Results and Reports 29th October 2006
Under 10's
St. Ives 5 Northampton Old Scouts 25
In their first group match St. Ives were outclassed by an extremely pacy Old Scouts side. In the opening half St. Ives produced a strong defensive display to restrict Old Scouts to 2 early tries. As half time approached, a wheeled scrummage allowed Tyler Elstub to put Sam Hirons into a blind side gap. Hirons left the defence for dead with a classic outside swerve before outpacing the cover defence to close the deficit to one score at the half time break. Despite more strong defence in the second half and some evasive running from Toby Naylon, Old Scouts' strong running and superior handling allowed them to score 3 unanswered tries for a comfortable victory.
St. Ives 10 Banbury 10
St. Ives gifted an early try to their opponents as several missed tackles allowed the Banbury centre through to score. However they stormed back in style to level things up before half time. Daniel McManus drove into the heart of the Banbury pack. Nick Abbott cleaned out the ruck and Sam Kennedy was held up inches short as he followed up. A strike against the head from the resultant scrum allowed Tyler Elstub to dart for the line and Kennedy was again in close support to score a fine try. In the second half a missed tackle again allowed Banbury to edge in front but the Young Bulls stormed back again. Malcolm Maclean robbed the ball from the Banbury prop and set up Sam Hirons who burst through the Banbury back line to equalise. With moments to go Toby Naylon was again stopped just short and from the resulting ruck Hirons broke free again. As he crossed the try-line though the ball was knocked from his grasp. Despite further pressure from the Saints the final whistle blew before they were able to snatch a winning score.
St. Ives 20 Northampton Men's Own 10
In an evenly balanced contest, extra commitment from the whole St. Ives squad allowed them to snatch victory with a superb 2nd half defensive display. The first half began like the previous match with missed tackles gifting the opposing team 2 early tries. However as the game developed the St. Ives driving maul started to dominate, drawing in defenders before allowing Tyler Elstub to release the backs into space. Following good work by Chris Radbone and Malcolm Maclean, Sam Hirons narrowed the gap as he drifted through a gap in the defence to score out wide. Hirons evened things up before half time after Max Davies and Maclean had again created space. In the 2nd half some ferocious tackling repulsed the repeated attacks from Men's Own with Bernie Augstein and Jack Fleming outstanding. The driving mauls continued to create space and scrum-half Tyler Elstub exploited the space with typical sniping runs to score 2 outstanding tries and wrap up the game for St. Ives.
St. Ives 15 Kettering 5
A Tyler Elstub hat-trick won the final group game for St. Ives but the foundations were again strong driving play on attack and a fierce defence from the whole squad. 2 strikes against the head gave Elstub space to sprint clear and put the team 10-0 in front early in the second half. Kettering came back strongly and closed the gap with a well worked try in the corner. They then looked set to equalise after creating a 2 man overlap but a bone-crunching tackle from Bernie Augstein drove the attacker back 5 metres and the danger was snuffed out. The pack then drove the ball back up the pitch sucking in defenders before launching Elstub on a determined run to the line for the score which put the game beyond doubt.
The team finished a creditable second in their group but lost out on a semi-final place in the competition on points difference
Under 15s
Peterborough 8 - St. Ives 27
Following on from a very closely contested drawn match in the recent Cambridgeshire Cup tournament, St. Ives travelled to Peterborough in good spirits. A fine autumn morning provided excellent playing conditions and a good crowd of both home and travelling supporters were treated to an excellent game of rugby.
The hosts seized the initiative by taking the three points on offer when the visitors infringed in front of their own posts. However, this seemed to spur the St. Ives forwards in to action and following two momentous drives the ball was moved wide, with Matt Bligh breaking the line only to be held short of the whitewash. Following up in support, Andrew Howard claimed the ball and went over for the first try of the day. This was followed by more intense pressure from Saints and an almost repeat of the action saw Bligh receive the ball from a 5 metre scrum and put Howard over for his second score. This time Howard was successful with the conversion; 3 - 10 to St. Ives. Peterborough continued to battle but again the St. Ives forwards set a platform for their backs, winning a good supply of ball from scrum and ruck. Although further opportunities were not converted in to points by St. Ives, sustained pressure lead to the home side being forced to concede a penalty in front of their posts and Howard added the three points before the break.
The second period started as frenetically as the first ended, with Peterborough driving hard in to the Saints half and only solid defence kept them out. Gradually St. Ives again built and a wonderful piece of intuitive play saw Bligh intercept a loose pass and run some 65 metres to score; Howard added the conversion. The home side continued to press and again the game swung from end to end, but still St. Ives held firm and a long clearance was chased down by Tino Zicchi and put in to touch inside the home 22. Once again Saints applied pressure and Bligh was on hand to make another interception and score his second, with Howard again converting. Peterborough had not given up and from a period of continued attack managed to force their way over the St. Ives line to round off the scoring. St. Ives man-of-the-match was awarded to Tom Mulqueen, who worked tirelessly throughout the game.
This was an excellent team performance from the whole St. Ives squad who having worked very hard in training, have now reaped the fruits of their labours. Team Manager Andy Britton was delighted with the overall performance and was full of praise for the effort that the squad had made to achieve the result.