Under 11's Match Report of the Emerging Players Tournament at Winchester

The start was inauspicious: Winchester opened the scoring early in the first half of our opening match following a missed tackle, a familiar problem this season. In no way disheartened the U11s roared back led by a catch from the kick off followed by a 35m drive up the pitch by Ellie that brought her to within 3m of the opposition line; a move finished off by Margaux. The floodgates opened - two tries from 2 bullocking runs by Arthur suggesting more than 2 Weetabix for breakfast.
Result: Winchester 1: Fordingbridge 5

The second match against Overton was a strange affair. Some great attacking play with judicious use of the offload resulted in Fordingbridge leading 3:1 shortly after half time. The highlights of this period included Jack discovering the benefits of running forward at pace and Freddie driving forward strongly in to contact. Unfortunately, the collective foot was then taken off the gas and a series of missed tackles let Overton in to a 4:3 lead. At this point the team showed tremendous character and a team try – finished well by Seb but passing through multiple pairs of Fordingbridge hands – resulted in a draw.
Result: Overton 4: Fordingbridge 4

Trojans are a big club and did not disappoint, providing us with probably our toughest game of the day. This was a ‘proper’ game of rugby with strong competition at the breakdown, typified for Fordingbridge by a strong performance from Jed. Trojans opened the scoring but 2 scores from Fordingbridge, including another great team try down the R wing put us in to the lead. Not to be outdone Trojans came back strongly and a well-worked try resulted in a draw – a fair result for a game played in the right spirit and with great commitment.
Result: Trojans 2: Fordingbridge 2

Our final group match was against Fareham Heathens. Given their previous results we had expected to win this game but they initially proved to be harder to break down than anticipated. However, our handling and offloading game eventually proved too much. Sniping runs from Dom at scrum half and two well taken tries from Dan the pick of the play.
Result: Fareham 1: Fordingbridge 4

Our ranking match against Havant epitomised our style of play over the course of the day – strong attacking running, supporting runners and offloads aplenty. The four tries were all scored by Alex but most were the result of quality rucking and mauling with quick second phase. A fitting end to a proud day for all of our players and the parents supporting on the sideline
Result: Havant 1: Fordingbridge 4

My thanks as ever to the parents for bringing their children along through rain or shine, to Rachel for making sure that we are all where we need to be when we need to be there and to Steve for turning out players who performed so beautifully today