U11 Chobham A Festival 18-10-09

After a long day at Chobham, Cobham U11’s A squad were joint winners of the Festival.

The structure of this festival meant that instead of pool or qualifying games, semis and a final, all the teams in the league were to play each other i.e. 5 games in total with the winners being decided on league points; 2 for a win, 1 for a draw. If there was a tie in league points, then points difference; points for less points against would determine the ultimate winner. 

So, the first game, Chobham. A strong opponent who have had Cobham in their sights for some time. The game was relatively even for the first half with neither side able to gain the upper hand. Cobham appeared to be starting the day somewhat slowly with handling and rucking suffering accordingly. Chobham were getting to breakdowns quicker and managing to secure 50:50 ball on more occasions than Cobham. In the second half this weakness was exposed when Chobham attacked our line, tied in a number of backs and forwards, then released the ball finding an over lap and a relatively easy try. We had lost our first festival game since September 2008! We tried to take something positive from this defeat; getting beaten was inevitably going to occur sometime and it took some of the pressure off the squad now they were not protecting an un beaten record. 

The squad’s spirits lifted in the second game when Alec O’Connor cut loose to score our first try of the day, enough to defeat another side hell bent on beating us, Guildford . Game 3 saw us up against one of the 2 weaker squads in the festival; Wimbledon . The game was stopped at 6 tries to nil. The boys had fully regained their confidence in time to meet another very strong opponent; Teddington. Despite long periods of hanging around between games, the squad raised their game once more and attacked with much passion and determination. 2 tries to one meant we finished our day on a high. 

Drama was to ensue with Kings Wimbledon, who were playing with insufficient numbers and having to borrow players from other squads, deciding that enough was enough and withdrawing from the tournament early and before Cobham had had a chance to play them. Chobham officials agreed that, in order to assess who had won, the results of all Kings Wimbledon’s defeats should be discounted from the whole competition. The league points result from this: 8 league points for Cobham and 8 for Chobham. The Chobham officials then calculated the match point difference; points for less points against and declared Chobham the overall winners. HOWEVER, thanks to Tim Hollidge’s accountant’s eye, we were able to dispute this; Chobham’s match points difference had been incorrectly calculated, Cobham should have been the rightful winners on paper. Due to the confusion we agreed to be joint winners with Chobham. Ultimately a fair result that continues Cobham’s unbeaten record in festivals dating back to September 2008.  

The squad learned some valuable lessons today and there is plenty to work on before the next Festival; Sutton & Epsom is 2 weeks time. 

Chobham          L          0 – 7

Guildford           W         7 – 0              

Try: Alec O’Connor        Conversion: Cameron Zaltsman

Wimbledon        W         42 – 0             

Tries: Matt Frost x 3, George Griffiths x 2, Henry Paremain x 1               

Conversions: Cameron Zaltsman x6

Teddington       W         14 – 7              

Tries: Henry Paremain x1, George Griffiths x 1      Conversions: Rory O’Neill x 2