U7's Chelmsford 'A' Festival Match Report

The last festival of the season took the A team to Chelmsford. The Under 7s competition was made up of two pools of four teams. Buoyed by a 6-2 win over one of two home sides, the Chelmsford Lions, Stortford then went on to demolish Brentwood Warriors (6-0) before trouncing Billericay with six tries to their one. These decisive victories ensured our place in the semi finals.

Having come top in our pool we went on to play the runners up from the other pool in the semi final. Despite the confidence that the earlier wins had given the boys, at this point things became a lot more challenging as we faced Chelmsford’s other team. At full time the score in the semi final was 5-5, so the decision was made for six minutes of extra time to be played. The teams matched each other try for try, but in the last seconds Henry Walker broke away and scored a match-winning try to give us a place in the final.

Stortfords’ supporters could hardly bear the tension as the final continued in a similar vein, with our boys and Billericay matching each other try for try. As the final whistle blew the score was 5-5, and, as is tradition, it was agreed the teams should share the victory.

This was a superb end to the season. The boys played fantastically, with good positioning on the pitch meaning most tries were the result of excellent team work, with several players contributing. Defence was strong, with great tagging, which should put us in good stead next season as the rules change to six tags before the ball is turned over. Top try scorer was Finlay Quinn, closely followed by Henry Walker.

Many thanks to the parents and other family members and friends for their enthusiastic, and as always vocal support today, which really helped the team through those tense moments!