Brad’s Bulletin Board

April 18th – Aylesbury 10s Festival

On arrival at the tournament, Pinner discovered that their group pool contained 2 of the tournament’s strongest sides, Aylesbury As and Buckingham. Coupled with Beaconsfield and Ampthill, this was always going to be a challenge, especially as this was the boys’ first experience of this format; and so it proved!

First up was Buckingham. With the matches only lasting 10 minutes, possession was paramount and a couple of missed tackles led to an early 10 – 0 deficit. A well-worked try, scored by Harrison Davies, was the culmination of some fine team work and was a just reward. Despite conceding 3 more, the boys fought back and an excellent solo run from Bradley Stevenson made 50 yards and a fine supporting run from Callum George led to him scoring one of our most impressive tries this season. Despite losing 25 – 10, we were all optimistic for what lay ahead.

Sadly, the excellent work of the first game was not repeated and led to defeats of 25 – 0 by Beaconsfield and 20 – 0 by Ampthill.

Following an hour-long wait for our final match, against tournament favourites Aylesbury As, the boys had nothing to play for but their pride, and play they did! Although Aylesbury ran out 25 – 0 winners, the score belies a titanic contest that we held our own in for much of the time.

The day brought some real heroes. Jonathan Hill showed his usual bravery by tackling anyone and everyone, despite picking up a nasty bump in the 2nd game. Adam Rees played with style and tenacity, as always proving such an asset despite his stature and Dominic Seiler, playing for every minute the team did, tackled and battled with his customary stoicism but two others deserved special praise. Making his Pinner debut and with scant experience under his belt, David Wilkinson showed what an enormous asset he will become to the team. He tackled, he rucked, he made ground and was utterly fearless throughout. Great things beckon with David in the team! However, man of the day was Ryan Beaumont. He competed for every ball and showed energy reserves none of us knew he had! With 10 Ryans, Pinner would certainly have been in the final!  A credit to everyone, he led by shining example and proved that forwards can run!

A great learning curve for us all that will hopefully lead to greater success in the future.

14th March – away at Teddington RFC ( Won 26 – 22 )

It’s been a while since I posted a report as I didn’t want any negativity to creep into the camp but this win has been a long time coming!

It’s never, or should never, be about winning or losing but the manner in which you compete and I was immensely proud of our boys on Sunday.

Down by 6 players, Teddington kindly lent us a flanker and a winger and we played 14 a side with 7 man scrums. Despite going 2 tries down ( albeit not as quickly as usual ), we fought back to 3 – 1 down at half time. The 2nd half was spectacular with all 12 players being contenders for man of the match, such was the commitment. It eventually went to Adam Rees for a fine brace of tries and incessant tackling but special mention must also rest with Jonathan Hill ( as usual, the biggest man on the pitch ) and Dominic Seiler for some unsung heroism, especially at the rucks.

Well done to all of you – you made everyone watching immensely proud. Let’s repeat it next week. For Tyler!

24th January – away at Richmond RFC ( Lost 33 – 12 )

The scoreline is a little misleading as we matched them throughout the game with one exception; a fast, large inside centre that everyone in our team refused to tackle! The adage goes that forwards decide who wins the match but the backs decide by how much. Unfortunately too  many of our forwards were absent and not involved enough at the breakdown or in tackling in open play but we played cohesively and started to move the ball about well. Great, solid performances from Jamie, Sam, Liam and Dominic and Tyler was man-of-the match. Our tries were scored by Matthew and Hitman – that would have made a decent win-double at Ladbrokes! We missed the aggression of Dillon and the virtuoso skill of “Big” Bradley Stevenson but it’s definitely getting better. Bring on Watford next week!!

17th January – Triangular with Hertford B and Saracens B ( Lost 29 – 0 & 22 – 0 respectively)

This was our first match back after an extended Christmas break and sadly it showed! Some of the boys were rusty and most punched below their weight as, despite the scorelines, we could have held our own against Sarries. The first game was one to forget – great performances from Dillon, Adam, Jonathan and Dominic weren’t enough but we really fought back in the 2nd match.

Despite going 2 early tries down, we camped out on their 5 metre line for 15 minutes before a costly error allowed their flanker to run the length of the pitch and score. We were held up 3 times and this wa slooking more like a team performance.

Unfortunately our persistantly-poor tackling and the forwards lack of presence at the rucks is costing us dearly – at least we know where to concentrate in the training sessions! Richmond next week – bring it on!

( Would type this in blue but Spud has changed something and I can’t find the button!!!  ) CHEEKY – simple stuff, here we go, done for you:)

29th November – Maidenhead (A)  14 – 36

This match was soooooooooooooooooooo frustrating! Two months ago, when we welcomed Maidenhead to us for our opening match, we were trounced and well out-classed. Today we were so close to a shock win, despite the scoreline. This was a massive team performance where everyone contributed.

We camped out on their 5 metre for the opening 10 mins but failed to score – they then got 2 quick tries against the run of play and this was how it continued. We had far more possession but a couple of foolish errors gave them another 2 tries and then, when we were pushing forward at the end, they fired home their last two, again in quick sussession.

Our tries were scored in typical forward fashion by Ryna Beaumont and Bradley Stevenson, both of whom could have had a brace with ease. Harrison Davies converted both with ease and it is a real shame that we didn’t go home with more to show for it.

As mentioned, massive team performance but Tyler Hone, Dominic Seiler and Dylan Mahoney all deserve special mention for their tenacity and grit.

We can go into the Christmas break with our heads held high and the whiff of vicotry just around the corner!

22nd November – Slough (A)  26 – 38:

A late change of fixture saw us travel to Slough on this dismal, stormy day. Relentless, driving rain and a raw wind did little to help the spirits, nor did 2 early conceded tries. Regardless, the boys dug deep and turned it into a thrilling  victory. Everybody played their parts but particular mentions must go to Bradley Stephenson for tireless running with the ball, Dominic & Bradley Smith for huge defensive performances, great tries from Piers, Harrison and a brace for Tyler, a magical Captain’s performance from Callum capped off with a fine try and a Man of the Match performance from Dillon, our new winger, who scored a magnificent try on his debut. Bring it on Maidenhead – we’re ready!!

10th November:

Awesome work rate and effort on Sunday saw the best performance as a team by far, regardless of the result. Doj, John, Lee & I all blown away by some individual performances, especially the 2 Bradleys, Adam, Jonathan, Callum and Harrison. Well done – you should all be very proud of yourselves.

One or two of you really need to get more stuck in, make some tackles and have fun out there! Training is now more important than ever, especially for the pack, as our scrummaging wasn’t great, our line outs needed some work and our defending at the breakdown / overall rucking was very weak. Please make the effort to be there on a Thursday – we do know it’s difficult – but those of you who are absent are the ones that really need to be there!!

Well done to you all once again.