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U12s Twickenham Report
At 6.00am on a cold, wet and rather dispiriting Bank Holiday Monday morning over 150 intrepid souls gathered at Haslams. Not even the earliness of the hour or the weather could dampen the enthusiasm as Derby RFC was once again about to invade South West London with both the U11`s and U12`s competing in the Gullivers Finals Day at Twickenham.
For many of the U12 squad this would be their second expedition onto the hallowed turf having played in the U9 Bowl final three years ago when they beat West Norfolk to lift the trophy. For the rest of the squad this was their first trip with Hertford standing between them and a second victory. Excitement and anticipation were present in equal measure as the team boarded the coach for the journey south.
When we registered at Richmond College we were greeted with the news that the kick-off had been delayed by 15 minutes to allow essential repairs to be made to the already sodden pitch. Still, we didn’t want to play on sub-standard pitches after the paradise that is Haslams and the wait meant that a more comprehensive warm-up could be run before being paraded onto the pitchside.
After the usual bag search the squad were lead into the arena by captain George Castledine to be greeted by a wall of noise from the massed ranks of supporters who out-cheered every other club.
With the dead ball area a no-go zone the warm up took place on the astro turf in front of the West Stand before the starting team took to the pitch for the 14 minute game that would determine the fate of the 2007 U12 Bowl.
Thanks to some judicious smuggling of coaches passes all the coaching team were able to get onto the pitch along with Eddie Skeates - an honorary Englishmen for the day and the first Welshman ever to be welcome on the Twickenham pitch – we ensured that he wiped his feet before entering the stadium!
DERBY U12s v HERTFORD U12s
After the long wait the players seemed glad to kick off although a damp ball and a slippery surface made handling a lottery at times. That said the Derby lads were soon into their stride and dominated the first half in terms of both territory and possession with Hertford only occasional visitors into the Derby half.
Hertford were forced to defend across the pitch as they repelled wave after wave of attacks from both forwards and backs. When they kicked clear Joe Wright and George Tresidder were quick to run the ball back at them and when Hertford had the ball they were met with a black and gold wall with no cracks in it. The work on defence in the last few weeks was paying dividends.
Three times the Derby players were held up close to the line – first Myles Costello, then Tom Kent and finally George Tresidder. The half time whistle probably came a minute or two too soon as a try was beckoning.
At half time six changes were made to allow all the squad to play at least a half in the final – the reward for their hard work throughout the season and the phenomenal team spirit that has developed. Inevitably this disrupted the rhythm as the new players took a minute of so to settle allowing Hertford to have their best spell of the match. That said they still failed to make inroads into Derby territory thanks in no small part to some crunching tackles from George Castledine and David Eades in the centres.
Slowly Derby regained their dominance and began to mount several attacks, most notably a flowing passing move across the pitch which almost put Tom Mellor away.
Almost inevitably the final whistle went with the score at 0-0. This was as much a reflection of 26 determined players on a postage stamp sized pitch as anything else. Of the five U12 games played that morning, four finished at 0-0 and the fifth at 1-0.
Nevertheless, this age group has been to Twickenham twice and not only remains unbeaten but are still the only Derby RFC side ever to win at Twickenham. This year nineteen players had the opportunity to play at Twickenham and you can never take that experience away from them. We have put two Gullivers Bowls in the trophy cabinet and the lads have their medals, presented by Gareth Chilcott, to show they were part of this great achievement.
Team: Alex Tomlinson (Reece Harrison), James Brentnall, Will Skeates, Tom Doyle (Declan McManus), Harvey Baines, George Groom (Marcus Axelson), Myles Costello (Alistair Wolff), Tom Kent, David Eades, George Castledine, Nick Rigg (Tom Mellor), Joseph Wright (Harry Young), George Tresidder.
Thanks must be given to all the coaching team, to Eddie Skeates for his unstinting efforts with the first-aid bag and to Simon Groom for his work with the video camera. A big thank you also to Annette Fish for her faultless organisation of the day. Well done.
Finally a huge thank you to the parents for their tremendous support on the day and for their commitment during the season. None of this would have been possible without you.
Match report by Uncle Phil and Auntie Martin