SO NEAR YET SO FAR!!
On Saturday Medway under 8s headed off early to play in their Final ever competetive Tag match at the London Wasps Aviva St Georges Day Tag Rugby Cup.
With 32 teams involved along with blistering temperatures it was going to be a long and hard day, for both players and their parents.
The Medway Rascals were up against pre Cup favourites Marlow. And after a few heavy handed tactics Marlow began to gain the upper hand. the match was end to end but one or two small errors saw Marlow finish the game 3-0 winners.
Faringdon Black Backs, provided the boys with yet another tough test, but Medway stood their ground and got stuck in! Nathan Howells, Jacob Wearon and Jake Forrest crashed through on numerous occasions, before William Maycok went over to earn Medway an honourable 2-2 draw.
The final pool match saw Medway pitted against Abingdon Panthers, who relied heavily on two players. In a game that saw some odd refereeing, thus disjointing the game. Abingdon pushed forward, only to have the two Matts, Douglas and Barker tagging like demons, with Egan sharp picking holes in the oppositions defence for blond bomber Henry Saler and Jaimie Flanagan to go over for tries.
The match ended in another 2-2 draw which, saw Medway end up joint 2nd on 7 points, but due to tries scored Medway ended up in the Sheild QF.
The Quarter finals had Medway Rascals up against Canvey Island Rugrats. From the off Tom Aldous and Luke Flanagan worked an opening William Maycok to start the ball rolling.
With great tagging from Egan Sharp, Jacob Wearon and Nathan Howells, Canvey Island were force into making regular handling errors.
Medway finally got into their stride with a free running move and an tremendous try scoring pass from Matt Douglas for Henry Salter to score and make it 3-0.
Abingdon Lions met Medway for a place in the Sheild final.
After a tight couple of minutes,and lots of turnovers, Matthew Douglas weaved his way through to open the scoring. With Jake Forrest and Tom Aldous prominent in the tag Nathan Howells ran through for Tom Barnett to score Medways 2nd try. Nathan then had to come off with what could be a career threatening twisted ankle !!!
Tom barnett then made another super run for Egan Sharp to make the match safe 3-1. and see Medway into the final.
The final with Beaconsfield Bandits saw Medway lose two influential players, Tom Barnett suffered a serious head injury,due to the referee falling on his head, and then Jaimie Flanagan go over on his ankle. The injuries took Medways minds of the game and see them trail 3-0. after staging a fight back with tries from Matt Douglas and William Maycock. Medway went down 4-2.
The manager and all of the coaching staff want the boys to know how proud of them they are, and bring on CONTACT!!!!!!
Kent Festival
Medway's red team was pitched into a group with Leicester tigers(alias Sevenoaks),Old Colfeians and Maidstone.
The first game against Sevenoaks,saw a very tight game,eventually going Sevenoaks way
5-2. Medway were drawing level until the last couple of minutes, but a couple of pressurised errors saw some breakaway tries giving a slightly flattering scoreline.
Good tagging by all members of the team and two excellent tries from Kyal Wardle,
Match 2 saw another tight game,with Medway drawing 4-4 against Old Colfeians.Medway were always behind in this game until a last minute try earned them a draw. Theee team played better as the game went on,with two tries from Miles Archer,one a piece from Eliot Nye and Will Maycock and great tagging from Henry Salter and Kyal Wardle.
Medway gained their first win of the tournament against Maidstone,the team started well and grew in confidence as the game went on.The team performance was enhanced by great tagging from Matt Barker,Miles Archer,Jacob Wearon ,Nathan Howells and Sam Burge.Medway went on to win 7-4 ,with tries from Eliot Nye 2,and one each for Matt Douglas,Miles Archer,Sam Burge and Egan Sharp.Special mention goes to Matt Barker,who made an interception and ran almost the whole length of the pitch to score:thus showing his Dad ,Dan,at least one of the Barker men can run a full lengthof a pitch !
The results meant that Medway would play Whitstable in the 3rd place quarter final.
Unfortunatley for Medway it was a game too far for them,a couple of near misses ,and despite some good support Whitstable deserved their 4-1 victory .
Some great tagging from Nathan Howells,Miles and Kyal and a great supporting try from charlie Elliot were the highlights of the game.
Thanks goes to Rob,Glen and Trevor for all their efforts and a special well done to Oliver,a great effort to come and see his team play ,although not picked for this week.Well done Oliver !!!
Medway took two strong teams to the Kent Festival. The Reds were very unlucky in having such a tough pool, but the Yellows faired a lot better.
The first match for the Yellows was against Tonbridge Judds. The game started with the normal trade off of tries, but eventually Medway took the upper hand, with great tagging and some free flowing rugby which saw Soloman Murdoch North, Zak Newstead and Jaimie Flanagan all shine. the final result Medway 7 T.Judds 3
Wholesale changes were made for the match against Old Alleynians. In came Theo Korniotis, Tom Aldous, Harry Rout and Jack Burrows.
In what was a very tight match, the scores were level going into the last minute where Jake Forrest, Jaimie and Luke Flanagan all combined to set up Tom Barnett with the winning try. Medway 4 O. Alleynians 3
A very experienced Blackheath side were next for our Mighty midgets!! In what turned out to be a very physical match with various players going off, from both sides. Joshua wellard came out head and shoulders above all of them keeping the ball and tagging like a demon! the match ended in a hard fought draw.
Medway 4 Blackheath 4
The Match of the Disapearing tags. Sidcup came up a more than confident Medway Yellows side.
Medway took the game to Sidcup with Soloman, Harry Zak and the twins all prying to get that first try. After going over twice to discover that they had been tagged but no tags to be found so had their tries disallowed. Medway finally went over to take a two nil lead at half time. The second half saw Sidcup press and some missed tags ment Sidcup drew 2-2. the match then went end to end with the match finishing in a draw. Medway 4 Sidcup 4
The draw meant that Sidup could still go through to the final if the drew with Old Alleynians. With a strong Medway Backing from the sidelines OAs triumphed by beating Sidup 5-3. Medway were in the Kent festival B Final
In the Final Medway came up against Aylesford, who last year beat us in their Shield final by a referees error, so revenge was in the air!!
In what proved to be one of the best games of the day with both teams trying to play tag rugby as it should be played, lots of commitment but still loads of flair on show.
The match ebbed and flowed with Theo Korniotis finishing a move that started at one end and finished with him going over for the try.
Harry, Jake, Tom, and jack came on to help the cause, with moments remaining Medway went over for what the fans thought had been disallowed, but then the whistle went and Medway ahd won!!!!
Medway 4 Aylesford 3
CONGRATULATIONS TO MEDWAY YELLOWS U8S WINNERS OF THE KENT FESTIVAL B CUP
Old Colfeians Festival
Having a large player base, Medway sent two teams to the festival, the only club bar the hosts! Unfortunately illness struck the camp, leading to the loss of at least 6 players, meaning the Reds & the Yellows would be down to only 1 or 2 substitutes for the whole festival.
The Medway Reds
The Reds got off to a cracking start against Bromley in their first pool match. An immediate turnover gave them a shot at the try line, only for them to overrun it! Fortunately this would not prove costly as good straight running & great interplay with slick passing & support gave them an important 2 try lead and they eventually ran out winners 8-5.
Next up was Old Colfeians, and home advantage was evident as Medway were disallowed 2 tries. Soon the Reds were down 2 tries, but the momentum swung back their way and they scored just before half time. The second half started were they left off and Medway soon pulled level with more great passing. The match was soon end-to-end & Medway managed to gain a 4-4 draw, scoring with the last play of the match.
The final pool game was to be against the unbeaten Sevenoaks. Not to be intimidated by the fast pace & slick passing of Sevenoaks, the Reds pushed them all the way, and despite fatigue setting in & Sevenoaks having a greater number of players to draw on, Medway narrowly lost 8-7. A tremendous effort!
So the Reds came second in their group and into the Plate semi-final.
Here they were pitched against Old Elthamians, and even though there were good passages of play from Medway, with some great passing & hard running, they were unable to cross the line, losing 7-0.
The last result did not bear a true reflection on the fantastic play the Reds had shown throughout all their games.
The Medway Yellows
The Yellows started against Westcombe Park and immediately were put on the defensive. Unfortunate loss of the ball in “contact” enabled the opposition to race into a 2-0 lead. Superb defence kept Medway in the game & the second started in the best possible way with a great try from the restart. This gave the lads confidence & with constant pressure exerted on the opposition, Medway clawed their way back and gained a well deserved 4-4 draw.
A local derby against Gravesend was to follow, and the Yellows showed good support play for their opening try. Medway again put the opposition under good pressure & some hard running kept the in touch with Gravesend. Unfortunately some tough refereeing decisions meant the Yellows lost 9-7.
The final game was against Tonbridge Juddians (who, like Sevenoaks, were unbeaten). The first half proved hard for the tiring Yellows, who despite good supporting play were unable to score a try. By half time they were 3-0 down, but the boys heads didn’t drop & an early try got them back in the game. More stout defence kept them in touch with one of the best teams and the final score of 4-1 to Tonbridge was a very respectable outcome. (It was in fact the lowest number of tries Tonbridge scored in all their matches.)
These results meant that the Yellows were into the Shield semi-final against Sidcup.
This was another close game, with great passing between players & good supporting play. A pounce on a loose ball enabled a break away try & sent Medway into a lead that would not be surrendered, the Yellows winning 6-5 and were into the final.
The Shield Final against Bromley was to be another tight game. The lads ran their socks off with good passing & solid tagging, but unfortunate turnovers gave Bromley the upper hand and the Yellows narrowly lost 4-2. Though they were bitterly disappointed, they could hold their heads high.
Both teams showed great potential, and with a full squad they have the capacity to push on from this tournament and show even more promise for the up coming Kent Festival.
A big Thank You should go to Andy, Rob, Glen, Trevor & the other helpers, for the way they have developed the players over the past year into a tight knit squad who play with great team spirit & pride.
Medway Festival Under 8’s 3rd October
Welcome back to a new season and the report of our first festival – at home. With such a rich resource of talent to call upon Medway put in two full squads, with a mix of new and experienced players in each. Medway Red (MR) was coached by Trevor and Glen took control of Medway Yellow (MY). With so many more in the squad this year it looks like a competitive season ahead for places.
Some of the boys had competed the day before in a National Schools Touch competition and had managed to make the final. So they were in good form going in to the Medway Festival.
The weather had been predicted to be awful but it was good enough first thing to get the competition off on a dry note. It didn’t last!
MR was first up against Sittingbourne. We started with some tenacious and aggressive tagging from the start. Straight away we had a try, then another as our players broke up the opposition and forced their way through crowded and disrupted opposition. MR was playing aggressive and straight, and the tries were coming thick and fast. The last try was a peach, a real individual effort from one end to the other. We won 6-0.
MR then came up against Whitstable. We started with a fine individual effort, one up straight away. Whitstable came back at us, and as the pressure mounted Whitstable created three tries in very short time, all coming from penalties given close to our line. Not sure the ref saw the play the way we did. Medway wasn’t out of the game though and we came back at them with a superb personal try through the ranks of the Whitstable crowd. But alas they scored again and we finished off with a really good team try. We lost 5-3.
MR played Gravesend next. Gravesend hit first and hit hard, they played straight and fast and passed off the ball quickly. We were caught in the headlights a bit and were down 3 tries in no time and our play started to break up. The second half brought some discipline back to the team and some gutsy and determined play got us back into the match with a try but again their straight line attack caught us out and we were down again. Fighting back we finished strongly and got another two back before finally losing 5-4.
MR then played Upminster. By then the rain had begun, the wind got up and our tent began to blow down. One down straight away; one all; one down; two all and so it went on till we got to 6-4 up. All our tries came from battling attacking through a forest of opposition. Upminster got back to 6-5 and then in last play, bad luck, a simple knock on and they got back to 6-6 and so no final place for MR.
MY started off against Aylesford: This was a tight game as you might expect. Tries came at regular intervals with Medway trying to keep their
spacing and working in pairs to take the ball forward. But Aylesford had the same in mind but with the luck of some missed offsides which hindered our play a lot and it was difficult to play to our game plan. We were very unlucky to come off worst, losing 5-4. A special note goes to Lorcan who acquitted himself very well in his first match for Medway.
MR then came up against Sevenoaks. This is usually the team to beat and are perhaps the best drilled unit on display at the festival. In no time at all they went 3 tries up by simply playing forward and off loading and continuing to pressure our team. But the spirit of the Medway team was not to be broken that easily and we got one back. Even when Sevenoaks scored again Medway was still pushing forward with some great tagging and were breaking down Sevenoaks disciplined play. At the end of the day, however, we lost 4-1
MR then played Barking. We were looking to get some justice for our earlier losses and Barking were unfortunately under strength owing to an outbreak of chicken pox. Medway seized the opportunity and took poor Barking to the slaughter. Try followed try and the game was over as a competition very early. We won 8-2.
Next up was Maidstone. Medway were on a high and confident but Maidstone were a stronger opposition and we had to get back on track and try to get back to our more disciplined approach of earlier matches. Maidstone ensured they kept up with the scoring and the match remained tight. We had to rely upon some really strong individual play but the character of the team was good. We won 5-4.
In the final draw, neither Medway team made the final but both came close, each finishing in 3rd place in their respective group. Consequently MR and MY played off against each other for the Bowl/ Plate. Never good to have one side play another and by that time the weather was awful, wet, windy and cold, the mud was becoming a problem and our tent had collapsed completely! The game saw comrade against comrade and was played in excellent spirit. In itself it was a great spectacle and one that typified rugby, played competitively, but for the fun of playing. In the final there was a number of individual tries, missed tags, slipping and sliding, cold fingers and what seemed like the early introduction to contact rugby for some! MR bashed their way to victory 6-3. Well done to Glen and his team.
I note of appreciation go to Theo and Luke who played for Sittingbourne and Matthew Douglas (no doubt they will be making an offer for his services full time) and Jack Burrows who stepped in to play a match for Barking.