Dover Under 13’s Rugby team at the Kent Festival – 7/3/10

Dover Under 13’s Rugby team at the Kent Festival – 7/3/10

The cold wind that blew across the Priestfields Rugby Ground in Medway all day heralded what would be a long and ultimately disappointing day for the lads. The lack of match / practice fitness (due to the recent months of terrible weather) contributed to a below par performance for the (normally victorious) team.

The boys could not live up to their heroic performance of last year (where they were championship semi-finalists) by losing their first two matches. In the first round robin game the team went down 19-7, with the try by Harry Sayers and conversion by Harry Yarnell being the only highlights for the sharks. The boys’ heads went down and did not back up again in time for their second and last group game, which was a 21-0 defeat. The forwards, led by Cian O’Hanlon, tried hard but the luck was not with them and the backs could not get through to score.

There was then a 2 hour wait. The Sharks boys team were entered into the knockout stages for the Kent Rugby Bowl and it was game on. The rest obviously did them good because they were unstoppable with a 38-0 victory over Maidstone under 13s. It was a far more impressive team game with the backs and forwards playing well. The ever imperious Sayers scored 4 tries in the game (all converted by Yarnell – his kicking boots were on today!) and 2 further tries were scored by Callum Smith - the second row forward had a very good game.

On to the Semi-final of the bowl, against Gravesend. It started well, where the last game left off with another good try by Jarvis Otto, playing flanker, which was again converted by Yarnell. There was then some non-existent back-line defence which allowed the opposition to equalise. All square by half-time and all the way through to the final whistle. The ruling was that the game should be decided by 22 drop-outs, (a rugby penalty shoot out). This was an unsatisfying way to end the game and resulted in Gravesend going through by 2 drop kicks to 0.