7s Pass The Test At Woodnook
David, Henry, Gilbert, Edward, Victor
Woodnook was bathed in glorious sunshine on a slightly chilly Mothers Day morning as Kesteven u7s played host to Newark. Appropriately, there were plenty of mums cheering on the side lines. With record player attendance of 10, kesteven were able to field 2 teams to face the 2 from Newark.
Teams:
Kesteven A- David Martin, Henry Davies, Gilbert Hall, Edward Arden, Victor
Kesteven B- Ollie Atter, Matthew Quirk, Connor Smith, Hugo Welham, Lucas Dean
Kesteven A 9 – 6 Newark A

Newark started with the ball and, after some good defence from Kesteven, managed to find a gap and put the first score on the board. Kesteven came back quickly with some great running from Gilbert Hall who went over the line to score. The game was being played at pace and before too long Newark had scored again. Kesteven boys were strong in defence coming forward and putting pressure on the Newark players, and inevitably it wasn’t long before Kesteven got the ball again. Edward Arden made a great run and got the ball down over the line. David Martin made some good defensive moves taking tags from a couple of the Newark players and forcing them to run into touch just before the try line. Kesteven took advantage of the turn over ball and after several good passes between them David found the gap and scored a try. Newark again came back quickly to score, but from the restart Edward found some space only to be tagged close to the try line, a quick pass to David saw him go over for his second try. Newark did not let up but the boys, including Victor who was playing for the first time, took some great tags. Kesteven seemed to work harder at finding the gaps and being aware of where their team mates were and there were further tries for David, Gilbert and Edward. Newark had a good start but pressure from Kesteven found them in touch. Henry Davies had the restart, he passed to Gilbert who made a great run then passed to David who was tagged just before the line, a quick pass to Edward and the try was scored. Another great passage of play from the Kesteven boys found David in some space and he grabbed the final score of the match to close out a fine display of rugby.

Kesteven A 6 – 8 Newark A

The same teams lined up again for a rematch with Newark making some changes. Kesteven started strong with a quick try from Gilbert Hall and then in defence there was some great tagging from Victor and Edward which forced Newark to put a foot into touch for a turn over ball. David started with a good pass to Edward who put in a flying run only to be knocked over ¾’s of the way up the pitch which made Edward drop the ball, Newark took advantage and picked up the ball and ran. Trying to put things right Edward made 2 great tags to deny Newark the try, but then a quick pass to a player in space and Newark managed to score. Some great passing between David, Edward and Gilbert saw Gilbert bring out his dancing feet to find the gaps and score. Both teams managed to score again before half time. The second half started with a weak defence from Kesteven allowing Newark through, and although Newark went to ground over the try line it was still awarded. Again some good passing between the boys found Edward in some space but unfortunately Edward put the ball down just in front of the try line. Newark took advantage of this mistake and picked up the ball and ran it in for a try. Not to be disheartened Kesteven again showed some good skills with lots of passing between the boys, David then found Edward in space and Edward went over the line this time for the score. Defence faltered again for the Kesteven boys and in the last few seconds of play Newark managed to squeak over the line for a try.
This saw the boys first loss of the season, but the team took it well with heads held high and determined to cut out the errors and come back strong.

Kesteven A 7 – 7 Newark B

The third match saw some scrappy play by both teams, stepping in to touch and tries being disallowed for diving over the line. Newark finally got the first try, but not to be deterred Kesteven came back quickly with a great effort from Gilbert. More poor defence saw Newark work their way back with a try, David, Edward and Gilbert showed some great spatial awareness and after some good passing Edward went over for the try. Although Newark came back strong and Kesteven had a try disallowed for diving the boys showed great determination and unleashed Gilbert and those now famous dancing feet to score again. Kesteven tried hard to keep the ball moving but both teams seemed to be trying to extend the pitch and going out into touch, plenty of turn over balls but no advantage was taken. Eventually Kesteven got some good passages of play going in both attack and defence and more tries were scored for both sides. Kesteven rallied round and defended well putting pressure on Newark, who made a mistake and failed to catch the ball, Gilbert got to the ball quickly and left Newark standing as he ran in for the try. In the last few seconds of the game Newark just managed to get over the line again making the scores level.

Although the boys had a few lapses in concentration there was some great play, but they took a lesson from their first defeat and came out with greater determination.

Kesteven B 8 - 8 Newark B
Matthew won the toss for Kesteven to start with the ball. All the players bunched up not making the most of the space and seemed to have forgotten the discipline and teamwork that has stood them well so far this season. This led to some loose passing and eventually a turnover for Newark, who worked a decent passage and scored. K's accuracy was gain lacking and the touchline was not favouring the players in black, allowing another turnover and score for Newark. Eventually persistence paid off for the black army and Lucas Dean finally put it over the line, again ks tagging was fantastic but Newarks offensive play was strong and Ks were struggling with their teamwork and seemed to have fallen apart a little. Consequently they conceded 3 un answered tries. But the boys didn’t give up and kept plugging away, and with very close play Connor Smith eventually secured a loose ball and scored another try. With the attack finally seeming to click Ollie Atter and Matthew Quirk screamed over the line with some individual skills to leave Kesteven 5-4 down at half time .

After a break and regroup the boys picked their game up and became the team we are used to seeing. Great attacking play and teamwork from ks resulted in Hugo Welham scoring his first, Newark responded well and with ks applying lots of pressure held a very strong Newark side at bay, all in all a very tight 2nd half both sides very evenly matched. Hugo made a great break through the middle, giving K's the lead for the first time in the match. But Newark once again came back with a couple of nicely formulated tries in quick succession to take the lead by 1 yet again. A very determind Hugo took a great ball from the restart and weaved through to score and level the game once more. Newark quickly replied to lead with the final whistle beckoning. The last play of the match was a scrappy affair ending when Matthew intercepted a Newark ball and raced for the line, passing to Hugo in support when he was tagged and over it went to secure the draw. Overall a fair result against a quality opponent.

Oli 1
Connor 1
Hugo 4
Matthew 1
Lucas 1
Kesteven B 13-6 Newark A
The final match of the day was again subject to a very congested and scrappy start, but the boys soon found their feet and Lucas got K's off the mark. Some absolutely brilliant tagging from both sides made for an awesome and absorbing game of rugby. Newark scored a brace following some strong running, but they then conceded possession due to repeated 'hand off' offences. Ollie Atter then showing show great paces and swinging hips to scythe through the Newark defense, scoring 2 in quick succession. Newark grabbed one back, followed by Hugo powering over for another. Matthew was chasing down like a boy possessed taking great tags and preventing Newark from gaining much ground. They eventually got another score and half time came, a very close game at 4 - 4.

Kesteven came out with the bit between their teeth in the second half, scoring through Hugo Welham straight from the off. Newark were their own worst enemies at this point, much of their good work undone by hand offs and inaccuracy. They grabbed a couple of early scores despite this and continued to challenge the black army everywhere. Kesteven, however, were undaunted and launched straight back at them with another beautiful score from outstanding Ollie Atter. Making a nuisance of themselves in defence led to Connor winning a tussle over an intercept and scoring. Ks were dominating now with some of the best attacking as a team rugby we've seen this season, perhaps due to the excitement the game got rather rough and a little too much contact from both sides meant several pages of play had to be stopped. However, Kesteven continued to play their way and scored almost at will, Hugo adding to his large tally with some devastating footwork. Newark came up with probably the best passage of play we've seen to date, complete with dummy passes and great switch moves. Unfortunately it was not their day and Kesteven had the last say. Matthew rounded off the scoring after Connor had worked his way through (literally) the Newark defence and passed to him near the line. This brought another great day to a close, Kesteven scoring a massive 9 tries in the second half.
A great day for all, wonderful to see how well the boys dealt with their first loss. Newark were a tough side and between the 2 sides a lot of great rugby was played. Next week sees Kesteven take on Nottingham Moderns at Woodnook.......bring it on
BLACK ARMY!!