Havant Festival

Yet another beautiful sunny day to play rugby on the terrific new 4G facility at Havant. Havant were also our opening opponents this morning, so we couldn’t afford our traditional slow start. Fortunately, the boys were up for the challenge straight away. Against a nuggety Havant side, Peter Headley scored our only try in the first half, going into the break 1-1. In a competitive second half, the boys conceded another try but some strong defence from Owen Williams contributed to opportunities for Peter to break through the middle, and Will Breeze around the outside for tries. A closely fought match finished 3-2 Celts.

With no break, we were straight back on the pitch to play Eastleigh. This felt like a potential banana skin, given the lack of a break. The concern came to fruition when Eastleigh scored an early try, but it was to be their last! Will Breeze again showed his gas to go around the outside of would-be Eastleigh tacklers and score. Will May handed off one player to create space before passing to Will Breeze, who cut inside the flailing arms to score another. Aidan Bones then sniped through for a third after a series of penalties close to the Eastleigh line. The second-half saw a determined Coby Fleetwood scoring in the corner and Peter Headley dotting down another. A highlight in this match was seeing Jack Harrison making a hand-off before carrying three or four opponents towards their line! 5-1 Celts.

The less said about the third match, the better. Trojans appeared to want it more, driving hard into rucks and securing any loose ball. Henry Shaw tackled like a dervish but could do little to stop the six unanswered tries Trojans scored. The coaching team spoke to the boys afterwards and asked them to put the game behind them, move on and show how they can really play in the last two.

They didn’t disappoint… The fourth match was against a well-drilled US Portsmouth team, which included a few solid boys. The Celts were undaunted, scoring three unanswered tries through the hands of Harrison Bennett, Harry Cromie and Aidan Bones. However, the highlight was Sam Miller chasing back and making a great try-saving tackle alongside Harrison Bennett. The second half saw some more solid defending and incisive running, resulting in a second try for both Harry Cromie and Harrison Bennett. Sam Beeching also got in on the act, racing home from the halfway line after spotting the US Portsmouth blind-side was undefended. 6-0 Celts.

The final match was against a weary Vectis team, but this shouldn’t take anything away from a fine performance by the Celts, featuring a strong-running Jack Magan and Jayden Ryan who was always available. Peter Headley finished the first-half with a brace of tries – I’m not sure Vectis were particularly keen on getting too close to him after experiencing his hand-off! Aidan Bones also picked up another, breaking from the back of a ruck. The second-half saw Michael Cromie power through some defenders and run half the length of the pitch to score. Not to be outdone, Harry Cromie also picked up another. The final try saw Aidan Bones make a clever offload for Will May to break through to the line.

A big thank you as always to Mark Headley & Tony Stevenson for their enthusiasm and passion, Caitlin Bones for keeping us organised and the parents for their undaunting support of the boys. Well done Celts!