Shipston U16s win Warwickshire cup pool convincingly

Today we saw the best team performance we have seen from this young team. The U16s showed flare, great decision making and an absolute knack for hanging on to possession to take an impressive win.

Playing on the first team pitch, with quite a crowd gathered, the sense of occasion was palpable. Earlsdon looked a well drilled side and were physically well matched to our 16 men, with more firepower on their bench. With injuries and absences Shipston’s only sub was Timmy Briggs, who had played a really tough game on Saturday and has to be applauded for supporting his team mates and taking to the pitch today. The boys’ team spirit is incredible.

Early on the scrum was called into action and despite the Earlsdon pack being pretty sizeable the boys hunkered down and soon got the upper hand. The ball moved out and George Hendy at fly half broke through for a super breakaway try which he also converted.

Earlsdon came back at Shipston strongly and the boys defended well. Again the scrum was called into action and Shipston came up with the ball, passed it out to George Hendy who seems to see things two seconds sooner than anyone else. He once again cut through Earlsdon’s defence to score under the posts. He then added a conversion to his try to make the score 14-0.

Shipston’s confidence was high and they attacked from the restart. Earlsdon defended hard, they held a strong line and tackled well. Shipston maintained possession and went through the phases, at least seven, when finally Charlie Dews saw a gap and took the ball over the try line. George Hendy converted.

Earlsdon restarted quickly and flew up the pitch, their speed created a hole in Shippo’s defence and they broke through to score, with an impressive conversion from the sidelines to make the score 21-7.

Shipston U16s soon regained the ball and pounded Earlsdon’s line. It was great to see Sam Lewis back, making ground and tackling his heart out. He put pressure on the opposition full back, resulting in his grounding the ball over his own try line. Shipston were winning the territory battle. Penalties were given by both sides and the scrum was in regular action. Earlsdon started to look tired and Shipston kept up the pressure until sadly Zak Cooper banged his head on the ground in a tackle and sustained a concussion. His visit to A&E fortunately didn’t show anything sinister and he is off for a rest after a great run of games where he has bossed the scrum half and flanker positions. Half time soon followed, with both sides playing well, but Shipston having the upper hand by retaining possession and great teamwork.

Shipston played with purpose from the start of the half with Joe Painter, Max Morris, Alex Bradley and Devon Perry all making good ground. Then the front row union of Jonno Todd and Joe Painter broke through, Jonno charging down the pitch and after committing the opposition offloading to Joe who was not going to be stopped!

The game back underway Alistair McCallum, ever the opportunist, kicked a loose ball through, stormed after it, punting it through twice more before being cruelly denied a try by a tricky final bounce. Nonetheless he had taken the play deep into Earlsdon’s territory and Shipston worked the phases. Eventually Joe Painter broke through for his second of the afternoon. George Hendy converted from the far left of the pitch, he is a class act with both his boot and his gameplay. 33-7

Play restarted and Earlsdon showed some grit and determination, their play positive throughout. Then from a great tackle by Joe Painter, Jonno Todd took the ball and stormed through for a super try, converted by the ever dependable George Hendy. Jonno then caught the ball from the restart and took off again, he made it to the opposition 10 metre line and passed it out to Charlie Dews who took up the charge. He was caught just short of the line, Alex Bradley drove over and Jonno Todd picked up the ball to pop over for his second of the afternoon. 47-7

Only moments later Archie Wood flew down the pitch to score the final try of the afternoon and leave the final score and impressive 52-7

Shipston U16s demonstrated the power of teamwork, with every player, one through fifteen giving it there all. Every inch of ground, every tackle, every set move was contributed to 100% by these wonderful boys. They make us very proud.

Pete’s treats this week to Jonno, Timmie and Sam.