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18 February 2018 / Team News

Ayden is up for the cup!

Ayden is up for the Cup!

 

Newport HSOB 7-12 Cae

 

Newport HSOB! What a strange name. These lads are 11 years old, they’ve only just started high school, never mind been old boys...and whilst I’m at it..Newport? The place is in Caerleon! (mind you, the only ancient ruins visible today were me, Darren and Jason on the sidelines).  

 

A cup game! There is always something magic about the cup, normal results go out the window and anything could happen. Surely though, with so many players missing, it would be stretching things to suggest we had a chance here, even our own Tommy Cooper couldn’t pull that out of the hat....or could he...

 

First half:  Newport 0-5 Cae

 

What resolve! What determination! And that was just the parents hiking through the mud to get to the pitch, these parents are made of stern stuff and didn’t quit though...something that appears to have been handed on to their kids..

Sawyer started the game as if his mother had warned him the WiFi would be turned off at home for a week unless Cae won this game, he duly rampaged everywhere.

We dominated and didn’t release our grip in this half, the conditions suited our forwards and we squeezed the old boys like a boa constrictor preparing for lunch.

Champagne Charlie performed his usual wonders making ground and passing like a Harlem globetrotter and Ross was the boss up close.

Jayden, that wily master of the hookers dark arts won a succession of scrums against the head to ensure that Newport never developed a platform, Jack E provided a barrier in defence with Big Lew that would have made old Hadrian blush and Liam and Jack L who had both rubbed their hands with glee upon seeing the muddy conditions at kick off preceded to spend the game with their noses in the mud like pigs scouring for truffles hoovering up loose ball.

Charlie got the only try, with a step and a burst of pace leaving him free to touch down under the posts.

 

Second Half: Newport 7-12 Cae

 

Cae started this half in the same style, this really was a superb all round performance, Big Lew who was becoming more and more prominent with his runs and beautifully timed passing crashed over to extend the lead and this was clinically converted by Ross to give us a comfortable lead.

As the second half continued though, Newport came back into the game and started to utilise their strong backs. After a spell of prolonged pressure they notched a converted try to leave them only a score behind us.

With no substitutes and the team visibly flagging it looked like the game was up and heroic defeat would be the outcome...but no... our backs came to the fore like so many knights of days of yore. Our back line was where we had been most depleted through unavailability but I noticed them gather under the posts as a unit when Newport scored the try. There was a Celtic huddle and I heard phrases like “ they shall not pass” and “ we can do this” and seven boys nodding as they prepared to play ten minutes that will stand forever as a character witness for one and all.

Tyler sniping from scrum half, made ground and tackled hard, Kai didn’t take a backward step, Kody saved us time after time, Joe packed a punch every time he was called upon with his sizzling runs, Jess made ground with every carry and Cam slotted into the difficult full back position with some aplomb, making a string of try saving tackles.

However, despite all these good performances it was Ayden who stood out, completely fearless both in attack and defence, he refused to yield an inch, shrugging off a whack to the face. On one occasion he tore into a ruck, taking away two opposing players to secure much needed ball.

Wave after wave of attack came and parents on the sidelines had to be reminded to keep breathing such was the tension in the last few minutes. As they attacked with time up, that cool cucumber Cam, took control of a loose ball with a hint of nonchalance to despatch the game and secure a famous victory.

 

Man of the Match

 

Was Ayden for a mighty performance on the wing.  He showed bags of character throughout, brave and resolute, he stood his ground in the most difficult of circumstances. When asked what he put his fantastic performance down to, he replied with a steely jaw and his eyes fixed on something in the distance “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” and then casually dismissed my request for an autograph with a wave of his arm before walking off into the distance.. wise words indeed...onwards and upwards to the next round for the little green army.

 

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