Team spirit shines through for Colchester youngsters (From Essex County Standard)

Team spirit shines through for Colchester youngsters

11:05am Friday 5th November 2010 in Colchester Minis

The team spirit of Colchester Rugby Club’s under-nines Saxons stood out in their games against Ipswich.

Colchester supported each other and put pressure on their opponents in a 15-0 victory and a 20-20 draw.

Scrum-half Joe Greenleaf linked up well with fly-half Will Gibson, with Sam Rigg, Jack Kelly, Dan McHugh and Louis Clements ready to receive the ball as it was moved wide and James Stephens played his best match of the season in attack.

Colchester were equally strong in defence as Rachel Hoddell and Aaron Geraghty were straight up on any Ipswich breaks and Dan McHugh dived at anything in a gold and black jersey, while Adam Wood hooked with determination Colchester’s under-tens B Squad travelled to Ipswich and received the tough examination that they expected, but they responded well with tries scored by Ewan Waters, Edward Romani, Joe Haines and Oliver Smith.

Sam Borges, Guy Hunt and Max Robertson also deserved a mention for their tenacity, tackling and excellent support play.

Colchester’s under-11s also visited Ipswich and returned with two wins and two draws.

The B squad played Ipswich B twice.

Louis Bettis made valuable distance, supported by Daniel Hughes and Scott Taylor in the first game, but the visitors were unable to finish their numerous attacks with points and, with Benn Dyson and Will Davies leading the tackling, the final result of 0-0 was a fair reflection.

The second match was also an even one, with Chris Goate making a fine scrum-half break to give Colchester the lead, but the hosts responded and the match ended 5-5.

Colchester’s A squad played the Ipswich A team twice too, winning both matches Despite Ipswich dominating the scrums and rucks, they were unable to make any headway against Colchester’s agressive tackling and two tries by James Hoddell and one each for Rory Burke and Ollie Hills gave a 20-0 victory. Colchester’s forwards played a much more controlled game in the second encounter and a 20-0 win was sealed with a brace for Jordan Milburn and tries by Rhys Smith and Ben Bouckley.

The under-12s Saracens won 5-0 and 4-2 against Ipswich A.

The tackling and the way the boys passed and played open running rugby was good, with Alfie Barnes, Alex Cambell, Nick Woodhead and James Deighton all scoring but all the tries were hard won and were all team efforts.

Colchester’s under-eights A team lost three games against Ipswich A, while the B team won one, drew one and lost one against Ipswich B.

While Colchester were solid in attack, the main difference between the teams was the defence.

Ed Lucking earned the man-of-the-match award after playing really well with some good tries for the A team, while in the B team, Alfie Grimsey and William Mabon played well.

Tries for the A team came from Lucking (5), Flynn Dalziel, Charlie Speck (2) and George Welsh, while Mabon (2), Grimsey and Zack Kadar scored for the B team.

See this week's Essex County Standard for more reaction and a round-up of all the local rugby action.