Finally the rain had stopped, the sun had appeared and the long awaited first fixture of the under 11 season had arrived.

Following a prolonged warm up, involving a good deal of physical contact work, in preparation for the contest, we kicked off.

The first half started at a terrific pace, with the two equally balanced side competing fiercely from the off. Both sides provided some fine play with especially strong rucking from the forwards, led by Ben Nash. Charlie Knight ferreted at the back of every break down to retrieve the ball and provide our backs with some high quality ball. This in turn produced some excellent strong running from our back line particularly Jake Solomon, Noah Ridgway-Brown and Piers Hamer (Captain). After an impressive first half the score remained 0-0.

The second half started with equal spirit to the first, but this time Shoreham’s efforts were rewarded with a try in the second minute of the game – a well worked team effort, resulting in Piers, powering over the line. Jacob Bizzell-Hawes confidently slotted the ball between the uprights to make the score 7-0 to the home team.

At this point Pennthorpe stepped up a gear, clearly not wanting to lose. What followed was fifteen minutes of closely contested battle for the win. Shoreham stepped up their game to match. It was particularly pleasing to see the boys so eager to hold on to their lead against such strong rivals.

When the final whistle went the score was 7-0 to Shoreham College. A wonderful result! Well done to all who took part.

Areas to work on: - lines of running, supporting runners and team communication.