Salisbury Mini Rugby Festival

Exmouth U8s Win The Shield

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A fifty two seated took the U8 and U10 teams, along with mums and dads, up the 303, for the Salisbury Mini Rugby Festival. Exmouth could not have got of to a better start. The first game in their pool against Salisbury B, saw them run in six tries to their opponent’s two. Zach Higginson getting the first try of the campaign. Ollie Toomey then put in a blistering run to dot down, before Will Tidbull finished of a excellent passage of clinical passing to finish the half. Sam Fulthorpe started the second half with a brilliant solo try, as Josh Wibberley kept Salisbury at bay with his effective tagging. Another attack by the Cockles saw Lawrence Knight’s support play finish for a score in corner before Morgan Wright took it on himself to breeze thru the defence for his first, and a fine solo effort to close the game. This was a real master class in open and expansive running rugby and was only a taster for what was to come.

Next up were Havent, and all looked well as a Tidbull equalised and this promised to be an entertaining game. From there on the luck ran out. Higginson had his dash down the touch to score ruled out only after the extremely vocal Havant coach influenced the ref, resulting in a free pass awarded to them! They then went on to score. Little heads went down, and with only five minutes being played each way the defeat was unavoidable. Joseph Stevens did however dot down after chasing the play and being in a great position to finish of a gallant attack. This Exmouth loss was most felt by the coaching staff as the squad deserved more from the game. The Havant coach should have been removed from the field of play from the onset, calling ‘tag’ and voicing decisions, left the boys dismayed at how they were two scores down at the final whistle.

Showing true character and backed by an enthusiastic crowd of supporters, this young band of mighty Cockles needed to shake of the disappointment of the last game and did so by facing Bournemouth for the last group game. With only a draw needed to progress on to the Shield competition, the lads took on the task with delight. Toomey, a great reader of the game, got them off to a good start. Hugo Flinn’s jinking restarts created the space needed for more scores as Callum Cross, Ieuan Kidd and Fulthorpe all got onto the scoresheet. Great tagging was what was most evident, and it was this that kept them in the game. Each and every player giving 110%, score at the final whistle, four tries apiece which meant finishing second in the group and next up, the Shield competition.

First up was Bradford on Avon. Again Exmouth didn’t seem to get any luck. The referee giving Bradford on Avon many more paces than the continuum clearly states to off load after the tackle. Once Again the opposition coach had more to say than he should have, but with the odds stacked against them, Exmouth grinded out the win, three tries to two. Tidbull, Higginson and Cross the Cockle try scorers.

It was all to play for in the last game against Gosport & Fareham, with Exmouth needing a draw or better to win the Shield. Having already refereed G & F twice already in their group the coaches knew this was going to be a tall order. Knight having left the field injured in the previous game was replaced by Ethan Langson-Justice. Raising the bar even higher the young Cockles dominated all the play. Langson-Justice, showing a mighty come-back after his recent injury, made an outstanding contribution to the game with dogmatic tagging and still made time to run in a hat trick. Tom Cooke, Exmouth’s “man of the festival”, whose performance was outstanding, got just rewards with a try. He hit each and every ball at pace and was instrumental whenever he was on the park. Kidd seemed to mop up all the loose ball, while Wright bagged himself a brace and Toomey also got on the scoresheet. Score at the final whistle seven tries to four. This was an excellent day out for the Exmouth U8 squad and their supporters, a well earned victory that is a testament to their commitment. The young Cockles are proud to return with a “shield” that they will share with the rest of the U8 cohort and their club.

The travelling Cockles being Tom Cooke, Callum Cross, Hugo Flinn, Sam Fulthorpe, Zach Higginson, Ieuan Kidd, Laurence Knight, Ethan Langson-Justice, Joseph Oates (injured, unable to play), Joseph Stevens, Will Tidbull, Ollie Toomey, Josh Wibberley, Morgan Wright.