Ivel U13 travelled to Midsomer Norton hoping to continue their winning ways.  The weather conditions and the conditions under foot meant that the game was going to be forward dominated.

The first half started with Ivel having the wind in their backs and the advantage of the slight slope. The Ivel team capitalised on this straight away and put a lot of pressure on Midsomer Norton with the Ivel backs of Carl Morgan, Harry McHugh and Tom Shackell up quickly on the opposition backs which cause a knock on.

The dominant Ivel pack secured quick ball from the scrum and No8 Elliot Berryman drove over for the first of his 3 tries. The pressure continued on Midsomer Norton with some great tackling by Lewis Deverill, Dan Long, James Ruddle and Elliot Ryan which resulted in a loose ball which Elliot Berryman picked up and ran in for his second try.

The Ivel pack were really starting to build up a head of steam and created some very quick ball which the Ivel backs used and were tackled just short of the line. From the resulting break down Elliot Berryman powered over for his third try.

Ivel knew that they were going to be made to work in the second half with the slope of the pitch and the elements against them. Midsomer Norton changed their tactics and started to kick but the safe hands and boot of Henry Bowditch kept the opposition at bay.

Ivel’s final try came after some quick recycled ball which was passed down the line to Archie Mitchell who skilfully offloaded the ball to Mike Anderson who then slipped a pass to Harry McHugh who sprinted over to score.

This seemed to spur on Midsomer Norton who came back strongly in the final quarter of the game and scored 2 quick trys. The momentum of the game had swung away from Ivel but some desperate tackling by Aidan Smith, Aaron Briatore, Robert Samways and Riley Hawkins kept them out.

Final Score      Ivel 22 Midsomer Norton 10

Scorers            Elliot Berryman 3, Harry McHugh 1

Conversion     Carl Morgan 1

Congratulations are needed for both teams on this hard fought contest with good sportsmanship.  Ivel had a good turn out with 26 players eager to play their part.  Throughout the game all had an opportunity to give there all.

The game started at a thunderous pace with no let up throughout both halves.  Early in the first half Ivel were awarded a penalty inside Wells 22m, a quick tap to James Ruddle with forward support drove over Wells try line to score.  Ivel pressured Wells again but they picked up a loose ball and ran 50m to score – points even.  Ivel changed some players mid half and with some fresh legs Harry McHugh ran 20m to score in a corner.  Throughout this half all Ivel players had some good possession but did not make the most of it, Wells gave some good defending.

Second half saw Ivel make some more changes, Ivel then started to control the game. Ivel’s two newest members started in this half, Brendan Coleman and Sam Hulland who played well and showed some good powerful running.  Both teams had good srummaging technique and lineout set plays.  Wells were stopped from possibly scoring on two occasions by fullback - Aidan Smith and the forwards trapping back in support to slow play and set up a defensive line.  Aidan did a blind side run that led Elliott Ryan to score a try.  Ivel did not waste time and quickly scored again with James Ruddle driving over from a penalty.  With Ivel now having a firm grasp on the game Harry Mchugh drove over in a solo effort to score and followed by converting it.  After more pressure from Ivel and clever play, Carl Morgan scored a try and also converted it.

With many changes throughout the game It would be difficult to mentioned all players in the team but all played equally well and gave a fine team performance.

Ivel were winners by 34 - 5

On a cold frosty morning Ivel entertained Burnham-on-Sea for their final game before Christmas.

The game started with Burnham-on-Sea dictating the pace with their big and powerful forwards making inroads in to the heart of the Ivel defence but some desperate tackling by Dan Long, Harry McHugh, Elliot Ryan and George Cameron kept them at bay. However, after 10minutes the Ivel defence was breach and the visitors went in under the post and deserved their lead.

This spurred the Ivel team on and the forwards started to up their game which produced some quick ball for the pacey backs to threaten the Burnham-on-Sea line. After some powerful drives by Sam Hulland, Robert Samways and Aaron Briatore the ball was moved down the line for Harry McHugh to be tackled just short of the line but Elliot Berryman picked up the loose ball and stretched over to score. The conversion was narrowly missed.

The second half started well for Ivel with centre Tom Shackell taking the ball up into the heart of the Burnham-on-Sea defence, which created the space for the ball to moved quickly along the line and for Harry McHugh to sprint in for a well worked try. Burnham-on-Sea really started to apply the pressure but some bone-crunching by Brendan Hawkins and Lewis Deverill kept the opposition out. Ivel’s fitness started to show as the big Burnham-on-Sea forwards started to tyre and this allowed the Ivel forwards to dominate in the scrum and lineout. The final try of the game came from an Ivel scrum, the ball was won and Elliot Berryman drove over the line for his second try.

Both teams need to be commended on the high standard of rugby played and the skills level produced; it was a pleasure to watch.

Score

Ivel 15 vs Burnham-on-Sea 7

Scorers

Harry McHugh, Elliot Berryman 2

On a cold crisp Sunday morning Ivel made the trip up the M5 to Western-Super-Mare to play Western Hornets. They were expecting a tough encounter as the last time the two met Ivel won the game by just a couple of points and they were disappointed.

The game started with the home team applying a lot of pressure on the Ivel outfit and some last ditch tackling by full back Carl Morgan and flanker Brendan Hawkins kept the Hornets out. After soaking up the pressure Ivel started to settle down and play some flowing rugby and made yards into the opposition half.

The first score came after a great double tackle by Elliot Berryman and Aidan Smith which allowed Aaron Briatore to rip the ball away and slip it to Harry McHugh who sprinted in to score. The Hornets side came straight back at Ivel and scored a well worked try of their own.

The Ivel forwards started to up their game and after some powerful driving runs by Sam Hulland, James Ruddle and Elliot Berryman the ball was popped to Carl Morgan who broke the gain line and sprinted in to score. But once again the home team broke through the Ivel defence and levelled the scores just before half time.

The second half started as the first finished with both teams playing some terrific rugby. The Ivel team were starting to dominate and after some great tight play by Dan Long the ball was passed to Henry Bowditch who glided past the Hornets defence to sprint in from the half way line to set up a tense finish.

The home team pressed for the equalising score and it came after some rare ill discipline form Ivel which allowed the ball to be moved to the Hornets wing who went over for a score.

This left the game on a knife edge and both teams went all out for the win but neither side were able to score the winning try.

A draw was a fair reflection of the game with both sides giving everything and playing some fantastic rugby.

Ivel are now looking forward to their encounter with Bath on Sunday.

Ivel hosted the might of Bath for the first time expecting a tough encounter and they were not disappointed.

The game started with Ivel applying the pressure on a well drilled and pacey Bath side and came close to opening the score but some determined Bath defence kept them out. The Bath team started to settle and put some lovely passages of play together and broke through the Ivel defence but Henry Bowditch put in 2 fantastic try saving tackles. However, the Bath pressure told and after some quick passing they went over for their first try. This was quickly followed by another two Bath scores but the Ivel outfit did not give in and kept pressuring the Bath team with Harry McHugh, Carl Morgan, Dan Long, Elliot Berryman and Sam Hulland making powerful drives into the heart of the Bath defence.

The second half started with Bath attacking out wide and some great tackling by George Cameron and Tom Shackell kept them out. They then changed their direction of attack and tried to come through the forwards but were held up over the line with Aaron Briatore, Dan Long and Robert Samways underneath the ball. The Bath team eventually managed to get over the line for a further two tries but once again Ivel kept going and Elliot Berryman was unlucky not to score, knocking the ball on close to the line and Harry Mchugh just held up short of the line.