Morley U14s win Pocklington 7s tournament

Morley were able to take 20 players to Pocklington, fielding two sides, showcasing the size of their squad but also the commitment and willingness to take part in the festival.
After the previous years tournament there was more of a commitment to not only take part but also to focus on winning the tournament. The format was a round robin whereby everyone played each other once and the top two played off for the trophy. Obviously this meant the finalists would play each other at some point and in doing so Pocklington beat Morley by 2 tries to nil. With the games only 10 minutes long it doesn't give much time to assess each other, but enough for the next game. Morley were undone by two very good kicks that turned the team around but on a heavy sticky pitch, not too easy to turn around and as a result two soft but well executed tries were scored.

For the final Morley had one plan to ensure they moved up on Pocklington at pace at every opportunity and in particular Connor Macmillon being given the task of man marking the Pocklington No.13 as he was their play maker,making sure he didn't get any time to look up once he had the ball. The final was 20 minutes unlike the 10 minute robin matches. Morley started the game going down the sight slope and showed their intentions from the off, the forward line of Freddie Lambert, Josh Self and Toby Calvert hitting the tackles hard, getting straight back up and hitting the next play hard. The Morley side is small in comparison to Pocklington, but fit and mobile and with the added intensity put Pocklington under extra pressure and errors and penalties came from this. Unless the ball was hooked clean and quick, scums were always going to go Pocklingtons way and with the first scrum going Morley's way, deep in the Pocklington half, there was half a chance. Scrumhalf Kyle Marsh collected the ball, dummies to pass, and with a nice step and burst of speed went for the gap. The defender in an attempt to stop Kyle gave him a blow to the face, but with utter determination and knowing there was a clean run to the line, Kyle ran towards it and fell over the line to score after just 2 minutes. However the blow received was enough for Kyle to be removed from the game with concussion as he lay motionless for a few seconds on the floor with the ball beneath him.
This was a blow for Morley, their captain and play maker leaving the field after 2 minutes. Morley didn't let this effect them, especially knowing that their biggest and fastest player was then brought onto the field of play. With a few adjustments in playing positions Morley continued like there was no change. Morley dominated the game, Connor Macnillan was keeping the Pocklington play maker very quiet, Mac Walsh was was smashing everything that tried to come around the outsides, James Ley was the save hands as normal getting the ball out from the rucks with pace and accuracy. Several times the ball came out to Nathan Wood and with his pace and size took some stopping, keeping upright and offloading to the ever present Toby Calvert who then pushed forward keeping Pocklington scrambling their defense. The team had decided themselves to spread the ball left then right then left in attempt to tire the big Pocklington team and the heavy pitch, and their plan seemed to be working.
The second half was similar with everything being given by everyone, epitomized by Freddie Lambert who was brought off and collapsed having given everything he could. Joe Knox came on, fresh legs having been rested for two games following a minor leg injury. Morley upped the intensity still further, the tackling was brutal at times and with the support of the parents and other squad members it lifted the team and they responded. Pocklington lifted their game and each small breakaway by Morley was stopped just as they looked like they could be torn apart, Pocklington wanted this too. With some good kicking by Pocklington Morley were soon back in their half defending, but time and time again Pocklington were prevented from dominating the rucks with Joe Knox, Toby Calvert, Josh Self hitting the rucks so well. With the clock running down and the Morley boys sensing victory they began to quietly play the game in a safe way not giving the ball away or playing any fancy rugby. The problem area during the game had always been the scrums and with errors being regular by Pocklington it wasn't in Morley's interest for their to be scrums. In the dying seconds one last scrum and a switch to the open side of all their players brought an overlap for Pocklington, Mac Walsh read the danger and tracking across from the other side of the scrum, with Pocklington a few yards from the Morley try line he made a try saving tackle, a match winning tackle. There was no time to restart the game after this, Morley had secured victory and held out from the 2nd minute to secure a hard fought win.

It has to be noted that it was a squad victory. Without a squad you cannot have the correct number to compete in such events. How many teams bring more than one team to these events? The bigger the squad the more chance you have to bring together a nucleus of players who are adept for 7 aside, and how many of these events are there each season? Credit to all those that took part and for those that supported their team mates.