Nottingham U12 retain their 3 Counties title for 5th year in a row
Mar
Sunday 7 March witnessed a remarkable feat when Nottingham U12 retained the NLD Cup at Derby leaving them as undefeated Champions over 5 years in the competition since they won the inaugural U8 event at Trent College in 2006. And the day was further crowned by the Nottingham U12B team who won the Bowl competition in a day which saw them progress undefeated and deservedly travel home with a trophy and medals as testament to their hard work and to ease the disappointment for some of not having made the final cut for the A team.
The 2010 U12 tournament was to prove the toughest of all despite an outstanding display of rugby in the qualifying pool – the day started badly – initially the competition was put back by 90 minutes to allow the sun to thaw the frozen pitches, then with Joel Eatch pulling out before even getting to the warm-up with a damaged ankle, and with Gerard Milano arriving feeling unwell having been sick during the week the omens did not bode well.
However the good luck charm, in the form of Pierre Byworth (and his remarkably supportive mother Tash) who has been with the team all season despite a broken arm which will see him out until pre-season for U13, was there as always with his big smile and charm to cheer the boys on.
The first game against Scunthorpe saw the Nottingham team play some sublime rugby running in 6 tries to win 30-0. This is no detriment to Scunthorpe, fielding the tallest U12 at 5’10” and one of the largest props, who played some gritty stuff but just couldn’t live with the Nottingham side who would probably have beaten any side in the country on that form.
The second and final game in the pool pitched the team against local rivals Ilkeston – this is always a tricky match with a number of boys on both sides erstwhile team mates from Trent College – whilst ending in a comprehensive victory at 35 – 0 with their tails up from the Scunthorpe match, this was a less defined performance as the coaches ringed the changes to keep the squad as a whole fit for the final stages.
And so to the all-Nottingham Semi-Finals with Nottingham pitched against Newark and the most improved team in NLD, Southwell, drawn against Paviors.
Newark wanted this game massively having never beaten Nottingham through the various years of competition from as far back as U6 – and they wanted it BIG. Nottingham meantime were most definitely caught on the starting line as a big strong Newark XIII took up arms and proceeded to take the fight to them from the whistle and after a series of errors by Nottingham and a well taken tap penalty Newark breached the Nottingham line with a well taken try from their huge prop. In the reduced 7 ½ minute each way finals this sent Nottingham in to a uncomfortable period where they spent the rest of the game chasing it with a litany of errors and white line fever which had parents and coaches believing the dream was over and it was not to be. However, somehow, as the clock was ticking towards the final whistle, Nottingham launched a final assault down the right hand side scoring a try at the death which would see them progress to the final with the superior results from the pool. All credit to Newark who had every right to think their boys had done enough right up until that final moment when victory was cruelly snatched from them once again.
And so to the final where Paviors awaited having progressed by way of count back after a scoreless draw against an unfortunate Southwell team who probably deserved to return home with some silverware after an outstanding win against Stamford earlier in the day. Another local derby which was again something of a tense affair – both teams looked jaded after what was by now some 6 hours since arrival and both teams used all of their subs to try and keep fresh legs on the park. The shorter halves regretfully robbed the game of some of its sparkle again and it was Paviors who were left to chase the game after an early Nottingham score – by no means a classic, both sides gave what they had left and it was a typically hard fought contest which ended 5 - 0 with Nottingham successfully retaining their NLD crown – WOW! What an achievement for the boys some of whom have played in all 5 victories.
Well done all! – having arrived at 09.00 with kick off delayed until 11.40 it was a long day with the final not completing until 16.00 – a gritty performance despite too many errors and a massive achievement not to be underestimated.
Squad – Tobias Adams, Gabriel Calland, Luca Costante, Jacob Davies, Matt Davis, Will Hargreaves, George Major, Henry Mawhood, Gerard Milano, Ben Risman, Callum Painter-Heywood, Greg Ouseley, Kyran Powell, Jack Roper, James Wilkins, Jack Weedon, Jacob Wright
Coaches – David Calland, David Hargreaves, Tom Mawhood
Qualifier 1: 30 – 0 vs Scunthorpe
Qualifier 2: 35 – 0 vs Ilkeston
Semi Final : 5 -5 vs Newark (Nottingham progressed through superior Pool results)
Cup Final: 5 – 0 vs Paviors
