from an unusual forward pass by Ivel. Ivel reformed with good passing to allow Neo to nip through and level the score.

After half time, Ivel piled on the pressure keeping the ball mainly in C.Cs half, when David and George tagged the same player who dropped the ball, which was picked up by Thomas who ran through hard for a try. C.C came straight back with a try. Ivel again in C.Cs half, passed the ball along the line when Oscar squeezed through and immediately touched down. Ivel gained possession by forcing an error on C.C. and some great play ended with Matt running diagonally to the corner for his second try. After a reply try from C.C, in the closing minutes C.C had gained possession and had pushed into Ivel territory when a fumbled ball collected by Ben was passed to Wallis who performed her trademark sprint all the way to C.Cs touch line for the last try of this exciting game.     Final score Ivel 6 – Castle Cary 4.  Player of the match was Matt for determination and 2 great tries. 

I was very pleased that the team stayed in-touch for both matches after last week, and after losing the first match, Ivel came into the second game with concentration, stayed on-side and played as a team.  Well done the u7s!
 
 
 
 
 
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Ivel U7  9  vs  Taunton U7  9  -  Sunday 29th November 2009
 

A big thanks to Taunton, and all the parents who turned out and stayed out in some proper Rugby weather this Sunday.

As the score line suggests this was a very closely contested game. From the off it was to and fro with both teams bogging down in the mud including George every time he got the ball, but this produced some great tagging and fast passing from both sides. 

The game was all shoulder to shoulder battling and Ivel’s training showed through with clear, loud and raised “tag”, stopping Taunton at every pass.  I was very pleased that Ivel’s tries came with some very good use of space, by players not being afraid of just running through the middle rather than trying to use the touch line, particularly this week  Oscar, Thomas and Matt. It was also good to see a couple of nice runs each from Freddy and David, who if found space, could have scored well done lads. Neo and Ben really showed the effort to get back behind the ball every time, which is hard when it’s as muddy and crowded as this.

The team as a whole played a tight game with some unselfish passing, good support and determination right up to the try line. The tightness of the game made it difficult to get flowing rugby, but when it did it was fast paced with some excellent tries scored.    Final score       Ivel 9  – Taunton 9      Ivel tries from:   Thomas 4 , Neo 3 and Oscar 2.     Player of the match was Thomas for non stop running and tagging, plus  4 great tries.          Well done the barbarians.

We did have a second shorter game which produced similar rugby with just as pleasing results, showing that the team is now becoming consistent and match ready with the basics in place and ready for strengthening their game.  The final score was   Ivel  5 – Taunton  5.    Ivel tries from :  Oscar 2, Thomas  2  and Matt  1,   

Player of the match was  Oscar for remembering not to  hesitate and  just run hard with the ball for 2 excellent tries ( in both games!).    Well played all the Ivel  u7s.                  

 
 
 
 
 
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Ivel U7 vs Tor U7  -  Sunday 24th January 2010
 
 

First thank you to Tor R.F.C. for making the trip down, Tom, and David for volunteering to make up Tors numbers for a good game.

With a good turnout and Alistair as captain, Ivel faced Tor for Their first action in 8 weeks! After a Quick spell of training, from the off it was a fairly level pegging game with Tor making Ivel work hard for tries, as Ivel seemed to need those extra passes to gain ground. This was good to see that support was still there and basics had not been forgotten, with consistent running forward and good clean passing and catching.

But what was missing this week was Ivel’s strong point of tagging and forcing errors, as most of Tors tries came from long straight runs down the touch line, which we should have picked off. Tors defence caused Ivel problems in holding a tight line with good tagging, which forced Ivel to make mistakes such as off-side and running out of touch.

There were some shining examples of Ivel’s game in the second half as positioning came into play and the determination to play right up to the final whistle. Ivel did score some excellent tries with some nice movement into space and even some dummy moves.      

Well done Ivel u7s for a deserved draw.          Final score;  Ivel  9 ,Tor 9.   

With the Ivel tries from;   Thomas 4,  Wallis 4  and Matt 1.     Player of the match goes to David for volunteering and also playing a good game for Tor.
 
 
 
 
 
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Ivel U7  vs  Weymouth U7  vs  Bridgwater U7 -  Sunday 7th February 2010
 
Pictures from Michelle
 

Thank you to Weymouth and Bridgwater for coming down for a fast paced and exciting 3-way match at Ivel, the coaches for participating in the refereeing and Michelle for the pictures.

Ivel’s first opponents were Weymouth, With Matt ‘super shirt’ as captain. With some of Ivel’s players not 100%, this game was a non stop try-fest, especially for Neo who discovered try scoring was fun, with some spectacular long runs leaving the whole try line to place the ball, and a couple of nice weaving runs for tries, ending with a impressive haul of 5. But for every try Ivel scored Weymouth did not give in and replied as quick. In stepped Captain Matt who supplied two determined tries too, one of them very neatly played from centre to corner. Thomas wriggled through the Weymouth defence to find empty space with 5 yards to run for a try, but also had one disallowed at the whistle.

Everyone seemed eager to get to the ball and Oscar proved that persistent support of the ball carrier allowed him to squeeze through for a try. This game saw Freddy at number two and he really pushed hard at the Weymouth defence and try line but was denied as Weymouth closed in very quick, but some excellent passing allowed Ivel keep moving up field. On this point, the ball was cleanly played right to left, on top of Weymouth’s try line and was blocked by good defending with tags up, until Alistair curled round in the corner for his try.

Final score  Ivel 10 – Weymouth 9    Ivel tries from  Neo 5, Matt 2, Thomas, Oscar and Alistair one apiece.    Player of the match goes to Neo for his fantastic 5 tries and all round game.         

The second match against Bridgwater with Neo as captain, was very much a close game as both teams defended more tightly and finding gaps and space became  important. I was pleased to see players passing without being tagged if they found their path blocked, and that there was always another player ready to receive, freeing up the ball and keeping the game moving. Having a go at no. 2 was Ryan who almost claimed his first try but was disallowed with too many steps, as was Alistair later. Ivel’s first try came from Matt who managed a nice sprint down touch to mark the score sheet.

3-1 down at half time, Ivel showed how team defending is vital as they forced errors upon Bridgwater turning the ball over and then making good use of the gain. This time Neo again stretching his legs with superb running, to put down for 2 tries before the game returned to a tight even contest. The difference between the teams was that Ivel had the edge on defending, keeping Bridgwater pinned back. When the ball was turned over Matt twice showed determination in going forward to be rewarded with two great tries which levelled the scores.

Final score  Ivel 5 – Bridgwater 5.        Ivel tries  Matt  3, Neo 2.       Player of the match was  Matt  not only for his tries but his enthusiasm this week and really getting stuck in.

Well done to EVERY player for two very different games of exciting tag.