Crawley Festival

Following on from a tough week at the Midhurst festival, which was a bit of a shock to the system and of course new rules! The lads travelled to a Sunny Crawley and were drawn in pool c with Uckfield, Crowborough, Eastbourne and Hastings & Bexhill. The venue was perfect and playing conditions ideal for a morning of Rugby.

We opened against a well organised Eastbourne team that found it difficult to break the Shoreham side down. Some strong tackles and support play from our boys lead to a tight game, with only a couple of solo run away scores for Eastbourne just tipping it in their favour.
The second game was against a strong Hastings & Bexhill and possibly the strongest side in the group. Our lads battled well and held their own throughout the entire game. Shoreham stopped Hastings & Bexhill from running the ball and both sides were held up playing in the middle of the pitch for most of the game. Towards the end, tiredness crept in but it was a strong cohesive display.

The last two games for Shoreham were when the boys were able to really display their true potential. Crowborough were up next and had plenty of pace that had to be contained. There were also some big hitters in the middle of the pitch that our boys handled well. The tackling had been strong through out the day and the support the lads showed for each other in mauls was amazing.

We closed out the festival playing Uckfield and this was the most entertaining game of them all. The first half saw our lads really battle for the ball, with great tackles and some excellent runs down the wings. It was clear that in the first half Shoreham had edged it. The Second half Uckfield made some changes and came out of the blocks quickly nearly levelling the game. The Hams really held up the ball well and prevented a couple of scores. In the end the games finished all level and this was a fair reflection of the overall game. You could see that the lads were very pleased with themselves and are looking forward to the next challenge.

The lads made a big leap forward this week and are adapting to the new playing conditions. A couple weeks back on the training grounds to refine these new skills and they will be more than ready for the next game! The lads are really starting to gel as a team and working as one. What would really be nice for this bunch of lads is a team sponsor so they can all be attending in the same team wear. If you do know anyone please get in contact with us, or talk to the team manager.

Report provided by S Strange.
Photos provided by U10 parents.

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