Matlock Colts were in action last night in the inaugural u17 Rugfest 7s competition at Tupton RUFC. 10 u17s and 1 u16 travelled on a dry but cool evening including Joe, Brandon, Will N, Sam, Kyle, Danny, Jack G, George, Toby, Ben P and Callam.
The two other teams represented were Ilkeston and Tupton with Chesterfield a late withdrawal.
A round robin of games playing each team twice delivered the following results:
Tupton 0 – 29 Matlock
Matlock 39 – 5 Ilkeston
Tupton 0 – 34 Matlock
Matlock 36 – Ilkeston 0
The Matlock team were ferocious in defence, playing a 6 up flat and 1 sweeper system, not letting up an inch to the opposition, putting them constantly under pressure forcing rushed passes and knock ons.
In attack they kept to the simple game plan of pass, support and realign, only committing 1 man to the ruck with the second nearest player acting as no.9 and getting the ball away quickly. Working to our strengths and getting the ball wide into the hands of the pace of Danny and Kyle played dividends with them scoring 8 and 7 tries each respectively. Also impressive was the kick off restarts where great chase often resulted in winning back the ball and ultimately the fitness and work rate of the Matlock players was just too much for anything the opposition could throw at them. A very impressive team performance with all the boys contributing effectively to the winning scores.