Stewartry Rugby Club held their end of seasons Junior sevens tournament at Greenlaw in the sunshine on Sunday May the 14th 2017.
Unfortunately there was a reduced number of teams taking part this year due to the unforeseen withdrawal of two clubs in the run up to tournament.
On the day a lot of good rugby was played at all age groups and it was good to see how the boys handled playing sevens on a full sized pitch.
Coach Kenny Young Told DGWGO Sports News “On the day a lot of good rugby was played at all age groups and it was good to see how the boys handled playing sevens on a full sized pitch. Thanks to all who helped out in any way to make the day a great success, especially the referees, DavidThompson, Phil Broatch and Lewis Young and 1st team boys who acted as pitch coordinators.”
Under 13’s
At this age group the games were contested between two Stewartry and one Dumfries Squad with the pitch being made slightly narrower for the boys. Dumfries on the day came out on top having the edge in using the width of the pitch, tackling and teamwork.
Stewartry boys however put in a good shift and points to improve on have been noted. As said last week, there are the makings of a good team here for next season with the addition of the P7 boys who are moving up and looked good at their first midi training session last week.
Main Image shows Stewartry and Dumfries U13 squads
Under 14’s
The Stewartry boys were up against two Dumfries teams and Strathaven in this section of tournament, playing each other twice. With no Hannay, Gibson or McCormick available in stepped White and Briggs to the 9 man squad.
In the first round of games Stewartry carried on from where they left off last week by winning the first two games against Dumfries teams without conceeding a try due to good team work.However a well drilled Strathaven team with a elusive number 10 produced a great game which was drawing at 19-19 till in the last play Strathaven broke away to score, but Stewartry managed to secure a bonus point.Second round of games saw Stewartry’s fitness come into play as they again overcame both Dumfries teams and in the final game knew a win by more than seven points was needed if they were to win tournament.
Strathaven however started the brighter and punched a hole in Stewartry defence to score and take the advantage. Stewartry struck back just before half time when from their own line, Young saw there was nobody at fullback and executed a chip and chase to perfection to out pace the defence and score. Second half saw Stewartry’s team spirit which has become a key factor this season shine through to score three tries without reply. Good all round team display once again with different personnel in team.Over six games 29 tries were scored and 6 conceded.Need to brush up on some of our drop goals however.
Under 15’s
The U15 VII were matched against large Dumfries and Strathaven squads for their home tournament. Playing everyone twice gave the teams time to work out what tactics could be employed but, in the end, the Stewartry were successful by playing an ‘all-court press’ in defence and keeping the ball alive when in attack.
David Martin was key to both of these factors being a relentless nuisance in defence and a direct runner in attack. Perhaps the sublime piece of skill shown all afternoon was a break by David down the right and then, with the cover coming across, executing a perfect side of the foot cross kick to Lockie who was steaming up through the centre in support and gathered the ball to score. Forwards are often out of their depth in sevens, just wanting to truck it up, but both Tom and Ryan kept the ball alive as well as making the tackles when called upon. The distribution to keep the game flowing was oiled by the passing of Patrick and Aaron who became adept at putting others into space, especially the flying wingers Pacey Ho and Murray Ross who both showed pace and dancing feet as they flat footed defences time after time.
In the end the Blacks won all their games but were made to work hard by a Dumfries squad who had the numbers to freshen their team frequently and a Strathaven squad who, though small in stature, had many elusive runners that wanted to play sevens properly.
