Upminster Festival

Heavy rain and an hour long queue for the car park greeted us at Upminster and delayed the start of play.
Our new event shelter was quickly erected with the help of our friends from OAs and the rain proceeded to truly tests its shower proof credentials. Our parents were grateful for somewhere dry to stand between matches unlike the kids who preferred to play outside.

We took 2 teams who were in pools 1 and 2.

Our Pool 1 team got off to an encouraging start winning their first match with some great pressure in defence however in match 2 OAs defensive line speed came as a shock and we quickly conceded 2 tries. The boys slowly got to grips with the game and managed to pull it back to 4-4 just after half time with some great running and support play. Alas we were playing uphill and OAs had the edge winning 6-4. Match 3 was a real mixed bag and I suspect cold wet hands led to some of the fumbles and missed passes which saw us lose by 1 try at the death. Match 4 saw the fire return, with no break from the previous game the kids were fired up and ready. They applied the pressure in defence and turned over the ball 4 times for a 5-1 half time lead. In the second half the running game came back to life with direct running, good support play and quick safe hands we scored 2 more tries which saw the ball go through 5 or 6 pairs of hands each time.

For our pool 2 team mud, mud, mud everywhere was the order of the day!! Even though the weather did not suit the spectators the children showed true team spirit in all of the 4 games played. The team ended with a win, 2 draws and 1 loss, a total of 27 tries being scored by our players along with some great tagging and support play, all the children should be very proud of their performance, with the day ending on a high with medals being awarded by 2 of the Saracens players.