Cobham C Festival - 4/11/2007

Festival WINNERS !

All boys played out of their skins yesterday and can all be justifiably proud, I don’t like singling out specific individuals generally but the try-saving tackle by Dennis Houston in the final against Cobham must surely stand out as the definitive moment of the day. Well done Dennis and keep up the good work…….just work on those high tackles!

Match stats as follows:

Match 1 WIN Teddington: 2 Sutton & Epsom: 1 Tries from Boxall and Houston

Match 2 WIN Teddington: 1 Cobham: 0 Try from Orchard

Semi Final WIN Teddington: 2 Chobham: 1 Tries, a Wilson-Pierce brace

Final WIN Teddington: 2 Cobham: 1 Boxall and Griffiths


Nick Timms

Grasshoppers 'B' Festival - 4/11/07

WINNERS

A wonderful performance by all the boys with great passing and solid tackling. Overall we scored 24 tries with only 4 scored against.

The backs (David Cecil, James Davies, Alex Anderson, Jonathan Hammond and Greiogair Hogg) displayed a fluid passing game giving our speedy wingers (Josh Day and Aaron Patel) the ability to show their pace, often to devastating effect.

The forwards (Stephen Rac, James Bentley-Fox, Thomas Bywater and Myles Dean) were impressively physical, especially in the semi final game against Finchley which was probably our toughest.

The final was the usual tense affair with Grasshopper’s fast runners having to be constantly repelled. At the prize giving, Teddington’s “boys and girls” were congratulated on their victory! Josh Day, with his long flowing locks, went forward to receive the trophy and the announcer corrected his earlier mistake.

Pool game. Grasshoppers Barbarians. Won 6-0 (try count stopped at this point)
Pool game. Ealing. Won 5-1
Pool game. Farnham Won 4-0
Semi final. Finchley. Won 2-1
Final. Grasshoppers Won 5-2

Report by Stephen Jones

Etihad Cup - 3/11/07

Squad: Benjamin Archer, Henry Clark, Archie Jones, Callum Sirker, Archie Dupree, Frederico Pasquali, Sam Barton, James Gawn, Emmanual Galan, James Viney, Thomas Holland, Nicolas Furrer, Jack Stockham

Playing on the Craneford Way pitches the boys played 2 games each against Upminster & Dorking - the first game against Dorking was a tight game but Teddington ran out good 2 nil winners. Next after only 5 minutes rest came Upminster - we competed well against their big forwards and after a good start they came back and the game ended 1-1. Our second meeting with Dorking was the boys best performance of the day with very good expansive rugby resulting in a comprehensive 4 nil win. To come out top we needed only a draw against Upminster - our head coach told the boys to spread the ball wide to the wingers and out run their large forwards - after a good start and going 1 try up we unfortunately forgot the game plan and kept running into their defence - aided by a couple of even larger subs, Upminster went on to equalise and score the winner just before the final whistle - a good effort from all the boys and we have to wait to see if we qualify for the next round.

Season 2007/8

Chobham A Festival - 14/10/2007

Congratulations on the First Silverware this Season

The squad who played were as follows:-

Alex Anderson
Ben Archer
Myles Deane
Manny Galan
James Gawn
Ben Harrison
Archie Jones
Josh Nagle
Frederico Pasquali
Stephen Rac
Ben Seddon
Callum Sirker

Results were 5 wins out of 5: -

v Chobham 2-0 (Anderson & Pasquali)

v Guildford 2-1 (Pasquali & Seddon)

v Wimbledon 4-2 (Anderson, 2 x Pasquali & Archer)

v Reeds 2-1 (Anderson x 2)- Hardest match being 1 nil down at half time!

v Tunbridge Wells 5-0 (Anderson, 2 x Pasquali, Gawn & Nagle).

Fab day with glorious weather & thus enjoyed by all including the parents!
All kids played their parts not just the try scorers.
Steve Anderson

Ealing B Festival 14/10/2007

This was our first visit to this large festival – Ealing host an A and B festival in parallel.

We were in the B festival, sharing a small pool with Richmond and Harpenden.
Our first game was against Richmond, and it seemed that too many of our squad had stayed up late the night before to watch England beat France in the World Cup semi-final. We were slow and sluggish; Richmond drove us off the ball in 4 scrums in the first half, and stole the ball from the rucks that we set up. Things improved a little in the second half, and we started asserting ourselves in the scrums (though not winning the ball) and driving over in the rucks. On the positive side, our tackling was good, and Richmond beat us by only 2 – 0 (they went on to win the final, beating Ealing 6 – 1).
There was a long gap before the next game, and we used the time profitably in practising scrums, rucks and (against all received wisdom) mauls. It paid off. In the first half of the game against Harpenden we won our first scrum of the day, and followed it up by turning over the ball in a ruck. Tries by Aaron (a lightning-fast strike down the wing) and Jack (a Chabal-like charge through the middle of the Harpenden pack) saw us take the lead. In the second half we managed to hold on to our lead in a strong defensive effort that included pushing Harpenden 25 metres up the pitch in a maul that they had set up. Final result 2 – 1 to Teddington.
Our last game was against Bank of England, who were second-placed in the other pool (they had beaten Ruislip and Grasshoppers by sizeable margins). We started strongly, with improving scrummaging, rucking and mauling, but BoE got the first try. Jack managed to get one back before half time and another in the second half. BoE made a determined attempt to level up, and although Teddington were hot and tired they managed to hold the defensive line and the game finished with the score at 2 – 1, putting Teddington in 3rd place overall. Medals were awarded to the top three places, so the boys came away with a memento for their efforts.
In summary, a good day – not only a satisfactory result in a festival, but also a day in which the team learnt some important lessons about support and working together in rucks and scrums.
And finally, it was Jordan’s first festival, and he didn’t disgrace himself at all – hopefully the start of a successful rugby career.
The team:
Sam Barton
Nick Furrer
Tom Griffiths
Aaron Patel
Thomas Bywater
Jordan Wilson-Pearce
Greiogair Hogg
Jack Stockham
Toby Orchard
Jonty Carpenter
Ollie Skyrme
James Doyle

Report by Heini Furrer

Cobham B Festival - 07/10/07

It was a great morning after the night before and all the boys were excited following England’s victory.

We came up against a good Guildford side with some big forwards and we soon found out how Australia felt as we struggled in the pack and had very little ball. Archie Jones played out of his skin and put in some great tackles. Regular problem of not much passing and trying to maul with the big boys and sadly ran out losers 2-1.

Second match was Effingham and we made hard work of a 2-1 victory – our forwards performing a little better….which set up a semi final against Reeds.

The Semi was a step too far for us and again we struggled to win our own ball – Archie Dupree stepped up to the front row and acquitted himself well. We lost 3 -0 and went home in time to watch Sa vs Fiji.

Barton Sam
Bentley-Fox James
Cecil David
Clark Henry
Deane Freddie
Dupree Archie
Gawn James
Hammond Jonathan
Holland Thomas
Jones Archie
Proudhon-Smith Elliot
Rac Stephen

Chobham B Festival - 30/09/07

Players

Henry Clarke, Stephen Rac, James Bentley-Fox, Thomas Bywater, James Davies, Thomas Holland, Jonnathon Hammond, David Cecil, Oliver Skyrme, Josh Day, Thomas Boxall.

Unusually started very well with a 2-1 win over Chobham, all set for a good day. (Captain Holland - Scorers Clarke, Davies)

Talked ourselves out of the game versus the Upminster Giants 1-4 loss. (but I don't think many sides scored against Upminster) (Captain Davies - Scorer Cecil)

Back on track against London Irish but silly mistakes meant we drew 1-1. (Captain Rac- Scorer Boxall)

Silly mistakes and not waking up for a few minutes meant we lost to Rosslyn Park 0-1 (Captain Skyrme)

After a long day and a bit of a chat everything we've ever taught came together and we beat Sutton and Epsom 4-1 (Captain Bentley-Fox - Scorers Rac, Day, Cecil, Hammond) (you see we use the height advantage)

I think we came joint third in a pool of six, not bad for a first attempt and the frustrating thing is we could have beaten all the other sides if we had been awake earlier in some of the games and not talked ourselves out of Upminster)

Andy Brooks

Cobham A Festival - 30/9/07

Just a brief festival report and congratulations to all the boys who played yesterday in the A squad at Cobham and where they became runners up to the host team Cobham.

In the pool matches we beat Sutton & Epsom by 3 tries to nil followed by a win against Camberley 4 nil and then in the semi final won against Reeds 3 nil.
Not to concede a try in the matches was magnificent and both Reeds and Sutton provided fierce competition. Then onto the final we lost 3 nil but to a very strong Cobham team and that was no disgrace particularly as their first two tries were in the first half & were break away tries when we close to their try line. The boys kept going throughout the final almost scoring a try, therefore a real team performance. Due to the fantastic participation of the squad of 12 players, I would not want to pick out any individuals but instead I shall name them all (not in any order):

Manny Galan,
Josh Nagle,
Fred Pasquali,
Myles Deane,
Nick Furrer,
Ben Seddon,
Ben Harrison,
James Viney,
Alex Anderson,
Arun Patel,
Callum Sirker and
Ben Archer

WELL DONE YOU ARE NOW SCRMMAGING WELL, PASSING AND PLAYING AS A TEAM.
Report by Steve Anderson