U12 win the shield at Wasps LandRover Cup.

Welcome to the match reports that JB conned me into writing , thanks JB always rely on you to stitch somebody up , this weekend it was my turn. OK , couple of things to clear up , I do not intend to be as funny , witty , literate , or creative as JB , so do not get excited.
Oh , how we all laughed didn’t we parents as you all had great pleasure in telling me of JB’s cruel act.

You will see below 5 match reports , and some photos to use if you wish.

Outline of the day , and key points of interest to cover off : -
It’s not the first time I have been sent to Coventry , but on a Sunday morning whilst the birds were tweeting , cows mooing , and our neighbour cutting his grass so early, I thought why not , let’s go..

Weather report on departure, sunny , 12 degrees , with a South westerly wind , chill factor 11 degrees, sun slightly above the horizon so sun visor in the car was required for 8 minutes of the journey.

On leaving the house the temptation to drive to McDonalds was hard to resist, I could smell the sweet taste of a Sausage Mcmuffin , but the use of the force ( Star Wars quote ) we did a Drive by ( Gangs in the Hood quote ).
This is going to take too long, I will get the the point.

On arrival to the rugby club, slight detour to the pub 40 yards up the road as I was following the mad Mullen , we parked up near the Clubhouse, this was promising , close to the bar / coffee / toilets , main area, ice cream man , I thought this will be perfect, then I discover we are playing on the pitches half a mile away , standard practice for Evesham U12’s
No usual £5 entry fee so I was happy.

A quick military operation ( Ed ! ) and the tent was up, although Ed was not happy with the direction of the wind , as our Evesham flag was 28 degrees been blown the wrong way, however we had to live with it.
No Hakka to be performed today due to weather conditions.

Game 1 – Evesham vs Broadstreet RFC
Time – 10.30am
Pitch condition – Green grass with a touch of mud.
Ref – Young and keen
Captain today was Tom Merrell , first class leadership skills ( a little like Warburton who plays for Wales in case you were wondering )
Parents attire – a few hats were seen , 70% of coat wearing.
Kick off and within seconds a great first tackle from Tom Stone , not that he is my son of anything , but of course gets this first mention.!
2 minutes in and Broadstreet get a try
Evesham boys seem dazed
A rusty start to say the least
Clearly a well drilled team were Broadstreet
Evesham fight back and tested their defence , which was very strong I have to say, there was no way through.
Ball needs to come out quicker
An eye injury to Max forced him to come off
Will Tracy is on in replacement
A great scrum by Evesham ( just like Wales ) , then some good rucking but no way through
Half time blows , one nil down.
Ed and Tim run on to give the team a b…l.o.ck , sorry , I meant to say some great coaching advice
Kick off 2nd half
A try saving tackle goes in from Bretty ( just as Halfpenny would for Wales )
A few silly penalties given away by Evesham ( Ed and Tim are making notes I am sure )
It was like a high tackle fest.
Another try 4 mins into 2nd half by Broadstreet as they break through some missed tackles again ( basics )
Another try again to Broadstreet
A deep kick off from Stoney / Slate paid off this time , and it was a cracking off load from Hamish to Bretty who dives over the line for a try
Game ends
7 mins each way = 14 minute game. Time taken for Evesham to warm up usually around 15 mins, we will be ready for the next match.
Final score 1 – 3 to Broadstreet , well deserved , some great well drilled rugby.
I noticed the drone of the A46 road behind may have put our lads off !

Game 2 - Evesham vs Newcastle ( Staffs )
Time – 11.20am
Pitch – Still green , although a little more churned up, a little blood from Max’s eye injury near the side line could be seen.
Ref – Still the young lad
Weather – Slight South Westley wind, Sun less present now. A few moans and groans from Parents and a couple of mentions of its just like Winter were heard.
Ed – Shades are on
Parents attire - coats required, lots of Wellies seen this morning.
Jo ( JB’s better half ) commented on how she was enjoying the sandwiches JB had made for her. Apparently JB packs a big lunchbox !
Ok on with the game.
They kick off , we catch and run , great off load and run by Hamish , we now enter into a Scrum 5 metres out. This is going to be it , we are going over…….
Nope , high tackle , penalty to them , they run and score a try , one nil to them.
Will Mullen performs a textbook off load to JB junior ( Bretty) and he is in for a try 4 mins in, making it one all. ( 1 – 1 )
Bretty has injured himself whilst swan diving over the line, but he sucks it up and recovers well, unlike JB ( who is a wimp , and has stitched me up into writing a match report , did I mention this ! )
The pressure is now on , Evesham miss some tackles and it’s a try to them ( England style basics )
Half time blows and we are down one try.
Ed and Tim sprint over for some more encouraging words to the boys.
Tom Slate kicks off for the 2nd half , pressure is firmly on , I am gripped to my iphone writing these notes.
Jack takes on the whole pack and smashes through ( unlike his old man , who couldn’t punch his way out of a paper bag , OJ ! ) so close but not quite.
They come away with the ball, and yes , you guessed it a try to them .
Quick kick off , a few missed tackles sadly , and it’s another try to them
Last few minutes, come on boys, dig deep. Hamish running hard and fast , bang , straight through and over for an Evesham try.
Good effort boys , final score 2 – 4 to Newcastle ( Staffs )

Game 3 – Evesham vs Old Leamingtonians RFC
Time – 12.10 ish , think so , forgot to notice the time as now well into my pack lunch. ( Not JB’s! )
Pitch – Green , with a lonesome gum shield left from the last game.
Ref – who cares , but he has a loud whistle and is in charge , I missed Ed’s yellow top today and legs I must say..
Weather – Cold. Slight dampness in the air , cloud coming in , help…!!
Parent attire – I now have my coat on , gloves are evident on many hands, scarves and furry head pieces are put into action.
Jo ( JB’s better half ) now with Hood up.
Ok , the game is about to start , hold on , Ed has now taken his shades off.
A great start from the boys putting us 5 metres out from their line.
James Hoare performs a crunching tackle into touch , wow , these boys are hitting hard now.
Will Lowe playing hard , strong performance.
Tim shouting lots of stuff but can’t understand him very well
Injury 5 mins in to Indy , firefighter turned coach , now turned medic confirms a switch is required. Geordie comes on eager as replacement
Penalty to them , a tackle into touch by Will Tracey , bang , ouch… Great stop.
Pressure is getting too much for our defence , and a try goes in. Heads up boys.
Kick off , we are rucking well, Jamie performs a first class off load , a great dummy by Jack , but no way through , ref blows for half time, we are down one try to nil.
2nd half , kick off , great run by Tom Merrell , gets stopped. Ball is stolen , and another try to them.
Joel performs a crunching tackle. Indy solid in defence making sure no way through.
Some great team work all round , the buzz is on.
Jordie does a great steal, moves the ball out to the backs , Hamish runs and off loads to mini JB ( Bretty ) and he is in for a try
Jamie does a cracking run who finally gets stopped, no support though , boys still celebrating Bretty’s try.
Penalty to us , moved the ball out , Will is in for another try…………. Slate in support , Will gets nailed 2 metres out into touch , ref blows whistle end of game
Final score 1 -2 to Old Lemons , close game boys.

Game 4 – Evesham vs Camp Hill ( To be fair they all looked pretty straight to me , poor joke , not mine , honest )
Why we are playing these – It’s for the Shield Semi final , so hold onto your hats..!
Time – 1.10pm , sides went up on tent at 1.02pm . It’s Like Everest base camp, although now captures the smell of a teenage changing room.
Weather , Ref , clothing , blah blah – Yes , cold, wet , didn’t notice we had a ref this game.
Pitch , we are on a new pitch, very soft ground , like a trampoline, so tackles will be a nice soft landing.
Let’s go , kick off , wind behind us , Will Lowe catches , great run. Another run seen from Jamie , amazing , these boys are hungry now.
Will Brett in for is this is forth Try ? ( note to JB . £5 per try x 4 = £20 ) cracking finish. Well deserved.
James goes off like a greyhound with his one handed ball run , stopped finally.
Hamish goes for his almost full pitch sprint and lands a superb try , great work from the tall one. Ref questions his age. Quick birth certificate check and the game is back underway.
Jack steals the ball, great work ( a thief, again just like his Dad ) , and powers over the line for a try. Good man.
Lots of rucking in this game , but nobody wanting to pick the ball up , it must be hot to touch maybe.
The rain is now cold. Time is ticking on , the field is getting wet.
Stoney move up is shouted 3 times by Tim , Stoney finally gets the message.!
Great move out to the backs from the forwards ( hard men ! ) , Hamish run and off load to the Bretster and try ( £25 pound now JB or am I now just making this up )
Tom kick off , thinks he is on a full size pitch( will talk to him in car about this Ed / Tim don’t worry ) , goes dead, scrum in middle.
Jamie picks up an injury , Indy is on.
Some great moves by our boys now, they are warmed up and all over this game. Forwards winning the ball again for the glory boys in the backs, Hamish off loads again to Will Brett ( I am not making this up JB ) and bang he is only over for his £30 pay out ( sorry , try.)
It’s all over and we are triumphant , and march onto the final.
Final score Evesham 6 – Camp Hill 0.

Game 5 – The final ( Shield ) !! Evesham vs Moseley RFC ( I think ) losing the will now , as my iphone is wet.
Weather , cold , wet , wind has moved direction , now more Southern to East , with a wind speed of 20 knots.
Clothing report – Lots of clothes.
Ref – Man in black top, runs about amongst players
Kick off let’s be having you ….
Their kick off , straight to Tom ( Slate, my lad ) who catches ( safe hands ) and runs , performs an up and under , Ball lost, but Scrum to us.
Tom Merrell great captain run , hard and fast , passed out , Will Mullen in for a try !!! Yippee ( His Dad was so pleased , and jumped for joy , he was saying how glad he was that he hadn’t missed this moment )
Great run by Joel , stopped, Jack acting as Scrum Half , Will to Slate, almost there , Hamish to Mighty Mullen , stopped last minute.
Tom catch and run , Stopped.
Penalty to us , no support runners , stopped , James catch and drive, Tom Merrell in for a try
Kick off to Will Brett, Jack Steam rollers his way through the opposition like Skittles on the Wii. Half Time.
Tom Kicks off , and follows up , good tackle , wraps him up.
Head Injury to opposition , two of them off .
Scrum down , Max scrum half, what a great little player
Hamish is on his run , breaks through , 3 metres from the line in a great one team movement passes to James Hoare and James is over for his try.
Next phase of attack , penalty to us , 5 metres out , big shout is called , it’s a backs ball, ball is moved out and guess what , oh yes JB get that cheque book out its only Bretty in for his try ( may as well round this up to a clear 50 sheets )
Tom Merrell takes a great ball from kick off , passes it out , and Hamish is over for a try ( I would suggest a cool £20 from Pops mate should cover it )
Full time , Evesham are the winners , the crowd go wild, there are streamers on the pitch , air horns , fireworks…. Okay the truth is the tent is been taken down with players and parents still in it , we are out of here.

Just when we thought we could wheel spin out of the car park , we had the presentation to attend. The boys had medals and photos with some WASP players , no Welsh Players were seen so I was not really interested. For some reason I have come home sun burnt , not sure how that happened !