Haslemere U9s take 2 teams to Camberley Tournament

The Haslemere Tigers played their first tournament of the season. For a number of players, it was their first ever tournament, for all involved it was the first experience of tackling boys who weren't their teammates.

The inexperience showed in the first match against Old Reigatians and Haslemere was quickly down 1-5 at half time. Coming back on we saw good straight running and tackling especially from Ed Jackson and Lee Soar allowing Haslemere to hold Reigate to a 2:2 draw in the second half thanks to 2 more tries by Ralf Winson. Final score 7:3 to Reigate.

Haslemere came out much better focused in the second match against Dorking. Some great tackling, passing and running; particularly from Ollie O'Regan who was denied a try on the line by a very good tackle after a long solo run.The match was even at half time but Dorking pulled away in the second half and won 5:3 in the end. Try scores by Ralf Winson (2) and James Christie.

Haslemere showed further improvement in the final match against Camberley. Leading for long parts of the match.Good support running and positioning by Kurt Brodersen who kept the ball alive and lots of enthusiasm, good tackling and strong running from Lewis Turner and Oscar Rhodes. Haslemere were unlucky that Camberley managed to tie the match with a minute to go. Final score 4:4. All tries scored by Ralph Winson with some great support work by Henry Bellingham.

The draw in the final match meant that Haslemere came third in their pool. Haslemere was due to meet Guildfordians for a play-off match but the opponents had already gone home, in fear of the roaring Tigers. Therefore giving us third place overall in the ‘B’ tournament of 8 teams - a fantastic result!

Men of the match went to Ralf Winson for a superb first try scoring performance at a tournament and James Christie for brilliant tackling. Special mention should also go to the efforts of first-time tournament players Cameron Sly and Owen Cosier.

Overall a great team performance, the boys really got it by the end the day, they all now know what it takes to win a game and still have fun. The attitude of all the boys in the Tigers was fantastic, they never looked beaten, were always willing to go again, and were smiling the whole time - easy to forget that it rained all day and we were all wet and cold. As usual the U9 parents were brilliant, we applaud your staying power which helped boys and the coaches keep up a great sense of humour. Thanks also to coaches Jeff Soar and David Rose for their tactical and motivational work (“tackle, tackle, tackle”).

Jens Brodersen / Jeff Soar / David Rose

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Haslemere A's battled hard through the relentless rain yesterday at the Camberley festival.

We got off to a slow start against Dorking conceding 3 tries in the first half. However, second half we came back through some hard tackling particularly from Ben Bysouth and Kai Phillips-Mateo. This resolute defence conceded no tries and created a platform for Dylan Beesley to push through all of the Dorking defence to score the try of the tournament. Miles Huffam showed some great scrum half skills which he continued throughout the tournament. Final score 3-1 to Dorking.

Our second match against Old Ruts was again hard fought and we won with 2 tries, by Jamie Steele and Kai Phillips-Mateo. Tackling was fantastic from Jamie Steele and Ben Cruttwell, resulting in Old Ruts not getting on the scoreboard. Great running from Ben Poole, Ollie Henton and Jacob Scotson with Freddie Pendlebury and Miles in rotation at scrum half. Final score 2-0 to Haslemere.

Third up was Sutton & Epsom, by now the boys were feeling the effects of the weather. Despite some heroic tackling from Jake Power, we ended up with three players off the field with injury and we couldn't stem the tide. Freddie Pendlebury and Miles Huffam tried to maintain the structure of the game but the Sutton defence was resolute. Not even the pace of Will Connolly and Jacob Scotson up the wings yielded a try and we finally lost 7-0.

The last game was against the hosts Camberley. Everyone took to the field during the game showing great spirit and determination. Despite going close on a couple of occasions the ball wouldn't go to hand. Plagued by knock ons and turnovers against a well organised Camberley we lost 5-0.

Lots of lessons learnt and plenty to review at training next week! Overall the first two games showed how we should be playing but the weather was perhaps the deciding factor for us in our last 2 matches today. We finished 4th out of the five teams.

Men of the tournament: Jamie Steele and Ben Cruttwell for their determined defence and straight running in attack.

Guy Bysouth / Al Beesley