Match Reports 13th February
Old Verulamians 5 vs 31 Saracens Amateurs
After a spirited performance against second placed Barnet, the mighty Vee’s looked to make a strong impression against the well drilled outfit of Saracens Amateurs making the short journey over from High Barnet.
In the first half the boys in blue and yellow elected to play up the slope with Captain Callum Porter hoping a strong second half heading into Cotlandswick corner could allow for an open second 40 minutes. Both teams started off patiently looking to establish their control on the game with Saracens having more success early on keeping Vee’s pinned in their 22.
Despite this, as has been the theme of recent weeks Vee’s defended their line ruthlessly with the help of our dominant scrum thanks to our bulldozing props Harry Mack and Josh Lawrence. After a 20 minute onslaught of our line without any prevail Saracens finally managed to dive over in the left hand corner off the back of some good backs inter play.
The match resumed and after some to and fro between the teams with kicks starting to be implemented to try and exploit the slope we all know well. Unfortunately, Saracens managed to sneak into the corner again off the back of a few mistakes by Vee’s. Nevertheless, Vee’s bounced back and off the back of a strong run from number eight Tom Spratt it looked like an almost certain try was scored by Luke Moore in the corner off the back of a Chip by wannabe fly half Harry Mack. Only for this to be called back for offside by the ref which took us to half time.
With the slope now in our favour Vee’s looked to utilise their strong scrum and larger forward pack to march down the pitch and reap some well earned points. However, both teams struggled to establish some rhythm in the second half with numerous penalties going each way before Saracens managed to get outside the improved Vee’s drift defence and dot down in the corner.
Shortly afterwards though off of a great kick to touch by Tom Spratt the Sarries full back decided to bat the kick back in allowing the eager Jake Lawrence to scoop the ball up and dive over in the corner.
With Sarries’s now in touching distance the boys in blue and yellow looked to try and close the gap off the back of this try. However, a few little mistakes and Saracens greater experience led to them scoring two more in what was a much close encounter compared to our match earlier in the season and a clear sign of where we are heading.
A shoutout to Gareth Waters who stepped in last minute to steer the team very well from fly half!
Under 15s: Cheshunt Vs Vees - VOID
In very windy conditions at Cheshunt, the two sides were evenly matched, in a tight contest. The Vees were showing excellent attacking runs and fantastic defence in holding up a try and with the scores at 19 - 15, the game was stopped due to an injured player. Best wishes to the injured player from The Vees, we hope to see you back out on the pitch soon.
Under 14s: Hertford 26 Vees 31
Vees travelled east to take on a strong Hertford squad, and the elements, in a last minute change of fixture. After a slow start, Vees battled their way back into the game and secured a great win with the last play of the game.
With a few key players missing, Vees were forced into a number of positional changes, with Freddie C moving back to fly half for the first time and Luke playing at 8. Freddie S stepped up into outside centre, Iwan on the wing and Daniel D played at full back. It took a few minutes for the boys to settle, and Hertford scored the first two tries and added conversions to both.
Arthur kick started Vees into life, calling a short line out and fighting his way down the blindside to the try line. Vees built on this and dominated territory for the rest of the first half. Gethin benefitted from Vees starting to go through the phases more cleanly, to score from close range. Straight from the re-start, Freddie S caught the kick off and ran the length of the pitch, evading a number of tackles to add Vees’ third try. With Arthur picking up a knock, Freddie C added both conversions to give Vees a 19-14 lead at half time.
Vees were playing into the strong wind second half, and Hertford again started sharply to draw level at 19-19 with a quick try. However, Vees kept battling hard, and were now hitting all their rucks with 3 men to give Charlie B cleaner ball. After Arthur made another great break and was eventually tackled near the line, Freddie C took the ball and just got it grounded before the defenders came in. The wind held up Arthur’s conversion, giving Vees a 24-19 lead.
Hertford came back again, and despite determined tackling from Vees they eventually got in down the wing and ran round to score under the posts and add the conversion, to take a 26-24 lead.
Vees weren’t to be defeated though, and forced Hertford back towards their own line. Despite Hertford forcing a turnover, Vees battled back to force a turnover of their own and Luke crashed over the line to score the match-winning try. Arthur added the conversion, and the full-time whistle came straight afterwards to the cheers of the Vees for a 31-26 victory.
Under 11s Tri tournament: Vees Vs Harrow, and Barnet
The u11s made the journey to the windswept fields of Barnet Elizabethans on a chilly morning for a triangular fixture against Harrow and Barnet. The boys were soon warmed up with a brisk warm up focussing on handling and two man rucking. A new squad pre-match huddle led by Chung got the boys fired up and two Vees teams led ably by Patrick and Esa took to the field, playing up-hill first in both matches. Both our teams struggled initially putting the rucking skills into practice in match play against some aggressive line speed defence from the opposition teams. However pleasingly the rucking improved as the games progressed as did the tackling, most notably from Raymond who flew around the pitch pressurising the opposition and frequently putting in big, well timed tackles resulting in a well deserved Tackler of the Day award. On the respective teams Aron K and Lucas P made some good direct carries blasting holes in the opposition defence and Patrick scored several tries with his jinking and clever running lines. Great effort from both teams who kept working hard and running till the end but more scores could have been had getting the ball wider earlier.. something to work on in training in the coming weeks.
U13s Verulamians v Stockwood Park 25 - 5
The Verulamians boys travelled to Harpenden on Tuesday night for there first floodlit fixture. The game started at quite a pace with the Stockwood Park team playing quick ball out to the wings and scoring a fantastic try from a ball that look destined to be going out but was passed really well back into play for one of there fast wingers to score a great try.
The Vees restarted and pushed the Stockwood team back with a good kick. This was followed up by some tackling and rucking forcing the opposition in to some knock ons. The Vees then scored a good try in the corner.
The game could of gone either during the first half but it was pretty much equal with good work from both teams.
The game continued as it had started in the first half and it meant the Stockwood team tired a bit. They deserve a lot of respect as they did not have any subsitutes on the night. Where as the Vees had a few which we offered to opposition. This meant as the game progressed at the level it started that Vees scored some good tries with good teamwork.
There are so many people to mention stand out players on the night were Max, Tom V, Harry B, Gethin, Harry P, Jayden, Dylan W and Charlie for a great tackle that stopped a try. Arthur had a fabulous run from an offload at ruck that saw him score with him pushing seveal players back and put the ball in for a try that he deserved so well done.
It was also great to see James, Emmanuel, Dylan E who were playing there first games for us. In truth everyone played there part on the night it was an great team peformance. Well done to the team.
U12s Tri-Fixture – OV’s / Harrow / Barnet Elizabethans.
The boys returned to the normal club schedule this Sunday with an away tri-fixture at Barnet Elizabethans. Having been on the road a lot this season in the Middlesex league, it was a welcome return to normality, but against two strong local clubs.
Game 1 vs Harrow, pitched against a squad placed 4 leagues above us in the Middlesex league, Vees were up for the challenge. A high defensive line and making good use of our speedy finishers, we took an early lead and never looked back! Harrow were shell-shocked at half-time and despite trying hard to turn things around in the 2nd half, they couldn’t match our intensity and Vees stormed to victory. Ollie taking a well deserved 2 minute break before the final whistle after scoring 5 tries.
After a short break, Game 2 started against Barnet. A closer matched 1st half ended with Vees just ahead after a strong solo Try from Ben, making good use of the January introduction of hand-off’s, but it was the backs that took control in the 2nd half with some impressive cross field passes to open up the pitch for the speedy boys to show their finishing skills, and in the end it was another convincing win.
U7s Verulamians Sparkle Barnet/Harrow tri match
Vees U7s played some sparkling tag rugby to brighten up a dull grey Sunday morning in Barnet. Playing against Barnet Elizabethans and Harrow, every one of our players ran, passed, tagged and supported each other brilliantly. They did the Vees jersey proud!
Congratulations to our Player of the Week - Tom - who took a few bumps but kept trying hard throughout the session, scoring a few tries and even volunteering to help out the opposition who were a few short.