Now the Ashford RFC Under 14s

From today the team is renamed the Ashford RFC Under 14s. The new season's match report archive has already been set up. This is the last post on the Under 13 blog.

Ashford RFC Under 13s Match Report 16th April 2006

Ashford youngsters get vital seven aside experience

Deal A 7 – Ashford U13 A 7
Deal B 7 – Ashford U13 B 5
Deal A 32 – Ashford U13 B 0
Deal B 0 – Ashford U13 A 29

Ashford prepared for the forthcoming Kent 7 Aside Festival with a series of warm-up matches at Deal. Deal were hosting a day of celebrations to mark the merger of the Deal and Betteshanger clubs. The Ashford U13s provided a series of curtain-raiser matches before the final match between the two Deal club sides.

Ashford’s squad of 15 players were split into two teams to face a combined Deal and Betteshanger side of mixed U13s and U14s. The Ashford A side drew their first match 7-7 before going on to winning their second by 29 points to nil. Ashford’s scorers for the A side were Grant Noremac with 4 tries and Chris Albrow, and Adam Batt with a try apiece. Chris Albrow, Rory Beech and Louis Burdon also managed a conversion each.

The Ashford B side took the lead in their first match with a try by Tom Collins, before losing 5-7. In their second match and short rest meant they had little time to recover before losing 32-0 to the Deal A side.

This weekend Ashford U13s send a squad of 12 to the Kent sevens festival at Canterbury.

Ashford RFC Under 13s vs. London Scottish

Ashford RFC Under 13s Match Report 9th April 2006

Ashford youngsters win at the illustrious home of the Scottish Exiles

London Scottish U13s 21 – Ashford U13s 32
With the school holidays under way Ashford were missing a total of 12 boys – 9 of which have made regular appearances in the starting line-up – for the long trip to Richmond. The Ashford forward pack had an improvised look about it, with wing forward Glenn Caton moving to No.8 and taking on the mantle of pack leader and vice captain for the day.

London Scottish are a club with an illustrious history. Not to be intimidated, Caton had the Ashford pack fired up from the off and early forward pressure saw prop Danny Herriott crash over to open the scores on 6 minutes. Ashford resumed the pressure on the restart when the ball was spread wide and winger Gareth Jenner was bundled into touch just 2 metres short. Ashford then camped on the London Scottish 5 metre line. When Scottish spilled a lineout, prop Tom Collins snapped up the loose ball and fed hooker George Sladden, who dived under a pile of bodies to score Ashford’s second try on 11 minutes.

At this point, Ashford inexplicably allowed London Scottish to take the lead when soft tackling saw the exiles score converted tries under the posts on 17 and 20 minutes. Shortly after, normal service was resumed when first Jenner and then Herriott scored tries which gave Ashford a 20-14 lead at half time.

The second half was a much tighter affair than the first. The Scottish half time team talk appeared to have focussed on nullifying Ashford’s superiority in the forwards. Despite the Exiles’ efforts, on 29 minutes, lock George Woodrow burst from the halfway line and sprinted over to open the second half try scoring. Just 4 minutes later, Ashford took a ball against the scrum-feed 60 metres out and moved it to outside centre Grant Noremac. Noremac showed his power and pace to arc around the Exiles’ defence and dot down under the posts. This time the try was converted by Louis Burdon.

With 12 unanswered points in 8 minutes, Ashford now had a 32 – 14 lead and again allowed their concentration slip. Following a series of tap penalties, Scottish broke through to score a third converted try. The score forced Ashford to regain their concentration and allowed the boys to earn themselves a highly creditable win.

Player of the week was Danny Herriott

Ashford RFC Under 13s Report 19th March 2006

Normal service resumed

Whitstable U13s 5 – Ashford U13s 70

Ashford fielded an experimental line up for this fixture. Several key players were rested including the team’s captain and vice-captain. New to the team was debutant Max Anglin, stepping up from playing for the Under 12s. Max played a solid game at both scrum half and fly half and fitted well into a back division that always had the edge over their opponents.

Ashford’s game plan was to spread the ball wide and avoid over exploiting their strength in the pack. Despite windy conditions the boys rose to the task and scored a total of 12 tries and 5 conversions to secure a 70 points to 5 victory over their East Kent rivals. Nine of the twelve tries came from the back division.

Four boys registered a brace of tries each; Grant Noremac, Aiden Moss, Danny Herriott and Adam Batt. Others to make the try scoring sheet were Billy Stevens, Gareth Jenner, Harry Atkins and Gavin Norman. Daniel Head scored 5 conversions.

Player of the week was Cameron Veitch.

Ashford Under 13s Falter in Kent Championship

Match Report 12th March 2006

Despite a tournament scoring record of 43 points for and none against, Ashford RFC’s Under 13s were eliminated from the Kent rugby championships on Sunday. With two wins and a draw to their credit, Ashford were eliminated in the quarter finals by 4 goals to 3 in a drop goal shoot-out.

With a season’s record to date of 20 wins from 21 matches, Ashford were seeded no.1 in the tournament’s draw. They got off to a bright start scoring 38 points in their opening match over Medway.

Sadly, in the second match, things started to go wrong. Ashford faced an Aylesford side, ranked 17th in the tournament, and a side over which they had scored a combined 92 points in their two previous meetings this season. From the whistle Ashford lacked sparkle and their normally confident backline conspired to drop or knock-on an inordinate amount of ball. Several scoring chances went begging before scrum half Rory Beech scored the winning try in the 16th minute of a 20 minute match.

Despite the under performance, the two wins were sufficient to put Ashford through to the quarter final. Here they faced a Beccehamians side ranked 7th out of 8 qualifiers. Ashford had an easy route to the final, if only they could play their normal game.

Unfortunately, in the opening exchanges against Beccehamians, the Ashford forwards failed to really impose themselves upfront. With their backs’ misfiring, Ashford applied no real pressure on the Beccehamians line through the opening 10 minutes. A tendency to attack down the short side allowed Beccehamians to contain Ashford’s pressure. At half time an injury allowed the introduction of new forward Danny Herriott. Herriott’s physical presence immediately livened up Ashford’s approach and he was unlucky not to score, being brought down just inches short of the try line. On balance Ashford had edged the match territorially, but with the final score tied at 0-0 Ashford faced a drop goal shoot-out. Despite successful drop goals from Daniel Head, Ollie Best and Billy Stevens, Ashford lost by 4 drop goals to 3 and were eliminated from the tournament.

Beccehamians went through and will face Blackheath in the Kent final on 25th March. Despite a fantastic season’s record of 22 wins and 1 draw from 24 matches, and 880 points scored against 79 conceded, Ashford U13s must now seek other avenues to prove their calibre.

Ashford RFC Under 13s Match Report 26th February 2006

Déjà vu strikes as Ashford boys falter in county decider.

Ashford U13s 7 – Blackheath U13s 10
Unbeaten until this encounter, Ashford’s boys had a distinct feeling of déjà vu when running out to face current Kent champions, Blackheath. Having recently won encounters over Medway and Cranbrook, it was quite a shock for the Ashford boys to see several of the star players from those previous opponents turning out for Blackheath. According to the management of one of their former clubs, the boys concerned believe joining Blackheath youth’s section is a passport to Kent selection and greater things beyond.

Ignoring the illustrious provenance of their opponents, Ashford immediately went on the attack. When Blackheath knocked–on, Ashford No. 8 Christopher Albrow picked up from the resulting scrum and galloped 50 metres upfield and was hauled down just 5 metres short of the Blackheath try line. What followed was 10 minutes of sustained Ashford pressure. Blackheath were penalised at a lineout and Ashford tapped and ran. With the ball held-up on the try line, Blackheath again offended. Ashford tapped again and again the ball was held-up. Eventually, Blackheath broke out from defence. Wing forward Glenn Caton and scrum half Luke Ransley both left the field due to injury. Eventually the reorganised defence missed a crucial tackle and the Blackheath No.8 broke through to score a try on 22 minutes.

Despite being the dominant side for most of the first half, Ashford found themselves down 5 points to nil at half time.

The second half was as tense as the first and Ashford’s forwards again led the offensive. Several times Ashford went close to scoring, only for the ball to be turned over to the Blackheath backs who would break out of defence.

On 32 minutes Ashford’s pressure finally paid off. Blackheath called a 3 man line out on the half way line. The ball bobbled loose and tighthead prop Billy Stevens powered through the Blackheath defence from 50 metres out to touch down under the posts. The try was duly converted by winger Luke Chinnery, giving Ashford a 7 points to 5 lead.

Having taken the lead, a loss of concentration forced Ashford back on the defensive. The defence initially held out. But on 13 minutes two missed tackles saw the Blackheath outside centre score out wide. The conversion was missed and Ashford had 12 minutes to close the 3 point gap. Ashford continued to pressure the Blackheath line with wing forward Rory Beech and No.8 Albrow both going close to scoring. With the clock running down, Ashford drove to within 2 metres of the Blackheath try line before time expired.

In summary, this was a tremendous all round team performance. With players from the starting line-up and replacements all putting in a fantastic effort. Blackheath justified their narrow win. But the Ashford boys are ready for the rematch.

Player of the week was prop forward Billy Stevens.

Ashford Boys Seal 20th Successive Win

Ashford RFC Under 13s Match Report 19th February 2006

Dover U13s 0 – Ashford U13s 46
This was second time this season that the Ashford U13s had faced Dover. First time around Ashford scored an easy 65-0 home win. This time, for the away fixture, an experimental starting line up was selected and captained by lock Tom Healy. To give the newer boys more game time, several of Ashford’s more experienced players were stationed on the replacements bench.

Since the last encounter Dover had beefed up their forward pack. Rain and a heavy home pitch should have given them an advantage over Ashford’s lighter forwards. However, aggressive tackling meant that Ashford managed to edge the early close quarter exchanges and forced the play into Dover’s half. When, on 3 minutes, the ball went wide down the left, centre Gareth Jenner stepped outside his opposite number and arced around the defensive cover to touch down near the posts.

Five minutes later, from a midfield scrum, Ashford again moved the ball wide, this time to the right. Inside centre Grant Noremac broke through two attempted tackles to touch down close to the corner flag. Ashford’s territorial pressure was maintained throughout the first half and lock George Woodrow and Gareth Jenner added further tries. The half time score was 22 points to nil.

For the second half, Ashford introduced their more experienced players. Within two minutes of the restart, tighthead prop Billy Stevens gathered a loose ball and sprinted from half way to dot down under the posts. Just three minutes later, not to be outshone by a prop, stand-in fly half Adam Batt, spotted a gap in the Dover defence and also sprinted upfield to touch down from 50 metres.

As the rain became heavier, Ashford forced Dover deeper into their defensive 22 metre area. Only a slippery ball and inaccurate passing kept the score from progessing. Eventually, the pressure told on 38 minutes when Jenner again powered through the Dover defence to seal his personal hatrick of tries. And on 49 minutes Ashford’s forwards secured an opposition lineout throw. Adam Batt, who’d reverted to centre, scampered around the blindside and touched down in the corner to score the final points of the match.

Two conversions were kicked by Luke Chinnery and one by Harry Atkins. Player of the week was wing forward Glenn Caton.

With a season to date record of 20 successive wins and 830 points for to just 69 against, Ashford host Kent joint champions Blackheath next Sunday. This encounter will be the acid test of the Ashford boys’ progress.