Malvern U12s at Luctonians Anglo Welsh Tournament 18/04/10
Apr
Luctonians Anglo Welsh Festival – Malvern U12s
Malvern won the U12s Plate competition at this year’s festival after qualifying from a tough pool that included the festival hosts and two strong Welsh sides. The disappointment of last month’s controversial Premiership Cup elimination was soon forgotten as the boys collected their winner’s medals and the silver plate to round off the season in style.
Pool Stages
In their first pool game Malvern faced Brecon who were U11’s finalists in last year’s festival. The Malvern pack immediately took control enabling Harry Robinson to break and make a fine forty yard run for a first minute try. Both sides had periods of domination in the first half but some dogged Malvern defending stopped Brecon from making a breakthrough. The game finished with Brecon kicking to make headway and this eventually paid off when they scored a late second half try to finish on level terms at seven all.
Next up were Pontyclun who went on to qualify for the U12 Cup competition finals. Malvern lost the game by fourteen points to nil but were by no means totally outclassed as they threatened to claw the talented Welsh side back with scoring opportunities in both halves of the game.
Malvern went into their third game against Bromyard needing to get a result if they were to qualify for the later stages of the competition. Undaunted by the added pressure, Malvern opened up with another first minute try as Harry Robinson received the ball from the kick off and ran it back to score. Bromyard soon came back with a try of their own as Malvern seemed to lose concentration but a try from Jack Curtis and a second from Robinson made amends.
Malvern made hard work of it in the second half and conceded two tries against the run of play. A classy move through hands by their backs eventually proved decisive as Ted Hill grounded the ball to give Malvern a twenty eight points to twenty one victory.
The final pool game against the hosts was not a game for the faint hearted as both sides set about grinding each other down. Luctonians got the edge when they scored a first half try but left the door open for Malvern when they failed to convert it. The second half was scoreless but hugely entertaining as Malvern made their physical presence known with Joe Wolfe making some huge hits in the rucks and the whole team defending with total commitment.
Semi Final – Malvern 14 Hereford 7
Malvern were tired but seemed to have grown in confidence after keeping their heads under extreme defensive pressure in their final pool games. Keeping that defensive confidence and adding some flair was enough to see them past Hereford as Harry Robinson scored two first half tries. Hereford pulled one back but they started the second half with all the pressure on them to score to get back into the game. It was a nail biting finish as Malvern once again absorbed everything that Hereford could throw at them to maintain their one try advantage.
Final – Malvern 14 Brecon 7
Having already met each other and drawn in the pool stages Malvern earned the bragging rights in this game as they tightened up the play and made Brecon work hard to get the ball out to their talented wings. The Malvern backs were also alert to the danger and made the crucial tackles that prevented Brecon from making big advances over the gain line. Malvern turned their possession and commitment into first half points when the ever present Harry Robinson once again broke through the chaos of a ruck to ground the ball.
The second half started with a second Malvern try grounded by Harry Robinson and Brecon responded with a score of their own. Showing tremendous maturity, Malvern kept on top the game for most of the half containing Brecon and thinking their way out of some tight situations. Towards the end of the game it seemed that Brecon might equalise as they camped on the Malvern line but once again Malvern were uncompromising in the tight defensive situations and they held Brecon off.
