DOUBLE CHAMPIONS!!!

Watch the World cup @ Pinner RFC

Watch the Rugby World Cup at Pinner RFC!

We will be showing the following games at the club on our BIG Screen! All Friends, family and Children welcome.

Friday 18th Sept England v Fiji (opening Ceremony) Kick Off 8pm

Sunday 20th Sept Samoa v USA Kick off 12pm

Sunday 20th Sept Wales Uruguay Kick off 14:30

Sunday 20th Sept New Zealand v Argentina Kick off 14:45

Saturday 26th Sept England v Wales Kick off 8pm

Saturday 3rd October England v Australia Kick off 8pm

Saturday 10th October England v Uruguay Kick off 8pm

Saturday 17th October Quarter Final Kick off 4pm & 8pm

Sunday 18th October Quarter Final Kick off 1pm & 4pm

Saturday 24th October Semi Final Kick off Kick off 4pm

Sunday 25th October Semi Final Kick off 4pm

Saturday 31st October Final Kick off 4pm

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

PINNER ARE CHAMPIONS!

Pinner Rugby Football Club –match report for Sat 11^th April

Pinner win the play- off final

Man of the Match: Neill King

Having gone all season with a 100% win record to secure first place in the Middlesex merit Table 5 and having defeated 4^th placed Chiswick in the semi-final Pinner faced the much sterner task of Hammersmith & Fulham in the play-off final at Wasps on Saturday.  This was just one of six finals in a festival of Merit Table rugby held at the Wasps and Middlesex county HQ in Acton.

Strong wind most across the ground and a bone hard surface made conditions difficult. Right from the kick-off Pinner’s powerful pack showed its intent and were soon camped in the H&F 22. Pushing back the opposition‘s scrum led to a ruck and the ball was quickly got to their powerful left wing John [Bow] Petrella to get the first try after only 3 minutes.  From the re-start Pinner again won the scrum and number 8 Andrew Alexander burst through from the half-way line only to be brought down well in the H&F 22. Pinner were not to be denied and kept pressing.  Winning yet another scrum Alexander picker up and drove over for the second try to give a 10 – 0 lead.  Constant probing by scrum-half Chris Jepsen kept up the momentum.  Hammersmith & Fulham made a few excursions into the Pinner half but ferocious tackling and a well organised defence ensured little opportunity to threaten.  On one of these around half –way Pinner fly-half Chris Hall intercepted a H&F pass to sprint 50 m to score under the posts.  This time Jepsen’s kick was successful and the lead stretched to 17 – 0.  An injury to influential wing-forward Dan Smith caused a re-organisation of the Pinner pack with replacement Dave Logan going into the second-row but this in no- way weakened their dominance.  With half-time approaching Logan proved his worth when following a series of rucks near the H&F line he drove over for the fourth try to give Pinner a comfortable 22 – 0 lead at the interval.

The second half proved a different story.  The wind, having veered to the north, was now in Pinner’s face making progress up field very difficult.  Hammersmith made full use of this wind kicking deep into the Pinner half.  The Pinner defence was resolute and time and time again they resisted the H&F attacks.  Eventually the pressure told and some sloppy covering allowed H&F in for a try.  This inspired the opposition who now sensed an opportunity.  On the half-hour the swirling wind ruined a Pinner line-out which H&F capitalised upon. A few quick passes and they scored under the post. Pinner’s lead was now reduced to 22 -12.  Captain Aaron Nicholas now rallied his team and egged on by the biggest and most vocal group of supporters on the ground the Pinner were not going to see their season ruined in the last few minutes.  Stirling defence, courageous tackles and the line was held.  Agonising extra minutes of injury time all added to the drama but when the final whistle blew Pinner were Champions by 22 -12.

The Middlesex Shield was presented to Aaron Nicholas by Michael Barnes, immediate Past President on Middlesex Rugby and himself a vice-president and former captain and chairman of Pinner.  The celebrations were unreserved continuing back on the coach and well into the night at the Pinner clubhouse in Hatch End.

Next Saturday, with the chance of a double, Pinner travel to Twickenham RFC for the final of the Merit Cup kicking-off at 3:00 pm.  The coach for the team and supporters will leave Shaftesbury Playing fields around 12 noon.  All support welcome as having had the largest group at Wasps certainly inspired the team.

CUP FINAL FEVER!!!

Pinner play their cup final at Twickenham RFC on Saturday 18th April

Kick off  @ 2:30

All Support Welcome!!

Pinner cruise into the ‘play-off’ final

Pinner retained their 100% record by defeating fourth placed Chiswick III in the semi-final of the Middlesex Merit Table 5. They now play Hammersmith & Fulham V in the final at the Wasps ground in Acton on Saturday 11^th April, KO 12:15pm. Two weeks earlier they defeated the same club 51 – 5  to reach the final of the Cup which also will be played at Wasps a week later.  Although Chiswick brought a squad of 18 players only one was qualified to play in the front row. The regulations, which require a team to have a complete front row plus two replacements,  meant that Pinner were automatically in the final but it was agreed to play the game anyhow with uncontested scrums.  This diluted some of Pinner’s powerful forward play and, coupled with a swirling wind led to a scrappy game. The home side were first to score after ten minutes when, following a customary drive by number 8 Andrew Alexander the ball was quickly passed out to left winger Charlie Smith to score in the corner.  The Chiswick backs always looked threatening but superb defence and fearless tackling kept them out till midway through the half. Pinner scrum-half Chris Jepsen was tacked and Chiswick regained the ball. Catching the home team out of position they managed their only try which was converted to give them a 7 – 5 lead.  Pinner now pressed hard and elected to have a scrum when awarded a penalty. Being ‘uncontested’ they won the ball, driving forward to form a ruck.  Winning the ball again Jepsen found captain Aaron Nicholas who passed to centre Ashley Hicks to put the home side back in the lead at 10 – 7 at the interval.

The second half started with Pinner showing greater purpose. A long kick by Jepsen produced a line-out on the Chiswick 22.  Moving the ball to the left Hicks was on hand to get his second try. The wind was making place kicking difficult.  Pinner now spent most of the time in the visitors half and their threatened counter-attacks were met with ruthless tackling.  Once again, Pinner opted for a scrum from a penalty. The ball was recycled several times before prop-forward, Neill King who is making a habit of scoring tries advanced the score to 20 – 7.  John Petrella made several of his bullocking runs brushing defenders aside.  With time running out Chiswick fumbled the ball in their own 22.  Nicholas quickly  gathered it up to set up the final move which allowed Jepsen’s try  to bring the final score to 25 – 7.

Pinner plan to make a day of the first of their two finals at Wasps.  A coach for players and supporters will leave the clubhouse at Shaftesbury Playing Fields at 10 am with the hope of some silverware to display at their Awards Dinner on 24^th April.

Under 14 XV

On Sunday  the U14’s hosted Hertford in the driving rain.  They started brightly with a try by Sam Alexander and were in contention at half-time being only 12 – 7 down.  The second half combination of strong wind and more organised backs saw Hertford run in three tries to give a final score of 31 – 7 to the visitors.  Pinner fought gamely throughout and the score flattered Hertford, which is a much larger club.

Pinner Taggers Victorious

Pinner RFC under 7s Development squad were victorious in the Middlesex U7 Tag Tournament at Teddington last weekend.

Nine players, playing as two teams of four, started with a round robin group stage. Wins against Regent’s Park/Teddington (combined score 17-13) and Rosslyn Park (12-11) saw them progress to the semi-final.

A tight match against Wasps saw Pinner eventually triumph by a single score – 13-12.

The final, against Staines, was a tense affair. The Pinner A squad went down 9-6 losers,  however a strong showing by the B squad (10-5) saw them secure combined victory in their first ever tournament.

After the match, coach John Hone reflected, “At the end of the day, the kids have gone out there and done a job. They all played in good spirit and I’m proud of all of them.”

Assistant coach Anthony O’Donovan said, “Let’s hope there’s more to come from these promising youngsters!”

Pinner Tag squad train on a Sunday morning from 10 till 12 at Shaftesbury Playing Fields in Hatch End.

Busy, busy morning @ Pinner RFC

With over a hundred plus visiting players today, at Pinner Rugby Club, it was all hands on deck to provide a warm Pinner welcome to all. Even some of our committee members were at the club today, to see how the minis do a Sunday! One made a comment that maybe the U11/U12s could show the first team a thing or two!

Today at Pinner Rugby club we hosted over 100 children playing rugby in the glorious spring sunshine. Chess Valley RFC brought their tag teams (U6 – U8), U9s and U10s to play some great games. Initially the teams joined together for a fun training session and then matches were played. Great fun was had by all.

The Pinner U12s played Barnes RFC and Teddington RFC in the U12s Middlesex Tournament. During the first match – Teddington v Barnes – Barnes played a strong game and won by 40 – 7. Barnes scored 6 tries and converted all but 1! Teddington scored 1 try with a conversion.

Pinner then played Teddington RFC. It was a close match but eventually Pinner stormed through to win 19 – 12.  Joseph Holden, Reece Connolly and Luke Sealby all scored tries and 2 tries were converted by Joseph.  Ciara Evans was spotted by the referee and congratulated for her fantastic tackling. Pinner’s scrums were strong and they won the ball on most occasions.

The final match between Pinner and Barnes was a different story. This started with both teams looking fairly equal, however Pinner, who were tired after playing the previous game, found a rested Barnes were just too strong overall. Barnes RFC won  0 – 26 scoring 4 tries with 3 conversions.

The referee spoke highly of the excellent sporting attitude of Pinner players, on and off the pitch. All the players put in a fantastic effort throughout the matches and some brilliant rugby played.

To see the images from this morning please go to

Pinner RFC @ Middlesex 7s

Slough 7s Aarons first trophy or how was that possible!

This might be remembered as ‘how did we get our hands on a trophy!’

This was to be the magnificent return of Pinner to the Slough Festival, having been invited for the past two years and Aarons first time out as captain. However, whether due to inclement weather; boy did it chuck it down, the time of year, family (girlfriend) commitments or just apathy, a full squad as promised whittled down to a mere eight players, a shadow of what was expected to turn up and enjoy, what is, always a fun day of rugby, socialising and drinking (more on that as the report progresses!)

The theme of the day, was fancy dress – nothing changes, from the original ’super pinner heroes’ of yesteryear to the modern thinking ‘Go Pink’, all participated to differing degrees of Primark!

In the tournament booklet Pinner were described as:

Pinner RFC sevens side is a mixture of any one from the club who feels fit enough to play at the time of each tournament. This means that players of all abilities are included in the team… big burly front rowers to the nippy wingers. Which is why at times we can show brilliance on the pitch and sometimes a bit like headless chicken like. 7s are becoming ever more popular with the club as regularly Pinner are entering two sides in each tournament…… well reading between the lines; who turns up plays, we still play 15 aside rugby, average age has got to be over 30oh and of course we must look ridiculous at all times especially if we have a tipple or two or three!

The pool in which Pinner landed itself into was a mixed bag:

The Met Police, Ernst & Young, Friends of Kenya and Woking College Old Boys

Now to be frank, Met Police were after a fight from the whistle, Ernst & Young fit, young as the name implies, quick and keen with a dashing rugby kit, Friends of Kenya; really? all were related Usain Bolt- watching them pass was basically a blur. Woking College Old Boys; how old, younger than our youngest player and not particularly good really.

Ok a quick rundown of the matches:

1st Game – couple of lagers down –  Met Police, started fairly well with Aaron scoring a try and converting it, Met then went on to score 2 tries and converted them both. Ollie then with a breakaway run scored a try for Pinner, which unfortunately was not converted. Met then goes onto score three more tries, converting all three. At this point, fatigue had already reared its ugly head, but the boys kept on trying especially in the breakdowns, winning most rucks and mauls as the game continued. And would you believe it, a Met Police player getting a yellow card, well that was a surprise! Especially in the opening exchanges of the first half one of the opposition ‘dared’ Razzell to ‘have a go’ at him, Mark, in his usual well mannered way laughed it off and smiled at him.

2nd Game: More lagers, and an incredible down pour leaving everyone soaked to the skin. Friends of Kenya, basically no match against the ultra fit and fast group of athletes (not Pinner in this case!). Pinner scored one try and I think, can’t quite recall FoK scored at least 4. Game played in very good spirit, especially as Laney had turned up in flip flops (no understanding of wet weather despite being from the land of permanent rainfall – Wales, for those who do not know) with the half time drink – Jagermeister, duly drank by the team

3rd Game: Ernst & Young – by this time Pinner were down to 7 players, no subs available, the rain had effected the reporters writing implements, paper was soggy, pen was flooded and the game went as expected, Pinner, despite some valiant work, especially in close contact situations were out run by the opposition and to top it all, our passing was fairly comical

4th Game: oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, this wasn’t going to be our finest hour, with Reza not sure which end of his body was leak first, suffering with food poisoning (I leave that to deduce what the outcome might be), luckily he found a wheelie bin pitch side and proceeded to fill it. Warren, in the warm up – yes they did warm up, dislocated two fingers and with no tape about bound them with a pink hair band – this later came back on him, as during the game they were ‘knocked out’ again, whilst asking Fred and Dave to pull them and put them right, a very young opposition player watched on, turning extremely pale asked Does it hurt? Gee join the dots. For the first time in what appeared to be an eternity, Pinner actually played really well, and if honest, had a couple of subs available would have won comfortably, however this was not the case, another loss.

By the magic of tournament rugby the next part was very weird.  Pinner, at this stage had played 4 lost 4, beer time was called, Pimms, Cider and an assortment of other beverages. The team relaxed and got themselves ready for the evening entertainment.

The tournament organisers had other plans, was it favouritism, was it spite or was it purely a mix up? Pinner had got a by to the final , oh dear.

The final: Pinner v Quintin

Pinner, have in the past played Quintin in the Middx/Herts league and have always performed well against them.

Fuelled on a mixture of drinks, lack of match fitness, being knackered, having no subs available,  playing 15s rugby instead of the rehearsed 7s game……. well you can probably guess, they lost, having the half time cider didn’t help.

Strangely, Pinner came back with a trophy, this, hopefully will be the first of many for Aaron.

Post match: further drinking, banter and socialising with opponents, what could be better… next year no drinking, we either go to win or go for a laugh, the feeling I got was that was the last time Pinner would embarrass themselves on a pitch at this tournament, roll on next year hic

Pinner Olympics – Club Open Day Saturday 18th August 2012

Saturday 18th August

Pinner Rugby Open Day

Hello to all members old and new of Pinner Rugby Club!

The 1st social event of the new season is upon us and I want to make it a whole club affair. By getting everyone together I hope to get us all excited for the season ahead and for us all to start becoming closer rather than a seniors section and minis section etc etc….. Absolutely anyone is welcome; grab all your mates family friends and anyone who might want to join a new club or even want to start playing rugby whether they are 5 or 55! lets get the beers flowing and the laughs rolling as we will have:

1) Pinner Olympics – £10 entry Per person this gets you a free beer and the trophy if you win! Grab your best/worst fancy dress outfit and come and compete in the annual games which include dizzee rascal (everyone’s fave) to the ultimate dance off!

2) Middlesex rugby bus - https://www.middlesexrugby.com/Community/MiddlesexBus/

3) karaoke- good singers bad singers and drunk singers all welcome!

4) The usual BBQ bouncy castle and fun and games for the youngsters.

5) Cross-bar challenge

Lets all do our best to get everyone down and get the season off to a good start.

Under 12s and Under 11s success @ Middlesex Festival

Following recent success at the Slough Rugby Festival and last weekends’ Middlesex Festival where the Under 10s reached the final, gaining runners up trophies and medals, it was up to the older members of Pinner Mini Section to continue with the winning streak and bring home more trophies for the club house.

Marie Curie Middlesex U11/12 Rugby Festival Sunday 18^th March 2012

Under 12s

The under 12s had been involved in league matches throughout the season and due to their excellent performances at these games had put themselves in a higher pool than the one they were initially in. They were now playing in the Middlesex Plate finals with Ealing and Teddington; two very big clubs with large squads and previous history as festival winners.

The first match versus Ealing kicked off at 10am on the dot, rare for festivals, but Wasps had organised this event with precision timings and an American announcer who jollied everyone into place!

The match started at a blistering pace, Pinner were rampant with their forward play; the pack driving through every tackle, securing the ball both in rucks and mauls. This allowed the ball to be passed around the field for all players on the Pinner team to be involved in set plays. Continued pressure by the pack pushed the Ealing defence back towards their try line and this allowed Kai Gordon to dive over the line for what was going to be the start of a try flurry. The conversion was successfully kicked by Freddie Hart, the first of six conversions, wow, that lad has a serious kicking foot!

From the restart, Pinner advanced into the Ealing half, again the pack bouncing off the tackles, the ball this time switched out to the right, where Marc Souster sprinted towards the try line, avoiding all attempts to tackle him and scored Pinner’s second try. The team was now full of confidence and started to play to their strengths. Before the half time whistle blew, Ben Stone charged through the defence and placed the ball over the try line. Half time the score was 21-0.

The half-time team talk, by coach Steve George, reminded players that there was still another half to go, to not let the concentration lapse and to start again as if it was 0-0.

Pinner took possession from the restart and immediately went on the attack; great passing by the front row with support from the second row, put the ball deep into the opposition’s half. Pinner now dominated the game, creating great spaces for the backs to pick up the ball and head straight for the try line. Through one of these gaps, ran Kai Gordon, team captain, to score his second and Pinner’s fourth try; the trusted boot of Freddie Hart converted again.

From the restart, Pinner dominated, the forwards linking well, starting with accurate draw passes, linking up with the centres, before the ball eventually found the hands of Ben Stone. It was a race to the line then for Stone, who turned the gas on and sprinted along the centre of the pitch, and despite a last ditch tackle, 1 metre from the touchline, used his power to drive over the line, scoring his second try of the match and Pinners fifth. At this point the referee asked the Ealing coach if they wanted to continue and quite rightly they wanted to finish the game, it was a hard initiation into the festival for them but with determination and grit they at least wanted a chance of scoring a try.

With a couple of minutes left in the game saw Pinner putting a strangle hold on the opposition, with some lovely passages of open play forcing Ealing to scramble their defences. Eventually an opportunity presented itself, after Charlie Gascoine shrugged of a tackle and charged past the gain line. With one man to beat, he needed only to look to his right to find scrum half Freddie Hart in support, who took the pass and easily touched down for his first try, which, predictably he converted taking the tally to six tries, six conversions – an emphatic win to Pinner 42-0

Pinner v Teddington

After such a great start this was going to be a very hard test for Pinner, as it was obvious that Teddington were going to be formidable opponents from our past encounters. It was time for Pinner to really concentrate and play their game.

From the start, Teddington gave Pinner no time on the ball, hurrying them at every breakdown, their rucking was very well drilled and to be honest after the first three minutes, Pinner looked a little shell shocked. Tackles were being missed, and more importantly the players were not supporting each other and individual runs were being picked off by the opposition easily. With great passing manoeuvres, two tries were scored simultaneously and converted even before Pinner could offer anything in return. Even though some dubious refereeing decisions went against them, possible three knock-ons, and a try that involved four movements on the ground before it was placed over the line, they still had only themselves to blame. The scrum had lost its edge and scrum half Freddie Hart was not being given the protection to make a pass; again the very well organised Teddington team prevented any real possession in the first half. A relieved Pinner side welcome the half time whistle!

Fresh legs and the movement of players into different positions, saw Pinner receive the ball from the restart and for the first time in the game saw them start to play like the team that had beaten Ealing. The forwards drove through towards the Teddington half, with revitalised tenacity, forcing Teddington to spend the next five minutes defending stoically; however, despite this resurgence of team spirit the try line evaded them.

The scrum was immense in the second half, driving the other team, at every opportunity, giving scrum-half Freddie more time on the ball whilst being able to release centres Ryan Healy and wing Sam Marchant with some defiant runs, just stopping short by smothering tackles from the opposition. This was a very different team to the first half. When Teddington managed to get the ball near to the try line, superb defensive qualities from Pinner prevented at least three try scoring opportunities. Making countless tackles, Pinner eventually managed to squeeze the ball out wide for Ryan to rampage through the opposition, who found themselves on the back foot, for what looked like a possible try scoring opportunity. Unfortunately, the ball popped up from a maul and was quickly dispatched to the Teddington wing who ran towards the corner. Despite a stern defensive effort, the ball was contentiously put over the line much to the bewilderment of Pinner, who had managed to hold the ball up. The referee’s watch appeared to hasten after this, as seven minutes disappeared into two, with Pinner making one final drive towards the Teddington’s tryline as the whistle blew. The final score ending 21-0 in favour of Teddington.

It was a lesson well learnt. All players had performed to their best and it demonstrated how far they have progressed over the season; increasing their squad size, stepping up a league and still walking away with a runner’s up trophy.

The festival proved a real test for the Under 12s who raised their game against two very big clubs. They should be very proud of what they achieved, especially as many of the team have only started playing rugby this season and for many this was their first experience of a festival, congratulations.

Next weekend they face Ealing again in a friendly fixture at Shaftesbury Playing Fields, home of Pinner Rugby Club… now that is something to look forward to.

Under 12s Squad:

Jacob Talbot, Ryan Healy, Kai Gordon, George Tillet, Dominic Boyden, Thomas Barkshire, Charlie Gascoine, Marc Souster, Paul Nash, Brendan Machell, Alex Gibbs,Dylan Kelly, Ben Stone, Taylor Goodman, Sam Marchant, Freddie Hart, Ewan Laidlaw.

U12 SHIELD
League Pos’n	Team
1st	Twickenham
2nd	Saracens B
3rd	London Scottish
4th	Teddington B
5th	Pinner
6th	Ealing B
7th	Hackney Bulls
8th	Rosslyn Park C
9th	Finchley B
10th	London Welsh B
11th	Wasps B
12th	Bank of England B

FINAL’S DAY ‘SHIELD’  RESULTS:
	Saracens B	0	London Scottish	0
Shield	Twickenham	14	London Scottish	0	Winner:	Twickenham
	Twickenham	14	Saracens B	14
	Ealing B	0	Pinner	42
Plate	Teddington B	21	Pinner	0	Winner:	Teddington B
	Teddington B	63	Ealing B	0
	Hackney Bulls	5	Rosslyn Park C	0
Shield	Hackney Bulls	7	Finchley B	0	Winner:	Hackney Bulls
	Rosslyn Park C	28	Finchley B	0
	Wasps B	5	Bank of England B	0
Vase	London Welsh B	42	Bank of England B	0	Winner:	London Welsh B
	London Welsh B	21	Wasps B	0

Under 11s

First game was against Teddington, a tough way to start against an experienced opposition, but the young Pinner team soon got stuck in with some excellent tackling and support play. Thanks to tries scored by James Nye and Luke Barrowman, the team soon had a 2 – 0 lead. On the final whistle the players left the field with the belief that this, possibly, was going to be their day.
After an hours break, Pinner returned to the field for their second game, this time against Hampstead. Now, as the Pinner players were more fired up, they were a force to be reckoned with. For the majority of the game Pinner attacked within Hampstead’s half once again with some fantastic tackling. The Pinner scrum suddenly came alive, their domination was to continue throughout every game they played becoming a main feature of Pinner’s game plan. The team played well together and again ended the game with a 2 -0 victory; tries scored this time by James Nye and Kieran Wheeler.
The third game of the day saw Pinner against Hackney Bulls. This game saw both teams very evenly matched so Pinner had to step it up a gear. It all came down to the determination of the Pinner team to not let the Bulls score against them. Again there was some awesome tackling on their own try line, prevented Hackney crossing to score any points. Eventually, Joseph Holden, for Pinner, scored two break away tries after some great support play. Final score 2 – 0 to Pinner.
The fourth and final pool game saw Pinner against Hammersmith & Fulham. An excellent match ensued until the try tally was 2-2. Then came a stalemate, with each team putting in crunching tackles, to stop the other scoring a winning try. Unfortunately some scrappy play in the final seconds of the game allowed Hammersmith to touch down a loose ball, in the dead ball area, thus winning the game 2-3. A disappointment for Pinner but a great game to watch.
After the table was completed the rests showed that Pinner’s U11s had won the pool section. Now the first and second place teams had to play each other again to determine the winner of the trophy.

This saw the Pinner team up against Hackney Bulls again. We took to the field and again a very well matched game, containing end to end play, with some great tackles and counter tackles. It soon started to show that Pinner were tiring as our substitutes had left. This then became a massively defensive game as Hackney threw all they could at Pinner. Due to the dogged determination of the players on both sides, Pinner were able to hold out to a 0-0 draw. No extra time is played in these tournaments, so it went back to pool section. The Pinner players were very chuffed to be going home with the winners trophy as the Under 11s continued their Middlesex Festival successes, by achieving joint winners with Hackney Bulls in the final.

I would like to thank the parents for giving up the majority of their Mothers’ Day and thank them for all their support this season. Don’t forget if you want to play in a winning team this or next season check out our website – www.pinnerrugby.com

Squad:

James Nye, Kieran Wheeler, Joseph Holden, Josh Parker-Brice, Cameron Fox, Maisie Balkin, Max Alexander, James Hurley, Michael Murphy, Louis George, Luke Barrowman, Joseph Edgar, Josh Maloney

Under 9s and 10s combine for final @ Middlesex

Pinner Under 10s Finalist @ Middlesex Rugby Festival

After the previous weeks outing to a very wet, cold and miserable festival at Slough RFC we were greeted by sunshine, warmer temperatures and more importantly no rain – hiphiphoora!

The festival held at Trail finders, was slightly different for the players of both Pinner Under 9s and Under 10s. When the submission date for entries was published we were not sure we could fill the squad numbers for each team; however, Hampstead RFC wanted to enter and as we had baba’d with them previously we said we would help them out.

After setting up the club gazebo (the only club gazebo at the festival – boy, did it stand out and everyone found us straight away!) we were joined by Hampstead under 10s manager Paul who indicated that he only had three players, luckily we had nearly all of our players from both ages, it was decided that we would ‘play up’ and Spud spoke to the ‘chief honcho’ and got permission – we were on!

Various names were banded about –Pinham, Hampin, Hammer, Hamper etc but the shouts from the touchline were generally based on the clubs names

Three players made themselves available for the Under 9s – Jack, Tom and Anthony who between them added the missing dimension for the team

We were in pool D along with Haringey, Old Grammarians and Hammersmith & Fulham

The first match pitted us against Haringey – from the whistle they were an attacking side, especially with two very fast players, we were 2 tries down within three minutes, time to get our heads on and start playing as a team. By half time, things had slowed down a fraction and after a team talk we held them to only scoring one try and just coming short on scoring one ourselves – it was evident at this stage that we had met the quickest team but our superb tackling and passing had proved that we were still in contention.

The second game v Old Grammarians

As the whistle blew, we were straight on the mark, great passing and rucking put us in their half, more pressure and passing out wide a try was on the cards.

To be honest, the game became a bit of a blur, if anyone has anything to add please email in. Tries by Majeed, who was unstoppable, and Joshu, meant we had won our first pool match bring on H&F

We haven’t played H&F for some years so we were a little apprehensive at what they could do on the pitch, however our scouts had been watching them and informed us we could beat them. Rotating the team players meant that we always had fresh legs to stop any try situations, but credit where credit is due; everyone played their heart out, the growing crowd witnessing some truly crunching tackles and some fantastic passing. Victory was ours, 3-0 now for the semi-finals (gulp)

After what seemed a very long time we found out who our opponents were – the host; Ealing, with their home support backing them we needed our own supporters to shout and cheer us on as they had been doing throughout the day but now with more gusto!

It was a closely fought game, with both sets of players a little nervous, one mistake, one error; one try could take you into the final or send you home.

The first half flew by, both teams cancelling out each others attacks, try line defending at its best, a mixture of rucks and mauls complimenting the swift passing, it was all going on, so much so, I have little memory of either half except that we beat them, we were in the final

The final

Hackney Bulls, an old favourite club of ours were our opposition. Before any detailed account of the final is written (over excitement again blurs the memory – help required) it must be reiterated that half the team contained under 9 players playing up which is a major tribute to them, demanding a greater effort, determination and in most cases several inches and pounds.

Hackney proved quicker off the mark than us, scoring two tries in quick succession in the first half. The second half proved more difficult for the opposition to score, which of course they did with a break away try, we responded with some great movement along the line and unfortunately the touch judge – a Hackney bulls parent! Said that Theo put a foot over the touchline and a line out was awarded – who knows that could have made a difference as Mani went over to score a try seconds later. The boys had played their hearts out and were a credit to both clubs

They were awarded the Middlesex County RFU Mini Rugby Festival Under 10 Bowl Runners-Up 2012 shield

squad

Squad: Manitou Lee, Majeed Muhammad, Joshua Beresford-Smart, Calum St John, Shiven Ambasna, Maxwell Fullerton, Reece Connolly, Luke Sealby, Jack Grey, Thomas Burns, Anthony Edgar,

Mini section @ Slough Festival = wet, cold, muddy & winners!

Pinner soaked up the pressure and were torrential with their tries!

Sunday saw the under 9/10/11 & 12s travel over to Upton Court Park, home of Slough RFC for their rugby festival; Pinner were invited by special invitation and most of the teams came from Berkshire and were new to Pinner.

After a lengthy wait to get into the car park – admin issues from Slough we parked up – and then waited for the matches to commence, a little over 45 mins late.

The playing fields were packed, the queue for a morning coffee was getting longer by the minute and the rain really started to come down; it was going to be a very muddy festival (circa Gladstonbury 2007!)

Currently the match reports are being written and hopefully some photos will emerge, although it was only possible to take photographs if you poccessed and underwater camera!

Firstly, we would like to thank all the of the parents who travelled across to Slough, having the forethought to bring gazebos (Pinner gazebo making its entrance at the Middlesex Tag Festival with the under 7 & 8s)

A special metion goes to all of the players of Pinner RFC who kept going throughout the day even though it was bitterly cold, very wet and had to spend a lot of time standing around/huddled together.

Note to the club: Investigate the purchase of emergency foil wraps – our under 9/10s were lent some from another club, they really do work.

Here are the match reports to date:

Under 12s

Festival winners!

The Slough Rugby festival was held at Upton Court Park in Slough, the day started of  wet and as the the day progress the weather got a lot worse, colder and even more heavy rain.

Despite these weather conditions, the spirits of Pinner under 12’s were quite high. The first game was against the Drifters, Pinner were holding their own in the first half, but one slip and the Drifters scored a try. Pinner were one try to nil down at half time. In the second half Pinner rallied with some spirited performances. The hard work resulted in two tries for Pinner by Mark Souster and Kai Gordon. Pinner held on to win the game by two tries to one.

Pinner’s next game was against the Thathels. Pinner just steam rollered the opposition and before you blinked were very comfortably leading. Thatchels had the odd spell of attaching Pinner, but Pinner just powered ahead with some great try’s and eventually won the game by 5 try’s to nil. Pinner now headed their group and had a long wait to find out who their next opposition was in the semi-finals.

The next opposition was Berkshire, a team who had come second in their group, they looked a good match for Pinner. Both teams gave  a good account of themselves in the first half, Pinner did play most of the first half in Berkshires half, just failing to score. Weather conditions deteriorated, both teams were making some mistakes because of not being able to hold the ball and the muddy conditions, the first half ended all square, no try’s being scored. The second half kicked of , both teams having a go at each other, The game was a stalemate, nearing the end of the game, Pinner managed to break free from the Berkshire defence and score a try. This was too much for Berkshire to come back from and another victory was recorded by Pinner, next stop the final.

The weather got even worse and the festival organisers announced that Pinner under 12’s had jointly won the under 12’s competition.

Congratulations to all the under 12’s players.

report: William Gibbs

short videos of the games are below just click to watch

IMG_0148

Latest information on the Mini Section Under 12s League progress

Latest information on the Mini Section Under 12s League progress

Sunday 29th January

Owing to a clash of matches at Pinner, with the Youth Under 15’s hosting a four way mini friendly tournament the Under 12’s had to change the venue to Bank of England who stepped up to accommodate the fixture. below is a match report by one of the team players: Paul Nash. Also photographs provided by Graham Souster; big thanks to both

After a thirty minute drive from Pinner RFC, our U12s arrived at the magnificent club of the Bank of England (Roehampton) to play our final matches, prior to the Middlesex festival in March.  Results from these games decide which pool we play in at this end of season finale.

Match 1

Pinner 57 v Bank England 0

A rampant Pinner dominated from the start with Ben Stone scoring a try in the first passage of play, instantly followed by Kai Gordon getting another one over the line. Charlie Gascoigne scored Pinner’s 3^rd try, a fantastic effort straight from the restart.  Kai scored again and Marc Souster finished off the 1^st half with yet another try. All the play was in our half with Bank of England prevented from getting anywhere near the try line by our strong defence.

With only a minute gone in the 2^nd half Pinner scored again, this time with Luke Barrowman scoring his first every try for his new team –  Pinner were playing for show now!  Marc scored Pinner’s  7th & 8th tries and Brandon Cotter finished off the impressive haul -  9 tries in all.  Conversion kicking (done at the end of each half) was a little erratic, with 3 kicks missed, but the 6 converted tries and 3 tries made up the 57-0 white wash handed out to the home side.

Match 2

Pinner v London Welsh

Pinner faced a much tougher challenge with another South of the river team – London Welsh, who are favourites to win the championship. They had already convincingly beaten Bank of England in the first game of the morning.  London Welsh took the lead going seven points ahead after a solid converted try.  A stout defending performance by our Pinner lads kept London Welsh at bay.  Pinner had plenty of possession but went in at half time still seven points adrift.

In the second half, Pinner came back out with solid resolve, the breakthrough finally coming when Marc Souster dramatically scored our one and only try of the game.  Then followed a determined defence from both sides and a try saving tackle from Freddie Hart, in the last play of the game, which kept the opposition at bay. Pressure was now on Freddie Hart, who had missed a conversion in the first match. He stood up to take the kick shooting a true and high ball that sailed between the uprights to level the score.  Honours even, what a match!

Pinner RFC U12s now look forward to showing what they are made of in the Middlesex Festival on 18th March at Grasshopper.

We have now completed all our matches prior to festival, 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses.

Sunday 27th November

Victory for Pinner U12s at the second round of the Middlesex Championships at Hackney Marshes

Pinner U12’s ventured further East than ever before to play the second round of the Middlesex Championships at Hackney Marshes, on the very edge of the Olympic Park near Stratford.

The sun was shining once again, although a brisk wind was an unwelcome addition this week, both for the players who had trouble kicking conversions and the parents, cowering on the sidelines.

Despite the distance to travel, Pinner had a strong turnout of 12 players. This wasn’t quite enough for the 13 needed at this level so once again they were very pleased that 6 players from Kilburn were able to join them to assemble what turned out to be a formidable team.

Fortune once again shined on them and they weren’t required to play the first match. The benefits from this were twofold; firstly allowing almost an hour to practise and work out team positions and secondly providing an opportunity to spy on the other teams as they played their match, which incidentally Hackney won against Wasps in convincing fashion.

Eventually it was Pinner’s turn to take to the field against Hackney. A really tough game was anticipated and for the first couple of minutes it was just that. However Pinner piled on the pressure and were able to ruck the ball close to the Hackney try line, allowing Carter to pick it up and put it down for a try. This was soon followed by another try by John and suddenly the previously formidable looking Hackney were 10-0 down and looking hopelessly lost.

Hackney dug deep, coming back strongly and eventually scoring after a period of intense pressure. Pinner didn’t buckle though and following a couple of penalties, Charlie Gascoine was able to run in a try, only to have it disallowed for handing off. He didn’t take it badly though, and within two minutes the ball was back in his hands and he ran in an almost identical try – without being penalised. Pinner were back in control 15-5, with only minutes to go until half time. In what turned out to be the last play of the half Hackney were able to run in another try to narrow the gap once again. Charlie and Niall converted two tries at half time to take the score to 19-14.

The Pinner scrum had been formidable throughout the game, winning almost every ball, regardless of the team that put the ball in. A significant change for the second half therefore was the request from Hackney for uncontested scrums as a result of an injury to one of their forwards. Ten minutes passed of hard fought rugby before Hackney broke through for a try in the corner and tying the score with one conversion opportunity in hand. Following this the Pinner coach, Steve George, made a shrewd substitution, bringing Sam Marchant back on in the right wing position. Within seconds he was handed the ball and was able to run the ball in for what proved to be the match winning try. Although Hackney continued to fight back Pinner held on for the victory, 24-21.

Pinner were in confident mood heading into the second match. They’d beaten Hackney who had previously thrashed Wasps and were expecting to be able to do the same. Needless to say, this wasn’t to be the case! Right from the first whistle Wasps were able to press forward and the Pinner team, which had been re-organised to take advantage of the uncontested scrums, were struggling to come to terms with their new positions. It didn’t take too long for Wasps to find a gap in the defence and run in a try to take them into the lead; the first and only time that Pinner found themselves behind that morning. The effect of this was to shock Pinner back into action and they soon retaliated with a brace of tries, first from Marc and then Brendan. The game moved to and fro in the middle of the field for the remainder of the half until the whistle blew to call time. After Niall successfully kicked another conversion the score was 12-7 in Pinner’s favour.

The second half was just as tough as the first, Pinner continued to play the great rugby that they had demonstrated all day; their rucking, mauling and scrumming was better than in any other game they had played. An unwillingness to retire seven metres for penalties caught them out on several occasions and a few too many handling errors resulted in many uncontested scrums in awkward positions. Nevertheless they persevered and were the first to score again when Charlie ran in his second try of the day. Pinner came close to scoring again when Louis George charged repeatedly at the Wasps defence. It wasn’t to be though and in the final play of the game Wasps were able to score a consolation try, resulting in a final score of 17-14.

Not since the Middlesex Finals in May had this team enjoyed such a successful morning’s rugby. The hotly anticipated chocolate cake then made a fleeting appearance before being demolished by the victorious Pinner and Kilburn players.

report: Nick Marchant

MIDDLESEX U12 SHIELD LEAGUE
TEAM	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	Diff	Tries	Points
London Scottish	4	4	0	0	113	12	101	17	20
Twickenham	3	3	0	0	102	14	88	13	20	* Awarded 4 pts as LW did not play
Saracens B	4	4	0	0	120	7	113	17	19
Ealing B	4	3	1	0	51	33	18	9	14
Hackney Bulls	4	2	2	0	69	81	-12	11	12
Teddington B	4	2	2	0	45	59	-14	7	11
Pinner	4	2	2	0	41	78	-37	7	10
Finchley B	4	2	2	0	50	42	8	8	9
Rosslyn Park C	3	0	3	0	40	75	-35	6	5	* Awarded 4 pts as LW did not play
Bank of England B	4	0	4	0	26	85	-59	4	1
Wasps B	4	0	4	0	21	114	-93	3	1
London Welsh B	2	0	2	0	7	85	-78	2	1	*Did not play in Round 1

	POINTS TABLE
League Pos’n	Team	Points	For	Ag	Diff	Tries	Finals Day
1st	London Scottish	20	113	12	101	17
2nd	Twickenham	20	102	14	88	13	Shield
3rd	Saracens B	19	120	7	113	17
4th	Ealing B	14	51	33	18	9
5th	Hackney Bulls	12	69	81	-12	11	Plate
6th	Teddington B	11	45	59	-14	7
7th	Pinner	10	41	78	-37	7
8th	Finchley B	9	50	42	8	8	Bowl
9th	Rosslyn Park C	5	40	75	-35	6
10th	Bank of England B	1	26	85	-59	4
11th	Wasps B	1	21	114	-93	3	Vase
12th	London Welsh B	0	7	85	-78	1

Slough 7s a day in the sunshine, a night of nakedness!

On a very hot July day, Pinner RFC attended for the second year in succession the invitation only Slough 7s at Slough RFC. The week had been a little stressful for Captain Aaron Nicholas trying to get a solid team out for the tournament, after players pulling out or not available he managed to gather a fine assortment of men including Mark Razzle!

It was to be a long hard day with many pool games with some strong opposition, however, owing to the tightness of this reporter, who blagged his way in claiming he was a player and therefore not paying the admission did not purchase a program so can not fully account for all the teams played against and as Aaron held the only playing sheet available was not privee to what was going on (as were most of the team)

Lounging around the newly formed Pinner camp (camp being the operative word here) the team relaxed before the start of the tournament, they were ready and given some motivational team talk by Woady via his portable tent Hoover were about as prepared as they could be.

It was at this point that it was noticed that someone had neglected to bring water bottles, so cold San Miguel and Fosters had to make an appearance, luckily 1^st team bitch had brought a spare set in case, but to be honest, the former drinks were the preferred ones!

The first match game on pitch 3 saw Pinner up against a very well organised 7s team and within the first few minutes were already down points, well double figures, however, the spirit of the team and the fact that a rolling subs policy was in place allowed for changes; 30seconds on, three minutes off! It wasn’t until the second half that Pinner started to play and as a result scored a well worked try, memory recalls by John Kirby. The final score was a loss 45-5

Back to the happy camp, more San Miguel, sun cream and some friendly banter involving a short girl and a long nose and certain players who shall remain nameless!

The second game, I think on pitch 2 proved to be a more skilful game from the Pinner lads, who got their act together and came out clear winners, the beat was upbeat, smiles all around and the try celebration of the ‘Big O’ by Samuel Markham (Umfufu) put the previous game deep in the memory of the team.

Game three: pitch 1 the centre stage! With a very annoying pitch commentary by someone who thinks they are funny who claimed Pinner had scored against the run of play and by luck had scored a try had to eat his words and almost champagne rugby was witnessed by the crowd; tries from all parts of the pitch and by different players who graciously passed the ball to each other to score a number of tries. Magical moments were witnessed when Woady jumped like a fairy to hook the ball back to Aaron who then passed back to woady to score (I’m sure that this wasn’t the game plan!), leaving Pinner winners by a score of 35 – 15 (it could have been more but you get the general idea) we didn’t however make full use of the conversions, I wont name players here but putting it wide by 10feet from under the post, hitting the post, the bar and putting wide the other side accounted for most of the missed points. This victory put Pinner into the Semi-finals.

Back to the happy camp – more refreshments and another play with the tent hoover!

The semi-final took an age to come round, over an hour and half had to spent ‘relaxing’ until the game went ahead. But, moments before the players started to warm up/try and move their stiff legs, a hero approached over the horizon; yes it was Bernie, fresh from work and given the mantle of the one who was to have the ball the whole game and let the others support him, mainly vocally as running and tackling seemed way down on the list!

The Semi-final saw Pinner play a very organised 7s team who played in white with a big O on their shirt (at some time this report may be amended and the correct teams inserted). However, after going a few tries down, Pinner got their heads together and started to play the game that they are very capable of playing and as a result scored tries to make the final score not as bad as they were expecting, in fact very respectable (again hopefully some one will give me the result/teams at some point to make this report more directed to rugby rather than a day out!)

With players having alternative engagements many had to up and leave, but some remained in their £20 cheapo tents and a heskie full of cold beer. Reports say that the evening went on to be little quiet affair!!! Naked rugby at 3am……………….

Newsflash newsflash newsflash

Teams that we played were: Otters (L), Guildford (W), East India Club (W 36-33) East Berkshire Rugby (L semi-final)

New update: it should read like this otters (L) guildford (W) east india club (W) east berkshire (W) and lost in the semi final to stoneyhurst.. its all coming back

Thanks to all those who gave up their time to support and

to the team themselves:

Captain Aaron, Woady, Laney, Adrien, Simon, Jon K, Umfufu, Ollie, Sat Nav, M Razzle,  Bernie and Lyndsey

Pinner RFC winners @ Middlesex 7s: Boom

Pinner win @ Middlesex 7’s – Match Report & photographic evidence

Pinner RFC entered two teams on Sunday 1st May at the Middlesex 7’s tournament at Richmond Athletics ground, and hey ho, team A won the vase trophy, beating Feltham in the final. There will be a full match report within the next day or two, but to wet your appetite here’s some photos of the great day…

Pinner and Grammarians capped another successful season by winning the Vase competition in the Middlesex Club 7 a-side tournament at Richmond on Sunday. In the festival in which 53 teams took part P7G’s were the only club from the Herts / Middx leagues to enter two sides. The 1^st squad were drawn in the stronger pool and faced Old Millhillians, who had twice defeated P&G’s on their way to winning the Herts / Middx Div 2. Pinner started convincingly and within a couple of minutes, winning a scrum against the head Jon Kirby went opened the score with an unconverted try. The second try was not long in coming with a move down the left finished off by Ade Adebisi.  This time the conversion was successful.  Pinner still attacked but sloppy work enabled Old Millhillians to break away from their own 22 to score.  With half time approaching a long kick down field enabled the O M’s to narrow the score to 12 -10 at the interval. After a few harsh words P&G resumed to dominate the second half.  Immediately scrum half Lane took a quick free kick, passed to Captain Reza Sibilant who found ‘Young Player of the Year’ Alex Goring on hand to score the try which he converted.  Pinner continued pressure with their fourth try my Paul Freeman also converted by Alex Goring giving the final score of 26 -10.

The second game against Worth Old Boys started in similar fashion. Firstly a strong attack by Alex Goring enabled Reza Sibilant to score the opening try after only one minute and Richard Luiz then stormed through to add the second, Goring converting both. The, winning a scrum Lane gave the ball to Ade Adebisi on the half-way line. The speedster sold a couple of dummies to score an unconverted try giving P&G a half-time lead of 19-0.  The second half saw a completed reversal with Worth running in three tries but luckily only two were converted.  The game ended in a 19 – 19 draw.

With the prospect on two teams being level on points at the end of the pool stage the number of tries scored in the final match with Mill Hill would be crucial. This game proved to be very one-sided with P&G’s turning on the style.  First half tries came from Paul Freeman and three from Ade Adebisi with conversions shared by Paul Freeman and Jon Kirby.  With the half-time score of 28 – 0 Pinner relaxed momentarily to allow Mill Hill their only score before adding a further three themselves to give the final score of 42 – 7 to ensure their place in the final.

The P&G 2^nd squad found themselves in a disappointing pool with only 3 teams as Hendon failed to show up. In their first game they went down 26 – 10 to Feltham with tries by Angus Wilson and Chris Hall. They also lost the second match 24 -12 to Uxbridge with tries by Chris Jepsen and Ollie Blazey.

In the final P&G 1’s were confident against Feltham with early tries by  Lane and Kirby in the first couple of minutes. Pinner again relaxed and got drawn into a 15 a-side style game instead of using their speed out wide. This allowed Feltham to use their forwards to good effect powering over for two scores, one converted giving the west London side a 12 -10 lead.  Immediately on the resumption P&G’s drove down the middle of the field to release Ade Adebisi whose strength and speed enabled him to score the winning try. The rest of the game was a war of attrition but P&G’s hung on to run out winners by 15 point to 12.

The trophy was presented to Captain Reza Sibilant by Michael Barnes, Chairman of the MCRFU Management Committee, himself a former P&G captain. This put the icing on the cake of a third successive season on success for the Hatch End Based club.

At it again! Mini Section book now available

Following the success of the seniors little book! I have gone and done it again, this time for the mini Section. As you may of noticed I have produced some promotional videos for the club (found on front page under fixtures and forthcoming events) e.g. why play  rugby for Pinner, here’s why….. etc etc

Obviously, having a great amount of time on my hands!!! I thought outside the box so to speak… resulting in the production/publishing of a book.
To have a look click below:

Protected: Mini Section Bognor Tour 2011 (additions ongoing!)

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Under 10’s clean sweep at Egham Tournament

Egham Under 10’s Tournament

A hard fought campaign by both A and B teams (mixed with Slough RFC) resulted in the A team’s clean sweep, winning all four games, gaining a maximum 16 points against the nearest competitor’s 11, and the Tournament trophy.  Paul Parker-Brice, coach of the team took important decisions about which players should play in which team, mixing ability and skill. It was an inspired pairing between the two teams.

It was a sunny start and the pitch was perfect for playing on.  First up was an unusual match that pitched the A team against their usual training partners in the B team. As the whistle blew to start the game the A & B teams started their campaign of the day, the A team took the advantage with the first try of the day coming quite quickly, the B team defended their area really well, carrying out some excellent tackles and counter attacks sadly however, the strength of the A’s wore them down with the A team winning 8-0 trys in this game came from James Nye scoring 4 with his swift running around the pitch, 2 more trys came from Joshua Parker-Brice who’s constant forward play deep in the mauls and rucks helped retrieve the ball from the opposition with his fierce ripping of the ball on numerous occasions, himself rolling off the mauls to score his trys, two more trys came from Joshua who is from our slough team mates scored following some close support play. During the break scouts for Pinner spotted the weaknesses and strengths of two other teams playing, and major rivals, Staines and Phoenix, whose own battle resulted in a tough 3 all draw.

Next up for the A team was against home side Egham; this proved to be a much more organised team. The A team worked well together managing to pin the Egham team inside their own half for nearly all the game, the one or two times they did break out they were met by some fantastic covering tackles from the A team who were always ready the strike. After an exhausting game to watch let alone play the A team came out on top, winning 4-0, with Maisie Balkin the teams scrum half, scooping the ball from rucks, then with her agile light footed speed allowing her to score her first two tries of the season, a loose ball picked up was passed out to the teams whippet James Nye, who again dodged his way up the pitch to go over for a try in the corner, the 4^th try came from another slough team mates Ned, working his way through to the try line pasted many a missed tackle.

The B side then took on Staines, whilst expectant coaches and team mates looked on. However the strong Staines team pushed forward to the try line in the first half only to be stopped in the last few feet, dogged defence close to their own try line save 3 trys in the early stages of the game, the best of all coming from a Pinner player Joshua Beresford-Smart who’s perfectly timed covering tackle just short of his try line saved the team from a certain try being scored, this tackle was met with cheers and applause from the parents stood along the touch line. The Staines team gradually wore the Bs down and after a brave battle they conceded 6 tries to none. But however the Bs had done well, wearing down Staines for the A’s, when they played.

Phoenix were the next team to come up against the A’s, as the competition moved on the opposition was getting tougher they fielded a well drilled, strong side.  A dogged battle ensued with Josh Parker-Brice scoring another 2 trys again from his strong forward work ripping and hard running knocking aside anyone who tried to tackle him, James Nye again received the ball numerous times managing to sprint and side step his way twice more over the line to score and Max Alexander scored his first try for the club with his excellent support play being in the right place at the right time to receive a pop pass from Joshua P-B so he could force his way past 2 defenders to go over the line for a score, eventually helping A’s to a 5-2 win.

As the day went on, hard tackles were made and knocks received by all those in both A and B teams.  But, true to the Pinner spirit, imbued by Paul Parker-Brice over his four years coaching the same kids in the team, and his fellow coaches from Slough, all the children fought bravely on.

Egham were the next fixture for the B’s, again the B team fought hard with some great tackling but it looked as though the heat and hardness of the matches was starting to show on the young team, with a couple of substitutions for injured players along with the tiredness they were eventually defeated 6-0.

Now it was crunch time; A’s versus Staines, Staines played 3 won 2 drawn 1, Pinner who had 3 wins were in the best position but not safe yet, it all depended on how the Barbarian side held up in defence against Staines fast agile wingmen. A’s had seen what Staines were capable of in attack, their two fast wingers and a couple of larger runners who just bashed through the centre. A defensive strategy to narrow the field by getting the A’s to tackle hard and first time to keep the game in the centre of the pitch until we could counter attack and open the game up. With fierce play in the midfield the chance finally came Mike Murphy broke a tackle and headed up the touchline as he came to the next opposition player he off loaded the ball to James Nye who again was away off into the corner to score our opener to the crowds delight. Then as the A’s progressed through the half they were awarded numerous penalties as the pressure they were putting on Staines started to show which left the Referee to make some tough calls. The match continued to see James Nye score another 2 trys in this game and a final try came from Liam a player with Slough which resulted in A’s winning 4-3! A very hard fought, hard tackling and hard run game which made this the game of the day for the A’s, all the players from these 2 small clubs had shown that by joining together playing in the correct spirit of Rugby Union that they may have ached and been bruised all over but the victory took that all away they had won their first trophy! The smiles from cheek to cheek were a picture to see.

That victory won the tournament for A’s but everyone remained for B’s final fixture against Phoenix.  Unfortunately, with such an early start and some other difficult games under their belts on the day, B’s found it really hard to get their tired feet moving they still stuck at it though and were rewarded by their first try, scored by new Pinner boy Calum St John, he only started playing rugby 4 weeks ago but has show a great aptitude towards the game. Sadly the final score was 9-1 in favour of Phoenix.

All the players were presented with medals for their participation in the tournament and the A’s had the additional honour of picking up the trophy in front of some proud coaches, parents, guardians and grandparents! At this time I would like to thank the parents for bringing the players along on Mothers Day sorry mums, without your support it would not possible to let the children feel the achievement of sportsmanship and working as team to get a victory that does mean so much to them, thank you.

All the children were presented with medals for their participation and A’s had the additional honour of picking up the trophy in front of some proud coaches, parents, guardians and grandparents!

WE AT PINNER RFC ARE ALWAYS LOOKING TO RECRUIT NEW PLAYERS TO OUR TEAMS, SO PLEASE DON’T BE SHY COME DOWN TO VISIT US AT THE CLUB, CHECK OUR WEBSITE OUT www:pinnerrugby.com THIS YEAR IS A RUGBY WORLD CUP YEAR, WATCH THE GAMES AT OUR CLUB, BUT MOST OF ALL BRING YOUR KIDS DOWN SO THEY CAN DISCOVER THE FUN AND FRIENDSHIP RUGBY UNION CAN BRING.

THIS YEAR OUR U8s, U10s & U11s ARE ALL CUP WINNERS COME AND BE PART OF IT!

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