25/10/09 - Under 7's & 8's vs Minehead

Report by Simon Marshall

Again another sunny, balmy match day at North Petherton.  This time our opponents were Minehead.  Other than the rugby, the main highlight of the day was that the work on the old cricket pavilion is nearly complete.  This means on match days parents and spectators will be able to buy teas & coffees, use the toilet facilities and most importantly shelter from the freezing easterly wind that blows through Beggars Brook with venom during the winter months!

MATCH 1

It is going to be a feature of this years rugby that we do not really have enough players to field a full under 8’s team so again match 1 consisted of our older players against there older players.  The Minehead team were as expected very well drilled and generally larger than ours.   The quality of rugby played by both sides can only be described as outstanding given the age of the players.  Pethy scored first and were pretty much ahead for most of the game.  Three tries from “The Hazlegrove Flyer” Sam Cobb, an excellent try from halfway at full tilt from Ben Jackson and another from Harrison Otley put us in a great position.  Minehead however kept fighting back and scoring at the other end.  Some substitutions in the Pethy team towards the end of the game and a couple of handling errors when we really should have scored however let Minehead back in the game and they levelled the score with almost the final move of the game.

FINAL SCORE NORTH PETHERTON 25 – MINEHEAD 25

TEAM – Will Grant (Captain), Sam Cobb, Ben Jackson, Oscar Hallett, Archie Atwood, Oliver Halliday, Patrick Lockyer, Harrison Otley, Nicholas Payne, George Small.

MATCH 2

Match 2 saw the younger and less experienced Pethy players take to the pitch but you would never have known it from the way they played.  They took the game to Minehead with everyone looking like they could score.  Tries eventually came from Adam Cox scoring 2 in his first outing for Pethy and George Small who eventually went over the line 4 times.  Again Minehead fought back and there was some valiant last ditch grabbing at tags from both sides to prevent almost certain scores.

Praise again must go to Lee Jackson, the match referee who manages to educate and inform the youngsters while at the same time letting the game flow and making enjoyable not just for the players but spectators as well.

FINAL SCORE NORTH PETHERTON  30 –  MINEHEAD 30

TEAM – Tristan Marshall (Captain), Adam Cox, James Madeley, Daniel Osianka, Nathaniel Morris, Thomas Small, George Small.

NEXT MATCH CHEDDAR AT HOME SUNDAY 8TH NOVEMBER