By Nikki Dean

Archie Gurney

Yet another fantastic week for the Cheshunt U8’s! 4 Matches and 4 Wins!!! 

Cheshunt Lions and Cheshunt Tigers kicked off simultaneously against BERFC A and B and it didn’t take long for them to get into their stride. There was some excellent play across both matches with tries scored for the Lions from James Smith (4), Joe Sharp (4), Archie Gurney (2) and Sam (Iceman) Dervish (1), and tries for the Tiger from Samuel Gunkel (3), Cameron Manning (2), Thomas Diston (1), Conor McEvity (1), Thomas Street (1), and James Anderson (1).

 Final Scores: Cheshunt Lions 11 BERFC A 10, Cheshunt Tigers 9 BERFC B 8.

 The teams then swapped opponents and this is when Cheshunt really woke up, with excellent supporting play and some great runs, there were comfortable wins for both teams. Tries scorers for the Tigers were Conor McEvity (3), Samuel Gunkel (3), James Anderson (2), Joe Crump (2) and Thomas Street (1), while for the Lions, Sam (Iceman) Dervish (6), James Smith (5), Joe Sharp (2), Eoin Edwards (1), Archie Gurney (1), and Oliver Staines (1).

Final Scores: Cheshunt Tigers 11 BERFC A 6, Cheshunt Lions 16 BERFC B 14.

Come On You Green ‘n’ Whites.

Jack (Black) Staines

The Cheshunt U8’s long awaited fixture with Hertford took place this weekend, travelling to Hertford with two teams, Cheshunt Lions & Cheshunt Tigers. Hertford were able to field four sides, so it was agreed that the Cheshunt sides would play a total of 4 games each. 

Matthew Lawton

The Cheshunt Lions kicked off against Hertford 4th team and despite taking a while to get into their stride, eventually ran out 4-1 winners. Tries scored by Joe Sharp (2), James Smith (1) and Archie Gurney (1)

The Tigers kicked off at the same time against Hertford 5th team and were quickly into their stride winning by 8 –0. Try scores where Malachi Obe (3), Connor McEvity (2) Thomas Diston (1) and James Anderson (1)

The Cheshunt Lions & Tigers then swapped opposition with both teams winning their games. The Lions ran out 9-1 winners, tries by Archie Gurney (3), Joe Sharp (3), Nicholas Dean (1), Cameron Manning (1) and Eion Edwards (1). The Tigers were 8-1 winners with tries from Samual Gunkel (2), Oliver Staines (2), James Anderson (1), Malachi Obe (1), Mackenzie Obe (1) and Connor McEvity (1).

The Lions were then matched against Hertford 1st team and the Tigers against the 2nd team.

The Lions stepped up a gear and facing a very well drilled Hertford side defended like the Lions they are. Hitting Hertford with power and pace, they snatched the winning try in the last moments to run out 6-5 victors. Try scores were Archie Gurney (2), Jack Staines (1), Eion Edwards (1), James Smith (1) and Joe Sharp (1)

The Tigers playing Hertford 2nd team had a very close game and fought like tigers, holding on to a 2-2 draw. Try scores were James Anderson (1) and Oliver Staines (1).

Again opposition was swapped and now the extra games played by Cheshunt took its toll. The Lions took the Hertford 2nd team to the wire, but tired legs and dropped passes handed the game to a very good Hertford side who ran out winners 6-5. Try scores for the Lions were Archie Gurney (3), Cameron Manning (1) and Sam Dervish (1).

The same can be said for the Tigers who were playing Hertford 1st team, while playing some great Rugby, tired legs and missed opportunities gave another very good Hertford side a 7-5 win. Try scores for Cheshunt were Samuel Gunkel (2), Malachi Obe (2) and Mathew Lawton (1).

The final tally: Played 8, won 5, drew 1, lost 2. Come on you green and whites!

Cheshunt Under 9's

Sunday saw the Under 9’s get back on track in their games against Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead.  The strength in depth of the squad certainly showed and despite several of the team unable to make the day we still put out 2 sides, with both Hemel and Stevenage fielding one team each.  The 1^st two games saw one team easily beat Stevenage with the other losing narrowly to Hemel.  Two further games then saw a convincing win against both Hemel (4 tries to 1) and Stevenage (9 tries to 0).

George Kingswell led the forwards with some excellent direct running, Jack Gunter also turned over some excellent ball with his work in the mauls.  James ‘The Tank’ Davis continued to make some excellent tackles with Teddy & Callum benefitting from the turn over ball with some excellent runs and tries. 

At the end of the match the team received their medals and trophy from the Barnet Festival which they have now won 2 years in a row.

By Pippa Brown

Proud In Defeat

Game 1: Cheshunt 1 – Letchworth 8

Cheshunt Under 10's v Letchworth

A strong Letchworth side took on the Cheshunt Under 10s on Sunday in sticky conditions.  With great speed and good passing Letchworth scored five tries in the first half despite some great tackles by Alan and Ryan.

The second half saw some good driving by Cheshunt but a wide pass gave Letchworth the chance to score another try.  After another two tries by Letchworth a maul saw Alan rip the ball from the opposition and put in a run down most of the pitch with Letchworth hot on his heels, to score a try.

Game 2: Cheshunt 1 – Letchworth 6

In the second game Letchworth again showed their impressive speed and strong defence and only gave Cheshunt one opportunity to gain points when a pass to Max gave him the chance to run down the wing and score.

Despite the final score, coach Ricky said how happy he was with the kids’ performance as every one of them had put in 100% .  Tyler’s driving along with Luis and Max’s battles for possession were noted, as was the passing by Douglas and Ferdy.  Ellie was mentioned for impressive tackling on some big opposition and Olli’s tactical play and running into space earned him a mention.  Alan, the newest recruit to the side with only two week’s experience runs like a pro and Man of the Match went to Ryan who, despite being one of the smallest on the pitch, made the best tackles.

3rd November 6.30pm mid-week training.

Game One

Datchworth 4 – 2 Cheshunt, Captain – Luis

With full squad, including two new Cheshunt players, the Mighty C’s turned up at Datchworth on Sunday for some exciting rugby.  After a quick try by Datchworth, Luis ripped the ball off the opposition and raced away to score a try.  A fine tackle by Ellie followed by some excellent defensive play created a turnover giving Ellie the opportunity to score a Cheshunt’s second try.  Jay put in some fine tackles but was unable to prevent a try by Datchworth.  Adam was put on in the second half to gain his first match experience and showed good strength in possession.

Despite a valiant effort by Luis and some good driving by Douglas, Datchworth scored a further two tries Leaving the final score 4-2 to Datchworth

Game Two

Datchworth 2 – 3 Cheshunt, Captain – Matthew

Hope of a rebound was given an early blow when, in a repeat of the first match, Datchworth scored a quick try from the off.  A good throw-in at the line out saw Max pass to Olli whose quick feet took him cleanly past the opposition and across the line to pull back a score for Cheshunt.  Datchworth fought on and scored another try, however a long and determined run down the pitch by Matthew was rewarded with a decisive put down of the ball.  The second half saw Ellie and Matthew put in some powerful drives over the ball helping Cheshunt retain possession.  Douglas, Tyler and Max worked hard in the scrums and Cheshunt’s defensive line stayed strong to keep Datchworth at bay.

This hard work paid off with a further try by Matthew giving Cheshunt a well deserved 3-2 victory over a good opposition.

With only a month of rugby under his belt Man of the Match was awarded to Jay for his awesome tackles.  A special mention should also go to the two new boys, Adam and Ferdinand for a great effort.

Team:  Tyler, Olli, Ellie, Douglas, Max, Matthew, Ryan, Jay, Luis, Ferdy, Adam

Cheshunt Under 10′s welcomed Bishop’s Stortford to Rosedale for their first home game of the season.

Cheshunt Under 10's v Bishops Stortford

Luis was captain for the first of two games.  He led the team by example scoring 2 tries with another scored by Oliver that was created by great supporting runs from the whole team.  A good defence meant Cheshunt only conceded 2 tries leaving the final score 5-2.

Luckily the rain held off for the second match which was well captained by Ellie.  This game was a much tougher contest than the previous one with the Cheshunt players having to work together and battle hard for their scores.  This team effort allowed Ryan to cross for two with Ellie, Max, Louis and Oliver getting one each.   Cheshunt had to put in some excellent defending to hold off some awesome attacking play by Stortford to win the match 6-5.

Cheshunt battled hard all morning and long awaited wins were well deserved.  Player of the day was Luis.

Cheshunt Team v Bishop’s Stortford C’s: Ryan, Luis, Ellie, Maxwell, Oliver, Douglas and Matthew.