After the wild weather of saturday who would of thought that bright sunshine would welcome us on Sunday morning!!

Chard were the first apponents of the day who arrived with 14 players. Ivel who last year only had 9 or 10 are turning out 14/15 players each week.

The young barbarians started well, strong running and good support soon opened the scoring. The defence that had been strong in previous weeks had turned up again this week, everyone was stopping their opponent hard, as soon as the ball was on the floor, Ivel were first to it. From each breakdown the boys looked to score points. each time Chard stopped one Ivel player another was on his shoulder ready to attack again. by half time Ivel had scored 5 tries with no reply.

Half time and the luxury of 5 substitutions.

The second half started as the first, strong running again opened the scoring.
Ivel then had 5 minutes of hard tackling, as Chard came back into the game well. They scored 2 tries without reply, this spurred the boys on again, they replied with 3 tries of their own.

Final score. Ivel 40 - 10 Chard.
Tries: Sol 2, Byron 2, Aaron, Jake R, Jake D and Jonah.

Ivels second game was against Castle Cary, who had previously beaten Chard 35-20.   This would be a stern test. The game would be 8 a side, giving Ivel 6 subs for halftime.

Castle Cary scored first after some good running.  Ivel really had to dig deep now. Soon the game was level, some good tackling eventually meant turn over ball which was turned into 5 points.  From Castle Cary's restart Ivel again turned the ball over and went the length of the field to score again.

HT Ivel 10-5 Castle Cary.

On came the 6 subs.  Castle cary came back hard, but some really strong tackling made sure they did not breach the Ivel line.  The boys kept pushing towards the line and eventually scored again through great support.  With minutes left, from a Castle Cary lineout the ball was passed to their fly half who was tackled ball and all. the ball was recycled and Ivel scored again.  Time was almost up, Ivel made a break down the touch line he was in the clear, a castle Cary player had over ideas though and made one of the best cover tackles i have seen. A fitting way to finish the game.

Ivel 20-5 Castle Cary.
TriesSol, Alex, Byron, Jake D.

Another great day of rugby, not just because of the wins, but great play from all the teams and especially the Ivel boys who are playing more as a team each week. The enjoyment is there to be seen on their faces. Even the parents are smiling.

Still lots to learn, but keep up the good work.

On a cold wet windy day, the young Baa Baas entertained Taunton, in a game they new would be very closesly contested.

As both teams had in excess of 14 players the game was split in to 4 quarters.

The first quarter was very even with Tauntons clearing out of rucks being very good indeed, the Ivel team had to work really hard to secure any good ball. The game went from end to end with both sides making good hard tackles. With 2 minutes to go the game was still at deadlock. Taunton pushed hard for the score. The ball went through their back line and they scored in the corner. 1 minute to go and Ivel came straight back scoring before the final whistle.

5-5. After some changes the game restarted, the score in the last minute seemed to spur the Ivel team on. With some free flowing rugby they scored 6 tries with Taunton scoring 1. HT 35 – 10.

The second half started with Taunton raising their game and Ivel dropping off theirs. Taunton played some very good rugby, which the Ivel boys had no real answer to, lots of missed tackles compounded the matter. Taunton scored 6 tries without reply. 35 – 40.

One quarter left, a quick pep talk with the coaches, the Ivel boys new what they had to do and they started the last quarter fantastically. When a break was made there was always someone on their shoulder, If Taunton made a break, someone would cover, they were playing well as a team. Ivel soon scored to bring the game level. With both sets of parents giving encouragement it was getting tense, which way would it go!!

The next 5 minutes saw 2 tries being scored. In the last minute a player appeared through the ruck to score the last try of the game…………….

The final quarter went to…….Ivel!  Ft 55-40

What a great game! It really showed how both teams have grasped contact with both hands and continued to play free flowing rugby that they had played the year before. Even in poor conditions, the two sides played great rugby.

With one more game to play before Christmas, it has been a good first half of the season for the under 9 team, who are developing very well indeed.

Well Done