Under 12

10th February '08

Today Colwyn Bay (CB) under 12s hosted Chorley and Pwllheli. After a resounding success last weekend away against Bro Ffestiniog (68-0 , M.O.M. Jake Lovett) the Squad spirit was high boosted by the thought of playing at home for the first time since October. The day started with Chorley playing Pwllheli. Chorley and CB lent 2 players each to Pwllheli who were hit by injuries and ½ term. The first try for Pwllheli was scored by CB’s Sean Sheridan. The game finished 12-5 to Chorley. Sean and Shaun both played exceptionally well for Pwllheli and were congratulated on their play by the Pwllheli Coach. Well done boys. The second match was CB and Pwllheli. This was a great game of rugby with CB making a great early start with 2 quick tries. Unfortunately we then lost our grip on the game and allowed Pwllheli to come back at us with 3 unanswered tries of their own. CB did not let this get them down, with strong running from Bill Harpum, Jake Lovett and a strong all round performance from the rest of the team. We battled back into the game with a great try made from strong running and great support play. Pwllheli came back with another try to seal the game 26-17 to them. Considering that the last time we played Pwllheli we lost 34-0 this is a wonderful improvement. The CB M.O.M. for this first match was Bill Harpum. Bill played the best rugby I have ever seen him play. He showed a great range of skills, dummy passes and side stepping off both feet but what made be really proud was his try saving tackle while tracking back with an injury. A fantastic effort Bill!

The final game of the day was CB against Chorley. The best rugby CB under 12s have ever played. Full commitment from the whole team led to a convincing victory. The forwards worked hard in contact, ruck and maul causing turn over ball and attacking positions for the backs. The backs in return used strong running, excellent passing and good support running to score the tries. Corey Butler was unlucky not to score a try but his hard work and endless determination was rewarded with the M.O.M award for this game. What was the Score? 36-0!!! with a hat trick on debut for Nick. This was a wonderful team performance and the boys should be very proud of themselves!!!

Finally I would like to congratulate Tom and Luke for passing their WRU Level 1 Coaching courses. Well done!

6th January '08

Llandudno 56 Colwyn Bay 0.

Colwyn Bay (CB) lost heavily today to a very well drilled and physical Llandudno side that played an exciting and open game of Rugby. Well played Llandudno. The seven weeks without a game showed in CB’s slow start and Llandudno did not allow CB to get into their stride with a superbly efficient and aggressive defence which ensured CB were always kept on the back foot. CB’s plight was not helped by a complete lack of tackling for the first 15 minutes which did slowly improve led by Jacob Griffith and Patrick Wreglesworth. In very difficult circumstances CB kept playing and when they got knocked down they just got straight backup and into the game. Several players went off injured but all wanted to get back on the pitch and into the game. There is a lesson to be learnt here and that is you have to make your tackles and don’t just wait for the opposition to run at you, run at them to make the tackle.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal it is the courage to continue that counts.

18th November '07

Leigh 5 tries CB 0 tries, Rhyl 3 tries CB 5 tries.

This Sunday we travelled to Rhyl. We took a squad of only 13 players due to injuries and other commitments.

CB decided to ask Rhyl if we could play 10 aside, half pitch. They very sportingly agreed and suggested that I should also ask Leigh. This came as a bit of a surprise as I thought we were only going to play Rhyl. Leigh, luckily, were in agreement. Let the tournament begin.

Leigh were a well drilled side who used the ball well and ran straight and hard. This resulted in CB having to tackle for all they were worth. In the end Leigh we too strong for CB. At this point special mention must go to Alex whose tackle count was in double figures for this match (An outstanding performance for one of our newest players). CB played well in this game but couldn’t quite find the killer passes due to the Leigh pressure.

Our second game was Rhyl. They were a big physical side who had given Leigh a good run for their money. This would be a stern test for CB. What a great game! Rhyl started hard and fast and it was only good tackling from CB that held them out. Corey led the way here by putting in some great tackles and, by using good technique felled players twice his size. The rucking from CB was excellent which led to quick recycled ball and opportunities for the backs. The pressure applied to Rhyl at restarts was great leading to mistakes by Rhyl and more opportunities for CB. In a 20 minute game 8 tries were scored, 3 for Rhyl and 5 for CB by Niall (a great debut on the wing), Ben (strength and determination), Jacob (strong elusive running) and 2 for Tom (just brilliant). I was very pleased by the way the boys rose to the occasion with a lot of them playing out of position with not a word of complaint (Joseph, I will try very hard not to ask you to play second row again, it’s a long way from inside centre but thank you, Alex it is an equally long way from hooker to wing Cheers).

This was the best CB have played this season and they deserve to be praised along with the parents who were there to witness another win and some very skilful rugby by their boys. Thank you all.

28th October '07

Llangefni 27 - Colwyn Bay 5

Not our best game ever but not our worst. We just never seemed to get going after the enforced delay at the start of our game. I believe that this is where we lost our focus on the challenge ahead. Llangefni (Ll) just never gave us any opportunities to settle. They ran straight and hard again and again forcing us into endless tackles which caused us to lose our shape. There was too much standing around looking at the ball by the Forwards at the breakdown and when the Backs eventually got the ball we did not look to pass and each boy tried to do it all by himself rather than looking to his team. Ll bullied Colwyn Bay (CB) out of the game. CB tackled and tackled and this led to us getting very tired in the second half and our heads dropping. We must tackle the opposition by the legs as we did so well during the first half. We must not let them start running at speed . We must take the tackle to them. Jacob was once again the try scorer after a great run in broken play.

Well done to Ll who were the better team on the day. We know how well we can play together as a team and in the next match I know we will.

21st October '07

Colwyn Bay 56 - Bro Festiniog 21

On a beautiful sunny day the U12s found out that they can play great running rugby. The u12s showed patience and confidence in their game. Accurate passing and good support running led to a great win.

Where to start, Bro played well and never gave up scoring 21 points which would normally be good enough for a win. Bay found their confidence and scored 56 points, 10 tries and 3 conversions. Who scored, Jacob 4 tries, Joseph 2 tries and the following scored a try each Bill, Tomos, Patrick and Jordan. These tries could not have been scored without the help of the whole team.

I must mention Tom’s try from the restart; a clear call, catch and a return straight to the opposition try line. Sean S. put in a great restart kick and through his chase put tremendous pressure on the Bro defence which led to a knock on, our scrum and a try. Well done Sean. I was pleased to see Bill’s use of a Dummy pass to open up the Bro defence which meant he went crashing over for a Try. Joseph’s two tries came from strong direct running, a fine example. Jacob and his four tries were helped by good handling in the Backs allowing him to get the ball in space and use his speed and determination to cross the line and to get the ball as near to the posts as possible to help our kickers. This game was a fine team performance and shows what we can do! Well done to you all.

14th October '07

Caernarfon 30 - Colwyn Bay 5.

I’m sure you have read this before but the score does not reflect the closeness of the game. Colwyn Bay (CB) played with structure, determination and an undying spirit.

CB was captained by Patrick Wreglesworth who led from the front with a good strong performance. CB’s backs were well marshalled by Andy Pye with good communication. They were flat in defence and deep in attack and marked their men. Well done Andy. We had 3 players making a debut today, Danny Sean and Alex. All 3 boys played with great spirit and acquitted themselves well with Alex winning Man of the Match for his outstanding tackling (6 before I stopped counting) and good strong running. Jacob scored our only try with a great strong run down the wing. Caernarfon played well and punished any mistakes made by CB. The game was highly competitive with both sides working hard in both the ruck and maul situations. This game was a great improvement on previous outings with better play in all areas. We have now a good solid base for further improvement. Well done boys.

Nine teams attended the Caernarfon Tournament; these teams were split into two leagues. Colwyn Bay were with Pwllheli, Ruthin B, and Caernarfon.

The top two teams to progress into the main competition and the bottom two into the Plate competition.

Pwllheli 10 Colwyn Bay 1

A very poor start to the day by Colwyn Bay. No tackling, no looking for support, no passing and no communication. We got what we deserved. Ben Cowsill got us a consolation try.

Ruthin B 9 Colwyn bay 0

More of the same. No shape and still no tackling. We played as individuals making good occasional breaks but not looking for support or passing the ball early led us into trouble and being isolated and turned over.

Caernarfon 7 Colwyn bay 2

In this game we started to play as a team. It was good straight hard running and passing that led to our two tries by Ben and Jacob. There were excellent individual tackles but we bunched up and left lots of space on our wings.

So, as a result of these disappointing results we found ourselves rooted to the bottom of the table. This led us into the unenviable position of having to play Bangor (bottom of the other league) to stay in the plate competition or go home. A true do or die game.

Bangor 0 Colwyn Bay 2

We won! It seems that it takes us 3 games to wake up and start believing in each other. This was a heart stopping game with the two teams aware of what was at stake, end to end rugby.

We played with ferocity, commitment and skill. We all tackled hard, ran hard and believed in our ability. Our two tries were by Jacob and Andy but were created by the rest of the team.

This result got us into the Plate semi final against Llangefni.

Llangefni 3 Colwyn Bay 3 (Llangefni win on sudden death Try!)

A fantastic game of Rugby. Bay take the lead with two tries early in the first half by Jacob and Oliver engineered by good play from the rest of the team. Llangefni came back with a try of their own. In the second half Jacob scored again. Llangefni then came back with two unanswered tries. This brought the game to a tie and sudden death. After about ten minutes of great defence and attack by both teams Llangefni scored the winning try. The boys from the Bay were devastated. This is where the day ended for us.

Having just read back the report I have failed to mention the injuries we collected and we collected a lot, which led to players playing out of position. There was not one complaint from the boys, they just got on with it and played where I asked them to play.

There is one undeniable fact of the day which we must take with us, WE GOT BETTER! It took us a long time to get there but we did play some good rugby.

Several people came up to me at the end of the day and said that they couldn’t believe how much the team had improved in such a short time. One Ref who was in charge of our first game against Pwllheli couldn’t believe the change in the side.

It only goes to show what is possible when we play as a team.

I would like to thank the Squad for their hard work and commitment. I would also like to thank the parents that made the trip with us for their endless support throughout the day.

Finally thanks Tracey, Tim and Tom for their help.

Training on Tuesday will start at 6.30pm. Tackling, running straight and looking for support will be high on the menu.