Rishworthian Minis v Huddersfield Minis, match report, Rishworthians put in some excellent performances against Huddesfield

Rishworthians Minis at Moortown & Sandal Festivals

Under 9's win the Moortown Festival

Match reports Sunday 14th October
This Sunday Rishworthians entered the first of 3 Festivals arranged for the season. In a break with past tradition instead of going to the Morley Festival, the under 7's and under 8's went to the Sandal Festival and the under 9's and under 10's to the Moortown Festival.
The highlight of the day belonged to the under 9's who maintained their impressive Festival record by coming away as winners of the Moortown Festival.

Under 6’s The Micros
The under 6's have steadily increased in numbers over the last few weeks with 12 micros training. Neil Lumb on his own this week had his hands full but several parents stepped in to give a helping hand. After a training session the players were split into 2 teams and played a game of tag rugby. They are coming on well and starting to get to grips with the game. Once they reach their 6th birthday and understand the game they can join the under 7's squad and play some competitive games.

Under 7's The Young Guns
The Young Guns had their first taste of festival rugby in a pool with West Park Leeds, Old Brodleians, Southgate Bulls and Otley. Unfortunately Old Brodleians & Southgate Bulls failed to turn up resulting in each team playing twice against the remaining sides.

Rishworthians started well with a keenly contested 4-4 draw against West Park Leeds. George Sutcliffe and Corey White both bagged a brace of tries apiece and showed some very good running.

Rishworthans then suffered three successive defeats in close games which could have gone either way. Alex Oldroyd scored twice with some strong running in the 4-3 defeat against Otley with Corey White adding the third.

Rishworthians faced West Park Leeds again but this time went down 5-3 to a free running West Park Leeds side. Alex Oldroyd bagging another brace and Corey White the third.

Finn Sutcliffe ran in the first try in a very close final game against Otley where Rishworthians were beaten 6-5 with the last play of the game. Corey White scored a hat trick with Kian Sutcliffe rounding off the days scoring.

The Man of the match was voted again by a parent and went to Corey White not only for his seven try haul but for an excellent display of tagging.

Squad : Finn and Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White, Daniel Haigh, Henry Hilton, William Harker, Alex Oldroyd, George Sutcliffe

Game 1 West Park Leeds 4 - 4 Rishworthians
Tries George Sutcliffe 2 Corey White 2

Game 2 Otley 4 - 3 Rishworthians 3
Tries Alex Oldroyd 2, Corey White

Game 3 West Park Leeds 5 - 3 Rishworthians
Tries Alex Oldroyd 2, Corey White

Game 4 Otley 6 - 5 Rishworthians
Tries Finn Sutcliffe, Corey White 3, Kian Sutcliffe

Thanks to Mark Oldroyd for taking charge of the team, to Dave Puddephatt and Simon Bower for refereeing the games and helping organise the day and to all the parents for their support. Finally I would like to thank the players for again showing that Rugby can still be played with a smile on your face no matter what the result. The players were once again a credit to themselves, their parents and the club. Well done!
Grahame White

Under 8’s The Raiders
On Sunday the Rishworthians Under 8’s had a mixed day at the Sandal RUFC Festival winning 2 of the 4 pool games The under 8's were in a strong pool with Sandal Comets, Rotherham, Otley and West Park Leeds.

Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 4 Sandal Comets
Rishworthians had a score to settle with Sandal who just beat them in the final at Harrogate Festival last year. They were off to a flying start beating a well organised Sandal Comets side 5 – 4 with tries from Sam Puddephatt (2), William Symms (2) and Callum Bell.

Game 2 Rishworthians 5 - 8 Otley
The festival celebrations were short lived when despite a hat trick from Symms and one each from Bell and Callan Jamieson, the team lost their second match 8 – 5 to Otley.

Game 3 Rishworthians 5 - 7 West Park Leeds
Further disappointment followed in the next match. Symms, Bell & Jamieson again crossed the try line and new recruit Sam Whitehead also scored a brace of tries. Unfortunately for Rishworthians, momentary lapses in concentration and some inexplicable refereeing decisions combined to allow West Park Leeds to sneak a 7 – 5 victory.

Game 4 Rishworthians 6 - 5 Rotheham
With qualification for the final now beyond them the squad produced a much improved defensive performance in their last match v Rotherham! The ever reliable Emma Bower came off the bench to show her team mates how to grab ‘tags’ in an impressive performance which also saw her touch down for a try. Sam Puddephatt added a further 2 tries to his tally for the day, with Callum Bell, Alex Scoley and man of the match Callan Jamieson also getting in on the action with one try each to record a 6 – 5 victory.

Under 9's The Reds & All Blacks

The Old Rishworthian Reds under 9’s appeared as late entrants to the Moortown Festival and, maybe inspired by the England team the previous evening, came away as gold medal winners after a round robin of matches against Bradford and Bingley, Keighley, and hosts Moortown.
With a couple of key players missing for this fixture, the Reds just managed to field a full team, but without any replacements, the youngsters were in for a tiring morning but determined to add Moortown to their festival scalps.

Game 1 Rishworthian Reds 25 - 0 Bradford and Bingley Bees
The Reds made their intentions known, with an opening to the game which saw them score a try from their first phase of possession. Thomas Sweeten going over. From a Rishworthian lineout the ball was given to Will McDonnell who side stepped and swerved his way around 6 Bees players and then showed his electrifying pace to score the Reds second try. A score for the Bees seemed on the cards when a player broke through the Reds defence and headed for the line, but he was taken out by Thomas Sweeten who hit him like an Exocet missile, saving a certain try.
Constant pressure in midfield from Jacob Bower, George Radcliffe and Thomas Cockroft forced the Bees over their own try line where the ball squirmed free and Thomas Sweeten had the presence of mind to fall on the ball to make the score 15-0. Will McDonnell scored his second try after a weaving run along the try line, and then in the next phase he popped up the ball in the tackle for Thomas Cockroft to score an easy try. Final score 25-0.

Game 2 Rishworthian Reds 15 - 5 Keighley
From the kick off Will McDonnell and Thomas Sweeten drove the ball in to tackles and good recycling from Sam Brant, Greg Day and Charlotte Siddall enabled quick ball to Jacob Bower who opened the scoring in the corner. The Reds played strong rugby, particularly in the mauls, George Radcliffe and Thomas Cockroft ripping the ball time after time, but their dominance was unrewarded until the second half. From a set piece, the ball was driven forward in to the tackle by Jacob Bower, backed up by George Radcliffe and Billy Whythe, picked up by Thomas Cockroft, fed to Will McDonnell who made the score 10-0. The Reds made the game safe with yet another ‘steal’ in the maul by Radcliffe, passing it out to Thomas Sweeten to score. Keighley scored a consolation try but by then the game had been won. 15-5.

Game 3 Rishworthian Reds 10 - 15 Moortown
With results going their way The Reds were guaranteed top place going in to this match. The coaches shouldn’t have told the players because they eased off and the game was very scrappy.
Rishworthians again opened the scoring when Will McDonnell picked up the ball from a ruck and scored his fourth try of the tournament. Poor defensive play from the Reds allowed Moortown to make the score 5-5 at half time.
Quick thinking by Thomas Sweeten at a Moortown lineout brought another try when he intercepted a pass and ran unopposed to score. A good searching run from Sam Brant was met with a crunching tackle from which he had to leave the field nursing an injured shoulder. Later diagnosed as a broken collar bone. Down to eight players, and no replacements, the Reds began to tire. Moortown took advantage, and with a number of dubious decisions going against the Reds, they broke through the Rishworthian defence scoring twice. The Reds tried to get back in to the game but eventually they ran out of time. Final score 15-10 to Moortown

A superb tournament win for The Reds with all the hard work in pre season training, and recent match experience, paying off with the whole squad constantly improving, and playing intelligent rugby, as was evident throughout this Festival. With a few players now finding their niche, this team can only go from strength to strength.
Congratulations and well done to all players….deserved winners.
Thanks, as always, to all parents for their constant support of the players and coaches.

Team: Thomas Sweeten, George Radcliffe, Billy Whythe, Jacob Bower, Thomas Cockroft, Will McDonnell, Charlotte Siddall, Greg Day, Sam Brant.

Player of the tournament…Will McDonnell, Effort award….Thomas Cockroft

Dave Mc

Under 10's & 11's
First of all an apology to Kyle Jamieson, I have been calling him Kyle Grierson for the past few weeks.
It was a sadly depleted under 10’s squad who travelled to Leeds for the Moortown festival. When the team was kitted up and ready to play it was found that there were only 5 players. Kyle Jamieson, Matthew Harris, Matthew Walker, Ben Atkinson and Toby Cowell. This lack caused Steve to coerce James Radcliffe out of retirement and after a quick kit swap (without the use of a phone box) James was ready for the fray.

This still left us 3 short and for the first match against Moortown we must thank Cleckheaton for the loan of Alex, Sam and Henry.

Game 1Moortown 6 - 0 Rishworthians
The game started with a strong drive from Moortown, which was thwarted by the defensive skills and some crunching tackling from Kyle Jamieson and Matt Walker backed up by the rest of the team. Unfortunately Moortown kept up this pressure and gained a couple of quick scores.

This did not deter the team and they were soon on the attack from some excellent scrummaging which allowed Matt Walker to feed the ball to James Radcliffe who produced some strong attacking runs straight at the Moortown defensive line, only slowing his momentum when there were at least three players hanging onto him.

This was the scene for the whole game with Moortown producing attacking plays the Rishworthian defence hunting them down with Matt Walker producing some excellent tackling, turning the ball over and using their strength to their advantage and taking the game to the Moortown line. Ben Atkinson was able to utilise his turns of speed to produce some excellent gains in these situations.

Although Moortown eventually ran out 6 - 0 winners the Rishworthian performance was solid in both attack and defence and the Moortown tries came from a couple of unforced errors and some exceptionally quick players.

Game 2 Bradford and Bingley 3 - 0 Rishworthians
By the time the second game started Haydn Corns had arrived and we were able to dispense with the services of one of the Cleckheaton players. After being felled the week before Haydn was eager to get into the fray.

The game was very similar in style to the first with Bradford and Bingley attacks being stopped in their tracks by solid tackling allowing the Rishworthian forwards to pressurise the Bradford and Bingley defence. One such attack allowed Kyle Jamieson to produce one of his now trademark charges; very much in the Jonah Lomu style and produce a 20 metre gain, running through the opposition not around them, always with the rest of the forwards backing him up.

Again the front row of James Radcliffe, Matthew Harris and Kyle Jamieson were excellent in the scrum allowing Matthew Walker to feed the ball out to Haydn Corns, Ben Atkinson or Toby Cowell to produce some excellent attacking rugby.

Unfortunately for Haydn Corns there was a feeling of Déjà vu as he was again felled by another dubiously high tackle, however this time he was able to continue and was lucky not to be penalised for one of his own plays where he appeared not to attempt to tackle the opposing man, preferring to gently persuade him to take a seat beyond the side line. Toby Cowell produced a fearless performance in this game by tackling much larger players on the run and managing to fell them with apparent ease. It is unfortunate that the game finished with the score line it did

Game 3 Cleckheaton 2 - 2 Rishworthians
The final game saw us borrowing 2 players from Moortown to play Cleckheaton. The game started with the Rishworthian forwards taking the game to the Cleckheaton line and utilising continued pressure to wear down the defence, unfortunately Cleckheaton were able to turn the ball over to produce the first of their tries.

From the restart Cleckheaton pressurised the Rishworthian defence with the entire team producing their by now characteristic tackling, with the bone jarring ferocity that has become their trade mark. Form one of these rucks Toby Cowell was able to produce a 30-metre run only to be thwarted 5 metres from the line. This then enabled Ellis Whelan (one of our Moortown loan players) to run in to produce a try that made the score even at half time.

After the restart Cleckheaton scored very quickly, however there was no let up from the Rishworthian forwards and backs. In this game there was a more flowing feeling with Toby Cowell being allowed to show his pace in another 30 metre run. Eventually Matt Walker was able to feed the ball to Ellis Whelan who scored a second try to even the final score.

Man of the Match Matt Walker: Effort award James Radcliffe.

Overall the team gave a solid performance with all of them producing noteworthy performances.
The front row of James Radcliffe, Matthew Harris and Kyle Jamieson for their tireless scrummaging.
James Radcliffe for his relentless attacking.
Kyle Jamieson for his tireless driving play.
Ben Atkinson for his open running.
Matthew Walker for his ceaseless defensive play.
Toby Cowell for his lion hearted attacking runs.
Matthew Harris for his line out accuracy and mauling.
Haydn Corns for his speed and bone jarring tackling.

Many thanks again to Andy Day and Keith Atkinson for their time in training the squad and I am sure that all who were watching will agree that we have the foundations of a very good side.