Cheshunt Rugby

By Jim Stanger

Sunday saw Cheshunt Under 16′s travel to play Dartfordians. Our hosts kicked off the 1st half. Reece received the kick and carried the ball well back into the oppositions half, before offloading to Daragh who also made ground before being tackled. For the 19th time this season Cheshunt’s Captain Connor collected the ball from the base of a ruck before side stepping Dartfordians defence and crossing the try line to give C’s an early lead. Ryan stepped up to the mark to successfully score the conversion. (0-7)

From the restart Dartfordians tried to apply some pressure and for the next 5min most of the play took place on the half way line, until C’s turned over a line out and Ryan carried the ball past the oppo defence to score C’s 2nd try of the day. (0-12). Once again Dartfordians pushed forward from the restart and a couple of missed tackles by C’s saw Dartfordians score (7-12). Some great defensive play by Alex, Will & Daragh saw Dartfordians kept away from C’s try line. However numerous small errors by C’s saw Dartfordians award penalties & scrums. Through out the match all C’s players made some great carries with the ball. Once again a quick pass from scrum half to Ryan saw him run in his 2nd try of the day and with him also successfully converting C’s lead (7-19). The match continued to be played between the 22m’s until C’s were awarded a penalty in Dartfordians half. The ball was past out to the backs and Will received the ball at Outside Centre to score C’s 4th try of the day (7-26) From the restart C’s seemed to switch off momentarily allowing Dartfordians to apply pressure in the 22m. Finally breaking thru to score (14-26)

Cheshunt kicked off the 2nd half and straight away applied huge pressure, with the ball being moved from one sided of the pitch to the other, until Reece broke thru to score his 1st of the day and C’s 5th. Once again Ryan stepped up to the mark to convert the try (14-31) sadly not for the first time during the match C’ switched off and allowed Dartfordians to come straight back at them to score (19-31). With Daragh’s kick off pining the opposition in their own half Cheshunt made a huge effort to stop Dartfordians scoring anymore points and a scrum just outside Dartfordians 10m saw Jordan pick & drive from the base of the scrum to cross the line, with Ryan once again successfully converting the try (19-40)

C’s continued to make some great runs with the ball and quick passing allowed the ball to be moved wide, which saw Charlie score wide out on the left wing. (19-45). With Dartfordians forwards becoming tied, C’s started to made huge impact in the scrums. Not for the first time C’s pinned their opposition back in their own 5m before Reece collected the ball from the base of a ruck to score his 2nd and Cheshunt’s 8th try of the day. Final score (19-52)

Joe, Aaron, Liam, Charlie, Antony, Jordan, Reece, Jed. Connor (Capt.), Daragh, Ryan, Will, Cameron, Alex, Dan, Darius, Z, Duncan

By Jim Stanger

Cheshunt U16’s played host to Ruislip ‘B’ on Sunday. Following torrential rain the pitch was sure to cut up.

Cheshunt Kicked Off and immediately turned over a Ruislip Ruck. With Cheshunt’s team now really bonded as one, C’s pressurised at almost all plays.

With poor conditions, handling errors were always going to be on the list today. However Ruislip showed how well they were drilled at scrums and didn’t lose one scrum all day. However some quick ball and powerful runs by C’s, saw Ruislip pinned well back into their own half most of the first half. As pitch conditions worsened you would of thought the forwards would of loved keeping the ball, however it was C’s backs that continued to find space and run with the ball.

20 min into the match say Ruislip awarded a line out. Jordan pressurised his opposite number which meant a poor pass. This was all Connor needed to kick the ball over Ruislip line before touching down to score his 18th try of the season.

C’s continued to pressurise Ruislip and a crafty clearance kick & chase down by Will enabled Reece to collect the ball from a maul and score C’s 2nd try of the day (10 – 0)

With Cheshunt taking a 10 – 0 lead into half time Ruislip kicked off the 2nd half.

Straight from the start C’s backs made some great powerful runs with the ball. Cheshunt were awarded a scrum deep into Ruislip’s half. A great Blindside move saw Jordan break thru o score C’s 3rd try of the day. With Ryan sadly still missing the conversions, the score remained at 15 – 0.

With condition now really getting poor, Cheshunt’s penalty count continued to rise, however Ruislip failed to take advantage of some sloppy play by Cheshunt.

C’s on the other hand were awarded a rare penalty on Ruislip’s 5m line which saw Connor take a kick Tap &  Go before offloading to Robert who crashed thru Ruislip’s defence to score under the posts. WELL DONE ROBERT! Great performance in your new position and more importantly Robert’s 1st try for Cheshunt.

Ryan stepped up to convert the try and C’s lead the match 22 – 0

In the last dying minutes of the match saw a loose ball pop out to Connor who offloaded a kick to Cameron out on the wing. Cameron’s pass and power was to much for 3 of Ruislip’s defenders and with Cheshunt’s 5th try of the match saw them win 27 – 0 .

Z, Aaron, Joe, Liam, Antony, Reece, Jordan, Jed, Connor, Daragh, Ryan, Robert, Cameron, Charlie, Will

By Jim Stanger

Sunday saw Cheshunt play Tring in wet & windy conditions.

Cheshnut Under 16 v Tring B

Tring Kicked Off and from the start tried to keep the ball away from Cheshunt’s pack. With neither side dominating most of the play took place in the middle of the pitch. Until a lucky bounce saw Tring rum in the 1st try.

C’s continued to use there big Pack to try to dominate & tire Tring, whilst Cheshunt’s backs continued to run through their play, whenever they had the ball.

Sadly a lack of concentration saw Cheshunt miss a few tackles, which allowed Tring their 2nd try of the day.

A great re-start kick by Ryan enabled Connor time to chase Tring down and charge down a defensive kick. Some great plays by Daragh, Ryan & Roberts saw Cheshunt’s backs keep the play in the middle of the pitch.

Cheshunt were awarded a scrum on the half way line and a good ‘box kick’ allowed Cameron to run down the Tring defence. Connor collected the loose ball and with the support of Cheshunt’s pack was driven over the line to score C’s first points of the day (18 min). Play continued mostly in the middle of the pitch until Darius & Aaron made a couple of breaks, which saw ‘Z’ take the ball over the line, only to have the try disallowed by the referee (tut, tut Richard)

HALF TIME

With some positional changes and the introduction of Cheshunt’s new play Dan onto the pitch, Cheshunt kicked off the 2nd half. With the muddy conditions meant ball handlings errors would occur which in turn saw the number of scrums increase.

10min into 2nd half saw Tring try to kick out of their own half, only to have Connor charge the ball down before returning it back under the posts to score both his & Cheshunt’s 2nd try of the day. Ryan stepped up and successfully converted to give Cheshunt 12 points.

Tring now began to pile on the pressure, but Cheshunt continued to play steady rugby even in the poor conditions and when Will broke thru Ting’s defence it seemed another try was on the score sheet. Sadly even with C’s pack assisting him, Will was unable to get the ball down.

As the pitch continued to get more and more muddy limps started to ache and mistakes started to happen. With the referee finally blowing the final whistle Tring ended the game 24 -12 winners.

Darius, Aaron, Joe, Liam, Z, Duncan, Antony, Reece, Jed, Connor, Daragh, Robert, Charlie, Ryan, Will, Cameron, Alex, Dan

By Jim Stanger

Sunday saw Cheshunt U16’s visit Saracens ‘B’ in their 5th League fixture of the season. Following on from the previous 2 league victories C’s were more than confident and kicked off the match in very windy conditions. Once again with SKY Sports in attendance (Lee with his camcorder), Cheshunt went immediately on the attack. Using some great pop work by the Forwards and the backs maintaining quick ball.

Cheshunt Under 16 v Saracens

Cheshunt pinned Saracens in the own half, which meant Sarries time after time where forced to kick out of defence to try to gain ground. However C’s continued to apply immense pressure onto the opposition and finally Sarries conceded a penalty in the own 10m. Connor took a quick Tap & Go penalty to break thru their defence and cross the line to score the first points of the match. With the high winds Ryan sadly was unable to convert the points.

With no improvement to the windy conditions C’s reframed from kicking and kept ball in hand even when clearing their own lines. Sarries continued to kick over and eventually where awarded a penalty in Cheshunt’s 5m line. Sarries took their opportunity and successfully converted their try to lead 7-5.

Cheshunt restarted the match by kicking deep and Sarries tried to adopt C’s tactics of running the ball out of trouble, only to be caught by Cheshunt’s fast defence. This meant that the ball was kept well away from Cheshunt’s own try line. Great runs  by almost the entire Cheshunt team set the tone for a fast paced match and with the luxury of an additional Prop it meant that C’s were able to keep fresh legs on the pitch. With this added bonus Cheshunt kept the ball live and continued to move the play from one side of the pitch to the other. A Ruck on Sarries 5m line saw ‘Z’ handed the ball and our Tight Head Prop drove over the line to score Cheshunt 2nd try of the day.

Straight from Sarries re-start Ryan collected the ball and returned deep back into Sarries own half. Quick offloads to Reece and Cameron saw Cameron score Cheshunt’s 3rd try and his 1st try for Cheshunt, with Ryan successfully converting the try Cheshunt went into half time leading 17 – 7

Sarries kicked off the 2nd half and immediately it was noticeable that they had adopted Cheshunt’s technique of keeping ball in hand rather than kicking over. However C’s were more than a match to each attend made by Sarries and in fact Sarries hardly broke into Cheshunt’s 22m through out the entire 2nd half.

A ruck on Sarries 22m line saw Connor spin the ball out wide to Charlie on the wing who ran the ball in to score Cheshunt’s 4th try of the day and more importantly secure a well deserved Bonus point.

At this point Cheshunt knew they had the win in the bag but at no time did they lose concentration or show any disrespect to Sarries, who are always a dangerous opponent and who continued to take the game to C’s. Due to the high amount of possession that Cheshunt had in the match it did however mean that Sarries were awarded quite a few Scrums. However this was no major problem as both Connor (Scrum Half) & Reece (Open Side Flanker) repeatedly caught the Sarries Scrum Half in possession of the ball.

Further quick ball saw Cheshunt start to take total control of the match with Darius, Jordan, Reece & Robert to name a few making some great power runs with the ball.

As the match drew to a close, Sarries applied some pressure and pushed Cheshunt back towards their own 22m. Connor cleared the Ruck with a long distance Box Kick, which was helped on its way by Cameron’s knee. Daragh ran onto the loose ball to score Cheshunt 5th try of the day. In the dying moments of the match Jordan was sadly denied a try after the referee declared his made a double movement. 

Darius, Aaron, Joe, Liam, Z, Duncan, Antony, Reece, Jordan, Connor, Daragh, Robert, Charlie, Ryan, Will, Cameron

Sunday saw the U16’s take a long journey over to South Woodham Ferrers. With no prior experience of the Essex team, we had no idea what to expect.

Under 16 v South Woodham Ferrers

SWF kicked the match off and both teams seemed evenly sized and experienced. The first few scrums saw C’s dominate their opposition but they soon managed to get the ball to their backs who with power & speed started to control the match and run in a couple of try’s that were also converted.

Cheshunt weren’t down hearted and continued to take the fight to SWF in the heavy conditions. Using the pack whenever possible. Back row players Reece & Jordan continually tackled hard, with Darius making his usual break thru runs. Sadly today was not going to be Cheshunt’s day and SWF continued to play fast ball and take C’s pack out of the match.

In the 2nd half Cheshunt started strongly and a scrum on SWF 5m line saw Jordan ‘pick & drive’ from the base of the scrums to power over the line to score his 1st try of the season and sadly C’s only try of the match.

Sadly whatever C’s tried to do to break thru their oppositions defence didn’t work and the match sadly ended up in a very heavy defeat for Cheshunt (57-5).

At the end of the day Cheshunt simply came up against superior opposition.

LINE UP:  Darius, Aaron, Joe, Liam, Antony, Jed, Reece, Jordan, Connor, Daragh, Robert, Charlie, Ryan, Will, Cameron

By Jim Stanger

Sunday saw C’s commence this seasons cup run. With SKY SPORTS showing the match (Sorry meant Lee using camcorder), things got off to a great start.

Under 16's v Ealing Jan 16th, 2011

Due too water logged pitches C’s were forced to changed their Home fixture to an away match at OA’s. With yet again another almost full squad turn out, C’s benefitted from a sub once again.

OA’s kicked off the match and almost from the off they witnessed a new Cheshunt Under 16 ethos. No longer a team that simply sat back and reacted to the opposition. The U16’s now go out and play to win. So there was no surprise when C’s took an early lead when Ryan successfully kicked a penalty. With C’s big pack dominating the forwards, OA’s where forced to utilise their backs which they did to great success and scored a try to lead the game 5-3.

With OA’s looking very dangerous every time their backs got he ball it seemed inevitable that they would score again. Not for the first time this season, once again C’s captain Connor intercepted a wayward pass by OA’s on the 5m line to return the ball the full length of the pitch to score his 14th try. With Ryan converting the try C’s lead the match 5-10. For the second week on a row Darius made some great power runs but sadly due to lack of support, the ball was turned over by OA’s.

Antony took a knock to his ankle and was forced off the pitch until half time. Just before half time OA’s managed to score a 2nd try to level the match 10-10 and managed to score a third just on the whistle.

The second half sadly saw OA’s begin to dominate the match running in a two try’s and one conversion, with C’s managing a second successful penalty kick the match ended 27-13 to OA’s

Darius, Aaron, Z, Joe, Antony, Jed, Reece, Jordan, Connor, Daragh, Robert, Alex, Charlie, Ryan, Will, Duncan

By Jim Stanger

Cheshunt U16’s acted as host’s to Ealing RFC for the first match of 2011. There was a delay to KO as even though it was a very sunny morning this also meant frozen pitches. So after much deliberation finally the League fixture kicked off on Pitch 4. As everyone knows NOT the most level of pitches. Sadly Ealing were unable to field a full front row, so it was agreed to play un-contested scrums from the off.

Cheshunt started by playing up hill in the 1st half and as everyone knows at Cheshunt there is quite a dis-advantage to playing up hill on Pitch 4 and teams never worry even if they are quite a few points down at half time.

Ryan kicked off for C’s and Alex made good ground up field to collect the kick sadly only to lose his footing in the muddy conditions. However this set the tone for the match and even wih C’s playing up hill they started to dominate their opposition. Another set play almost saw Charlie break through Ealing’s defence to score but sadly once again the muddy condition meant he was unable to use his full pace and was tackled by Ealing’s defence.

With C’s continuing to apply a lot of pressure, Ealing began to give away quite a few penalties and C’s captain (Connor) took a quick tap & go penalty 10m out from Ealing’s try line and took the ball over the line to score C’s 1st try of the match. Ryan stepped forward to successfully convert the try.

C’s continued to play some excellent rugby with everyone contributing to the play. Once again Charlie broke through on the wing and scored C’s 2nd try of the day.

As half time approached Ealing started to apply their own pressure and looked to of scored on the wing only for it to be disallowed by the ref for dropping the ball. With the half time whistle going C’s lead 12 – 0.

The second half kicked off and C’s now had the down hill advantage. However Ealing were not finished and started to apply some pressure to C’s. Well into C’s half Ealing floated a wayward pass and true to form once again Connor intercepted the pass to return the ball almost the fall length of the pitch to score again and once again Ryan stepped up to convert the try (19-0).

Cameron took a knock and this saw the return of Will from a long term injury onto the pitch

Darius then started to make some powerful runs and almost broke thru to score. This seemed to encourage the other forwards and almost saw Antony, Joe & Z go over the try line as well. However once again Connor intercepted a pass from Ealing to return the ball back down the pitch to score his 3rd try of the match but more importantly to score C’s 4th Bonus try of the day. Which once again was converted by Ryan to finish the match 26-0 and give Cheshunt a much deserved 5 points.

Darius, Aaron, Z, Joe, Antony, Jed, Reece, Jordan, Connor, Daragh, Cameron, Robert, Alex, Charlie, Ryan, Will