Sunday November 21st 2010
West Hartlepool v’s Durham City RFC

Arrived in West Hartlepool with the pitches well and truly soaked with more rain due – it didn’t disappoint the parents on the sidelines!

A very good squad attendance allowed us to set up two teams, to play the two squads from West. Mixing the boys up from the County 7’s Tigers & Panther squads allowed the boys to team up with new players and their school friends in some cases!

Panthers Tom Hetherington, Nick Marsden, James Bowman, Luke Turnbull, Harry Weatherburn, David Gardiner, Jack, Andrew Calver & John Berriman

West Hartlepool v City Panthers score: 5 - 30

All the City Panthers delivered a solid defensive performance complemented by a good use of space and quick movement of the ball. Tom's intensity in attack and defence helped to put West on their back foot and combined well with strong forward play from Nick and James. Great quick ball from John, David's dynamic running and excellent link play from Luke, Harry and Andrew all helped to create try scoring opportunities, with great support from Jack.

City needed their strong tackling and good defensive structure to keep a lively West side contained and at times, the great last minute tackling and cover defence from City was all that denied West from more scoring opportunities. Considering the weather, a fantastic performance from both sides and many thanks to West for hosting us and having the space to get two U9 games on the go at the same time.

City Tries- David x 3, Luke x 2 & James.

Tigers: Max Blackbourne, Jonny Bushnell, Owen Thomas, Niall Butler, Felix Hawes, Jared Warby, Will Tomlinson, Mark Humphries

West Hartlepool v City Tigers score: 5 - 45

A powerful performance from Owen, coupled with the speed of Jonny along with the wonderful sidestep of Will and Max’s support play provided resulted in a great team effort and a win for the Tigers. Fantastic defensive tackling around the ruck & maul by all the City players and the attacking runs of Felix, Jared, Niall and Mark ensured that the City Tigers maintained the pressure and could take advantage of any turnover in possession.

A gutsy West performance throughout both halves meant that the City players had to keep alert and only through good communication in defence kept the West Hartlepool to just one score, although they threatened throughout the game. A fantastic team performance from all the City players resulted in the City U9’s taking the honours on this occasion.

City Tries- Jonny x 3, Owen x 3 Max x 2, Will 1