U9's shine at Christmas Cup

On a bright, clear mild day we welcomed Blackheath and Medway to the club to take part in the inaugural Christmas Cup. Blackheath it appeared may have been following a star to make their way to Beckenham when perhaps a sat nav may have been more helpful but when they did arrive it was straight into the a match against our festively named "Snowmen" team. The snowmen wasted no time in welcoming our visitors who felt the chill when we ran in a series of well worked tries. Strong running and excellent support play saw the Snowmen walk through the air and over the try line numerous times. In defence the tackling was strong and line speed excellent with Ollie R leading the way in not only tackling but pushing the opposition backwards towards their try line. As Dom blitzed though for a couple of tries it finished 7-2 and it was the Blackheath boys and girls feeling their arms were made of sticks. Next up for the Snowmen it was Blackheath 2 and again the snowmen put in another strong show to win comfortably against the Heath. All deserve praise although special mention to Ben who was good in the tackle and picked up a try. The final games for the Snowmen were against the two Medway teams who had some big players and strong runners. Again we shaped up well and I think edged the first one. The second I'm afraid I rather lost track of the score although it was close. Some good rugby on both sides although a bit too much bunching led to mention of Jerry's festive tablecloth coming out at half time.

I also managed to referee two of the games involving our "Reindeers" team and again was impressed with the recent improvements made. A strong second half display against Medway saw them turn the game round to sleigh the opposition (perhaps carrots were dangled at half time?). It was particularly good to see Henry Gore back in try scoring form. The final game saw the Reindeers up against Blackheath and it was the visitors who triumphed largely due to the efforts of one lad who was quick to say the least and who they gave the ball to every time.

Really good mornings rugby though and noticeable improvements from our last festival shows that practice and hard work does pay off. See you this sunday for more festive fun with our Christmas special training complete with santa, mince pies, mulled wine and best of all the grand prize draw!