U12's field two teams at returning Ilkeston Festival

Match Report 13th March 2011

Ilkeston today held their first Mini festival for a considerable amount of years with ages under 7s through to under 12s and as a result of the recent developments within the under 12s squad Ilkeston were able to field two teams within the competition.

Both teams represented their club in a extremely great manner, performing and keeping their heads held high no matter whether they were winning or losing.

The ‘Development’ squad’s first match was against Paviors, Historically opposition who have always provided very strong matches for Ilkeston and whilst Paviors scored four answered tries in the first half this was not a true reflection of all the hard work Ilkeston’s young players had contributed. Turning around to be playing up hill Ilkeston were unable to stop Paviors scoring a further three unanswered tries.
Final score Ilkeston 0 Paviors 35.

Next match was against a strong Ashbourne side. Missed tackles allowed Ashbourne opportunities to break the Ilkeston defence to score five unanswered tries. Ilkeston in the second half occasionally foiled Ashbourne through brave tackling from centres Fane Checkley and Luke Moore. Hooker Jack Walker continued to tackle his heart out also chased the wingers and occasionally bringing them down just before the line. Unfortunately Ilkeston were unable to get substantial ball to apply pressure on the opponents defence but they kept trying.
Final score Ilkeston 0 Ashbourne 35.

Next saw Ilkeston against Matlock. This time Ilkeston’s players decided to build on their performance from the previous match by holding Matlock at a distance. The scrum whilst not the most mobile clearly decided to win their own scrums and provide the ever trying Conor Corrigan and Jordan Rathbone opportunities to distribute the ball to the wingers. Each player took the opportunity to be involved in rucks and make important yardage. Unfortunately the old habit of missed tackles allowed Matlock to get the upper hand and the final score was clearly not a reflection of the true graft the Ilkeston players had contributed.
Final score Ilkeston 0 Matlock 30.

The final match of a very long day was against tournament favourites Melbourne A. Whilst Melbourne had the upper hand Ilkeston battled well and ensured that the game almost went the full distance but the difference in quality in some positions ensured clean and fast ball was provided to the opponent’s wingers to score.
Final score Ilkeston 0 Melbourne A 35.

A valuable day for all twelve players who battled their hearts out, tackled well at times and whilst not the fastest forwards around the pitch they provided a stable platform for the backs. One hour of play for these players has brought them on extremely well and hopefully they will grasp this opportunity and push on to further improve.

Man of the Match
Forwards – Jordan Pritchett
Backs – Fane Checkley

Squad –
Conor Corrigan, Fane Checkley, Gregor Mcintosh, Jordan Rathbone, Luke Moore, Tom Davidson, Alfie Cox, Jack Walker, Jakson Horton, Jordan Pritchett, Lawrence Twigger, Luke Twigger.

Ilkeston’s second team was in a equally strong division against local rivals and unknown quantities.

The first game against Mellish was an opportunity for Ilkeston to stamp their authority on the tournament. Ilkeston from the kick off immediately put pressure on the catcher who knocked the ball on. From the resulting scrum the backs made yardage only to be felled short of the line, Aidan Norris collected the ball and with three players attached to him drove over to score. This was quickly followed by ball distributed through the centres Cameron Greenfield and Joseph Doughty who perfectly timed his pass to Niall O’Connor to score his first try for the club on his debut. The final try of the game saw Ilkeston rewarded for their pressure with Doughty ghosting through to score his fifth of the season. The second half saw Mellish attempt to compete but with Norris scoring his fourteenth try of the campaign and quickly followed by a reward for Greenfield’s constant direct running the game was always out of reach of Mellish.
Final score Ilkeston 25 Mellish 0.

Melbourne B were the next opponents. A very strong set of forwards who very quickly showed they had great experience of ripping the ball at every opportunity much to the annoyance of the Ilkeston forwards. Ilkeston were showing far too much respect and were very quickly a try behind as Melbourne broke to score in the corner principally due to the defensive line not applying pressure. The final moment of the game saw Norris number fifteen and break the scores level. The second half was a fantastic advert of the game of rugby as both teams looked to gain the upper hand but to no avail.
Final score Ilkeston 5 Melbourne B 5.

Local rivals Derby were the next team, Again Ilkeston were the slower of the teams to start and we saw Derby breaking the line to score in the corner. For the balance of the match Ilkeston threw everything at Derby and only resolute tackling by Derby ensured that the score remained unchanged. This was a great performance by Ilkeston as historically Derby had always dominated this fixture however over the last couple of meetings the gulf has closed.
Final score Ilkeston 0 Derby 5.

Ilkeston went into the final game joint second but needed to get a result against the unknown Sheffield Tigers. The Tigers dominance was through their two very large forwards who provided constant attention from the Ilkeston forwards. Tigers scored through their second row but Ilkeston attempted to come back immediately. Unfortunately the whole first half was littered with infringements from the Tigers as they handed off and high tackled but Ilkeston were unable to reap any rewards and with the fourth penalty in succession close to the line found them thwarted by both a team would not retreat the required distance and an official blowing for half time. The second half saw close interceptions from both O’Connor and Doughty who could not quite break the final player. The final play saw Tigers score what was really an undeserved second try which did not reflect the true performance from these two teams and a draw would have been a fair outcome.
Final score Ilkeston 0 Sheffield Tigers 10.

Unfortunately with this result it meant that Ilkeston’s day had come to a close as they finally finished fourth but could have easily been a different situation. A brilliant performance from all the players showing great potential for the upcoming NLD cup competition.

Man of the Match
Forwards – Aidan Norris
Backs – Niall O’Connor

Squad-
Ben Middleton, Cameron Greenfield, Frank Hemingray, Issac Smith, Joseph Doughty, Niall O’Connor, Zack Lebeter, Aidan Norris, Billy Derbyshire, Connor Connelly, Felix Rasbusin, James Thorpe, Robbie Boddington.

A great day with 25 players representing Ilkeston rugby club and with all the missing players present could have possibly drawn different results.

Jon Doughty