Results 2008-9

Sunday 1st February

Billingham 20 Durham City 35
Billingham 5 Durham City 10

25th January 2009

Match 1 Durham 50 – Sunderland 35
Match 2 Durham 50 – Sunderland 40
Match 3 Durham 45 – Sunderland 45

Sunday 18th January

Match 1 - Guisborough 15 Durham 35
Match 2 - Guisborough 10 Durham 35
Match 3 - Guisborough 35 Durham 65

October 5th

U7’s – Drew first game 20-20 (just U7’s) and lost second training match 20-10 (U7’s with some U6’s), both against Sunderland

Reports 2008-9

Durham U7’s Squad

Thomas Hetherington Captain
William Smith
Robbie Fyfe
Max Blackbourne
John Berriman
Niall Butler
Owen Thomas
Lewis Gilmour
Conor Dougall
James Maclaurin
Sam Pashley

Format for games was four groups, A, B, C & D, each containing 4 teams. Winners of each group to play in semi finals and then the winners of each semi final to play on the Kingston Park pitch at half time.
Durham were in group A along with
Northern B
Ponteland
Tynedale C

Durham v Northern B

Score 15 - 5
Owen 2 m
Thomas (2) 4 m, 7 m

Durham v Ponteland

Score 15 - 0
Owen 3 m
Max 4 m
Thomas 5 m

Durham v Tynedale C

Score 15 - 0
Max (2) 3 m, 4 m
Owen 5m

Semi-final

Durham v Morpeth B

5 minutes each way
Score 10 - 15
Owen (2) 3m, 7m

The group matches were all very similar, with all the squad putting in to practice what they have been doing in training. All the tries showed individual skills in making the breaks from anywhere on the pitch, support for players making the breaks, passing in tackles and passing before they were tagged to release players to score tries.

The try tally for the squad in the group stages was three each for Max, Owen, and Thomas. Max’s were his usual offerings, speed, acceleration, and amazing ability to evade the opposition before finding the gaps to run to the line and score a try. Owens’s were similar showing the same skill in evading being tagged but with a more direct route which was equally effective in getting to the try line. Thomas has showed us all, how important it is to support the player with ball, as each of his tries were scored from him supporting the player with the ball and finding the gap through the defence to score tries. Each player played their part; Lewis made telling breaks before he was bundled over before the try line resulting in a bang on the head that ended his part in one game. Robbie made good use of the ball going forward releasing the ball to others to keep the moves going forward.

Defensively we played very well, with no ground conceded without the opposition being put under pressure straight from the kick off, one person stood out head and shoulders above anybody else in all the matches and made more two tagged tackles than anybody else and that was the captain Thomas Hetherington. William and Niall patrolled behind the others to make numerous tags to stop the opposition in their tracks.

All the substitutes played their part, each one of them coming onto the pitch and contributing to the games with their passing, running and tackling. James our youngest squad member showed no fear in getting stuck into players much bigger than him, our smallest player John was probably the loudest on the pitch with Conor and Sam fitting straight into the team when they came on, keeping the team going forward and defending admirably, as everybody did.

Semi Final

This was a step up from the opposition we had played in the group stages. Each and every player stepped up their game. It was a close encounter, which we were unlucky to lose, conceding a try in the last minute, which to be fair looked like the player stepped into touch, but referee’s decision is final and we have to accept it.

We conceded a try after about 2 minutes but replied with a stunning individual effort from Owen to go into half time all level at halftime. Thomas had shown the same determination as before, and took his double tag tackles into double figures. Again all the players defended like demons. The second half started the same as the first with us conceding a try shortly after the kick off, again we replied in the same fashion with good handling between the players before it was released to Owen who went onto score his second try of the game to bring us level again. Max was treated harshly, being penalised for not passing the ball after a tag on two occasions, which if HE had been allowed to go on, I am sure would have changed the complexion of the game. On the other hand the opposition were allowed to continue playing in the same situation, one of which led to a try, but should have led to a turn over.
Overall, they was nothing between the teams and each deserved to win, just one team carried the luck more than the other. We took some consolation from the comments of the opposition coach who said their were unbeaten all season and we had given them they hardest game so far.

We should be and are immensely proud of the way the whole squad performed today. They all performed with courage, skill, determination and most of all pride, which I am sure made all the parents and grandparents watching feel very proud of their offspring.

Final word is from John and myself who would like to say a big thank you to all those that played their part in getting us to the semi-finals, you listened and carried out what we asked you to do and we could ask no more, you tried your best and on any other day, had we had the luck would have seen us in the final. WELL DONE. We would also like to thank the parents for their support and their help on the day I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

A final thank you to Sue Blackbourne who volunteered to keep score in all the matches


Sunday 1st February
Billingham U7’s v Durham City U7’s

 

Squad
Owen Captain (1st Match)
Thomas H Captain (2nd Match)
Will
John
Max
Niall
Sam
Sam H
Robert
Matthew
James
D'Artagnan

First, we would like to thank all the parents who turned up to support the team and the coaches in bitterly cold conditions.
Both games were play in the spirit the game should be played and both ended in tunnels being formed, opponents applauded through them, handshakes given and a loud three cheers for each team.
First match continued where Durham had left off the week before, excellent individual skills shown by a number of players, which saw Owen, Max (2) and Thomas (2) all get tries in the first half. The rest of the players contributed to a good first half with some determined tagging, excellent support work that allowed the tries to be scored.
Second half was a closer affair with Billingham getting to grips with Durham’s Triple attack force, limiting them to two tries, one each for Max and Thomas. Equally important though was the effort made by all the squad in defending the lead which saw last ditch defending on there own try line on more than one occasion that kept the score level in the second half to two tries each.

Final Score Billingham 20 Durham City 35

Second match was cut down in time to save the kids and parents from the bitterly cold conditions. Again credit to the kids for turning out and playing with such enthusiasm and putting on a short game that kept the parents interested.
Billingham took the lead, when Durham’s defence was breached early on. Durham responded in the correct way and were soon on the attack, resulting in a try for Owen. This was soon followed by a try for Tom, who took the glory after some excellent work in midfield that saw the ball exchange hands on a number of occasions before ending up with Tom who showed good awareness to support his fellow player and be in the right place at the right time to score the try.
Billingham pushed hard to draw level but their effort just came up short.
Great effort by both teams in both games.

Final Score Billingham 5 Durham City 10

25th January 2009

Durham U7’s v Sunderland U7’s

3 Matches
Hollow Drift
Captain’s Owen Thomas, Thomas Hetherington, Niall Butler

Match 1 50 – 35

Captain Owen, Max, Tom, Will, Robbie, Conor, Lewis, Niall

Neville Smith (Rookie Coach) made his debut as match coach, hoping to get off to a winning start.
Fielding a strong and experienced team Durham got off to a flying start with two unanswered tries and some excellent defensive work to block out Sunderland. Sunderland began to find there feet and soon had points on the board with some excellent free running which sliced Durham wide open to bring the scores level. This set the pattern for the rest of the game which saw both teams display some crowd pleasing rugby which saw Durham just edge to a narrow victory and give the coach the start he wanted

Match 2 50 – 40

Captain Tom, Andrew, Nicholas, D'Artagnan, John, Conor, Owen, Robbie

Experience took over from naivety in the shape of John Fyfe as coach for this match. The same could not be said for the team with debuts for Nicholas, D’Artagnan and Andrew. The game started opposite to the first match with Sunderland taking control of the first half and taking a 15 – 0 lead. Durham did reply but were still behind at the half time whistle.
Whatever was said in the interval seemed to work with Durham on the attack from the start, in a half that saw both teams swap try for try which eventually ended with Durham as the victors by two tries.

Match 3 45 – 45

Feeling confident after his debut win Neville took over for the last game from John, which turned out to be a mistake. Sunderland were now feeling confident and soon got the measure of Durham, scoring three unanswered tries in quick succession and defending stoutly forcing Durham out over the sidelines and into handling errors that saw the ball turned over to Sunderland. By the time the half time whistle went Durham were still behind by three tries 25 – 10. A masterstroke turned the game around with an unusual substitution that saw Neville replaced by John, whose tactics had turned the second half of the previous match to Durham’s advantage. John’s appearance had an immediate effect with Durham drawing level then taking the lead in the match for the first time. By the time, the final whistle had blown the teams were level, which reflected how the match was played. Honours even.

Thank you for all your support today.

18th January 2009

Durham v Guisborough

Thank you to those parents that made the effort to travel down to Guisborough at such short notice. The trip was well worth it with three matches being played and a chance to finally put our training into practice.

Durham’s Team
Max Blackbourne Captain
William Smith Captain (3rd match)
Thomas Hetherington Captain (2nd match)
Conor Dougall
John Berriman
Mathew Hunt
Robert Hunt
Sam Pashley
James
Lewis
Nicholas

Match one

Guisborough 15 Durham 35

Score flatters Durham, as this was a much closer match than the score suggests. Durham started the scoring after Max carved the defence open with a solo effect that resulted in the first try. This was followed by two tries for Guisborough showing good handling skills to go over in each corner. Durham then started to wake up, with Max again scoring a try after good work amongst the team, to free Max into the right hand corner.
Durham pounced on a handling error, which allowed Tom to take advantage and run the ball home for another try straight down the middle. Almost from the kick off Durham were pushed back by Guisborough only for Guisborough to drop the ball after some heroic defending by Durham. This time Durham could not take advantage and ran the ball out of play.
After another god passage of play, Guisborough forced the ball over the try line in the left corner. This turned out to be their last try of the match as Durham finally started to put all their training into practice and ran in three more tries to end the game as winners. Max’s tally for the match was five with others from John and Tom.

Match Two

Guisborough 10 Durham 35

This game followed the same pattern as the first match. Durham’s defence improved slightly in this game, with some excellent tags taking place all over the pitch to deny Guisborough scoring opportunities. Tom (I Will carry the ball in two hands) captain for the second game led by example and ran in three tries, supported by Conor, Max and Sam who all ran in tries.
Excellent team effort by all 11 players, who all contributed to a good all round performance.

Match Three

Guisborough 35 Durham 65

Both teams came out looking for the win, with Guisborough racing to a 15 – 0
lead. Once some tactical substitution had been made Durham soon got into the rhythm of the previous two matches and quickly took control of the match, with tries coming from all over the pitch, which included solo efforts but also so superb teamwork involving good handling skills that cut the opposition apart. Guisborough also played their part in the most exciting of the three matches, never giving up and keeping the crowd interested with their attempts to keep in touch, but Durham proved to strong in the end.

The account of the three matches is bias towards Durham as it was written by one of their coaches, who attempted to report the match as factually as possible but has employed a certain amount of artistic licence, as his attention was not always on the games

 

 

 

 

News 2008-9