Dorchester Rugby Football
Club. "Lions" U8's Team.
Last
Sunday morning we had the prize giving at DRFC. The Club was
packed solid with parents, children, and supporters. The event is
usually held outside, but this was not possible as our summer
weather had turned back to worse than any winter weather! Clive
Dibben started to report on the Lions giving them congratulations
on their general good conduct throughout the season and about how
proud we all are of them. However, they did start the season
relying far too much on a select group of mates to pass the ball
to and Clive commented that we must not rely on exceptionally fast
runners all the time.
Clive
then went on to do a tense and slow build up to the Player of the
Year, giving a prize to New Player of the Year to Haydn Smith,
then a prize to the Most Improved Player who was Julian Dale.
Player of the Year was then greeted with loud claps and cheering.
Ryan Solway became our Player of the Year by being, in Clive's
words, "the person who we would most like to play a game of rugby
with"!
After
this, all the Lions received a medal and, with some instant shock,
Dave Gregg the writer for the U7's and I received with thanks an
embossed hip flask for the writing up of the seasons play. This
we felt had been a privilege.
Our Lions played some exceptional matches and games of tag rugger over
the Easter Holidays. We also had a Rugger Festival that we hosted at
home. This included teams who came to visit us from a considerable
distance away. I know that "a few words can paint a thousand
pictures" and not the other way around. Time for our Lions, and
especially the parents, will have raced by far too quickly but we
will have the match reports to look back on with the DRFC Website up
and running, so that hopefully the match reports will be archived
forever.
Away matches played were against
Wareham and Bridport, held in very hot weather and kindly hosted
with grateful thanks for a match tea. Scorers that I have some
rough notes of were Haydon Smith, Christopher Ninham, Ben
Hargreaves, George Rogers, Nick Priestly, Christopher Williams, Charlie
Hitchcock, Ryan Solway and Zach. At the Home Festival Matches the other
scorers, not mentioned previously, were Sam and Julian not forgetting all
the other players who may not have been mentioned for their fantastic
support of the lucky scorers.
To end the season our Lions got a special mention from all the Coaches "Well
Done Guys!" The after Festival response was stunning. "A huge thank
you to everyone who attended supported and/or helped at today's festival. I
received loads of compliments from our visitors who all commented on our
hospitality, welcome and well run festival. Please can you pass on the
thanks to all the parents who helped in whatever capacity.
"Here, Here!!! Special thanks to every single one of the Under Eights.
The effort and commitment you put in was second to none. The fact that we
had only enough players for one team to do the work of two meant that each
and every one of you put in outstanding and courageous performances against
tough opposition - you were brilliant and played like real "Lions".
Giving the Coaches much to think about as we move towards the end of the
season and the "Player of the Year Awards". We hope you enjoyed
playing as much as the spectators enjoyed watching.. EVERYONE said what a
great day they'd had and how exciting the rugby had been. You
represented yourselves, the club and everyone involved with the Under 8's
with honour and flair and we are immensely proud of you.
Dorchester RFC Lions v Wimborne U8's. Away. 18th March 2007.
A gale force and bitingly cold wind welcomed us to Wimborne
RFC for Sunday's match, even some of the dust coming from the town was
getting in our eyes. Dorchester found themselves on a steep learning
curve with this rather large and very formidable opposition. We
played three matches, most of our players were out on the field all
the time and we attacked well; managing to score three tries in the
first game.
Dorchester still seem to look for their friends when passing the ball,
a phase that we will have to grow out of if we want to go back to
our past winning streak. By the third match our game was improving
with some good dodging play, but we left some unfortunate gaps for
Wimborne to make good use of running through them. We lacked the fast
removal of Wimborne's tags when they were running with the ball.
Scorers: Ben Hargreaves, Charlie Hiscock, Mark Palmer, Christopher
Ninham, and Ryan Solway. Thank you to Wimborne RFC for a good welcome
and very well deserved Hot Dog!
Dorchester RFC U8's vs Weymouth RFC U8's and Lytchett Minster RFC U8's
at Home.
Two exciting winter matches were played in good weather. Turning and
looking, using 'Rugby brains', helping the team go forward; coaching
advice to our very young players. Dorchester and Weymouth started the
first match with some fast play. Christopher Ninham and Ben Randal
scoring one try each in the first half. Ryan Solway and Ben Randall
scored a try each in the second half, which was not quite good enough to
make up some lost ground against Weymouth who managed to get
7 Tries overall.
In the second match against Lytchett Minster we lost 8 / 6. Good
tries scored in the first half by Johnny Reid 2, Christopher Ninham 2,
and a very good attempt by Christopher Williams to push forward and
touch down, unfortunately this was not given as a try. Carl Shears in
the second half scored a very brave try as by this time Lytchett
Minister had the upper hand over Dorchester. Lytchett Minster found
a special tactic to get around our pack, passing the ball long,
thereby scoring 5 of their 8 tries in this half and leaving us somewhat
demoralised, but still determined to fight on when the return match is
played!
Dorchester U8's Away, vs Blandford U8's. Dorchester U8's, Away vs Chard
U8's. Sunday 21st January & Sunday 28th January.
Two very successful away match reports that I have combined into one. My
son was not very well for one of these Matches. Dorchester
Lions
lived up to their new name with their first visit to Blandford
RFC. Scorers for Dorchester were Samuel, Nick Priestly, Thomas,
Christopher Ninham, and Ben Hargreaves who easily managed to score two
tries.
Last weekend's match location heralded another first time visit to Chard
RFC. The match started with a 7 to 4 win for our
Lions on
the first game played. Chard started the match smartly and this led up to
a perfect pass by Mark Palmer on the touchline and our first try of the
game was scored by Ben Hargreaves. Ben Hargreaves then scored another try
with some more exceptional and very fast running. Ben Randall then found
some good form scoring 3 tries for the
Lions.
Nick Priestly, lastly, made a very long and daring run to only just get
the ball down in time for a last try of this match. In the second match of
the day our Lions
found it harder and had to fight some longer battles to draw with
Chard 4 all. Our scorers were Christopher Ninham, Karl Shears, Mark
Palmer, and Ryan Solway. Both matches were refereed by the Chard Coach and
he was very kind and helpful; the rules of tag rugger are difficult to
interpret.
Dorchester Rugby Football Club U8's away vs Bournemouth and Bridport
U8's. Chapel Gate, West Parley, Bournemouth. 14th January 2007.
The U8's Coaches perfectly arranged the details of getting there and
perfectly on time for the matches played against Bridport and Bournemouth.
Bridport very nearly had to travel twice the distance and with a very good
turnout for a smaller club. Dorchester was split into two teams with a good
turnout and in rotation we played Bournemouth, and Bridport.
Winning a game we found it hard to do, but there were some extremely close
matches. We have to learn to keep possession of the ball, when required,
and to make long passes. Team play again let us down, but I am sure that our
luck will soon change as it has so frequently done before. Trying to cover
two matches at once was nearly impossible. However, I managed to find some
help and I have a rough list of all the scorers : Ben Hargreaves, Charlie
Hiscock, Thomas Cordery, Christopher Ninham, Nick Priestly, and Mark Palmer.
Some of the scorers got very much more than one Try!
Three matches played against Oakmedians. Oakmedians
Rugby Club have the most stunning setting and in the middle of the town.
Close, exciting, tag games were played. Unfortunately, we did not have a win
and were missing a few of our faster runners, which was disappointing. A
warm welcome must go to Mark Palmer who has just joined Dorchester
RFC and was welcomed by all his friends at Sunninghill School. Our Coach was
not in the least worried about the scores as the general playing was so good
but we did let through some easy Tries. First game 4-3, second 2-1, third
2-1.
Scorers were Ben Randall who was man of the match with the scoring
of several very good Tries, Thomas Cordery, Ben Radall, Nick Priestly, and
Christopher Williams who made a long run dodging Oakmedians for
the corner. His Daddy got over excited on the touchline and was lucky not to
have a heart attack! Thank you to Oakmedians
for the match lunch of sausage and chips in the Bar and a drink. It was most
welcome.
Dorchester Rugby Club U8's vs Sherborne U8's & Castle Cary U8's away at
Sherborne. Sunday 26th November 2006.
At
Sherborne RFC. In some appalling weather conditions we left Dorchester for
Sherborne, we thought all our Matches would be called off. However the
weather brightened up and the two matches went ahead.
The first match against Sherborne we lost by only 3 Tries. Ben Hargreaves
held our team together by fast and evasive running to score three
Tries. The second match unfortunately we lost to Castle Cary by a narrower
margin of only two Trys. Our proud scorers were Ben Randall, Ryan Solway,
and Ben MaCreevy.
It
is with regret, but with kind regards and possibly some hidden
jealousy that we say good by to Luke Bradly and his family, a marked Nos
8 player for Dorchester who now goes off to a new future in Australia.
Dorchester Rugby Club U8's vs Weymouth U8's & Swanage U8's away at
Weymouth. Sunday 19th November 2006.
At
Weymouth RFC. An exceptionally exciting winter programme of Tag Rugger
for the Dorchester U8's has got fully underway, unfortunately my internet
connection is not as exciting, with my reports drifting off unrecoverably
into cyber space.
The Matches played at Weymouth consisted of a Training Theme for the
Dorchester players, it is to try and understand more fully the Rules, Club
Play, and having fun, all at the same time!
Unluckily the first game against Swanage ended very badly lost. Swanage had
the upper hand throughout, but good Tries by us were scored by Ben
Hargreaves, Charlie Hiscock, and Haden Smith. In the second Match against
Weymouth we did a little better with some exceptionally fast running by
Christopher Ninham. The other scorers for Dorchester were Ben Hargreaves,
Ben Randall, and Luke Bradley.
Dorchester Rugby Club U8s
vs. Lytchett Minster Club U8s, 5th November 2006.
A
superb, crisp, Autumn spell of sunny weather for last Sunday's away
game, bringing a much needed change of heart for the Dorchester U8's.
The U8's got the match under way, with a fast sprint by Christopher Ninham
to score.
Ben Hargreaves was
next score, with an extremely nice Try; then a straight feeder pass by
Christopher Williams, going directly to Christopher Ninham who placed the
ball smartly down making the next Try. Team play, throughout the team, is
getting much better and with some exceptional discipline for their age.
This will add very much to the safety of the game, when they go on to do
some contact rugger tackling next year.
A disappointing Sunday Morning game for Dorchester, and the first ever match
in their lives that they have really lost!
The
Bournemouth team kept up constant pressure on Dorchester, with two
games played we were very lucky to score a single Try. Whether our
team was recovering from the Half-term Holiday or the refereeing by the
Bournemouth Coach was somewhat unfamiliar; no one will ever know. This was
a good lesson for very disappointed 7 Year Olds, not only in the difficult
art of loosing, but in how players conduct themselves when at sometime, and
inevitably, they have to face the prospect of loosing.
They did this properly and very admirably, with a loud three cheers to
congratulate the opposing team. All the Dorchester players maintained
their pride throughout. Parents cheered on our team by the touchline
and Dorchester U8s kept up a fight to the very end, although demoralised.
Hopefully, we can look forward to some better luck with next Sunday's away
game. Lytchett Minster 10.15. One good Try was scored by Thomas. A
disallowed Try was made bravely by Christopher N - unluckily his tag fell
off!
A
perfect Sunday Morning Training Session at the Dorchester Rugby Club came to
an end with an unexpected Home Match against Chard Rugby Club. The 7 Year
Old's and the parents (those who didn't know about the match) were surprised
by Chard's arrival. The Dorchester players were immaculately turned out so
there was no loss of pride, and we had an excess of players due to the
popularity of Dorchester and our slightly larger catchment area.
The
game started very well with Dorchester scoring some tries, then we seemed to
loose a little concentration and Chard started to score. Later in
the match, Dorchester got back their composure with a nice feeder pass to
score again. There was a lot of good humoured cheering on the touch
line from the supporters of both sides, and some very nice comments that
were overheard about the very high standard of the refereeing. Our
Dorchester Coach was the Referee. He gave all the players from both
sides a positive, and guiding, initiation into the most exciting game .
Scorers for Dorchester were George, Ben, Samuel, Nick, Julian
and Christopher N. Of course, they relied greatly on some good passing of
the ball!
