Celts at Counties

Petersfiled is the largest tournament of the season and is held in the usual "pool" format where every team gets to progress to a semi final and, if they win, a final. This ensures at least 5 games against teams from across the county and is a good marker to see how well the squad is developing in comparison to others.

Celts had a tough group with Andover, Fordingbridge, Trojans and New Milton.

It was a beautiful day for rugby on Sunday at Petersfield with a slight breeze and lovely sunshine. The Celts all turned up nice and early in time for a good warm up session. Handling skills and tackling practice made sure the boys were ready to go!

After refereeing the opening match it was clear to me the standard of tackling from other teams was good and our attacking was going to need to be at its best.

Our opening match was against Andover who we have experienced recent success against in training this year but they were undoubtedly looking for pay back! Some big opposition could have caused other teams problems but the Celts defence was outstanding! Superb tackling technique from Oliver Smith (rekindling an old rivalry) and Jack Harrison and good pressure from Kai Williams kept the early onslaught at bay with a number of well earned turn-overs. William May used his power and pace to break the line on a number of occasions and Olly broke clear to open the scoring. Will powered into the corner with good support from Charlie Fisher to add another first half try. Our pace at the back was very clear with Harrison Bennett breaking forward to score two fantastic second half tries in the corner, one of which resulted from Aidan Bones spreading the ball wide and an amazing offload from Olly to beat the last man. A proud moment for all the coaches! One more try from Olly gave Celts a well deserved 5-1 victory.

A 10 minute break before our second pool match against Fordingbridge (FB) who we were yet to come up against. They had also beaten Andover so a stronger test for us.... an early FB try may have discouraged other sides but the Celts are made of sterner stuff! Jake Hoare powered over; smashing through their defence to get us back in the game. Thomas Hutchinson showed some silky skills to evade the FB defense, Will ran two thirds of the pitch before Henry Shaw added a good try to level things up after FB showed good strength.With the game looking like a draw and FB unable to break our solid defence, Morgan Clayton saw an opportunity to show his strength and dragged three FB players over the line for a diving match winner - excellent stuff! 3-2 winners.

Trojans always pose a threat and were looking in good form in their previous matches. Some tough tackling from Kai and Charlie against former school friends and Cub-mates put them on the back foot and Celts found space out wide. Hugh Campbell-Baldwin stretched his legs to break down the right and perhaps set the path for Henry to score in the corner. Applause all round! Trojans showed why they are a threat with a great solo try before Olly and Harrison put the finishing touches to some excellent team passing to put the game to bed. Our defence stood firm against quality opposition. 3-1 winners who came off to a standing ovation from the fans!

The pool decider...with both teams unbeaten it was set up perfectly. We had identified NMs long ball game which had defeated other teams and made defensive adjustments to counter. This paid off in the first half and with some great work at the breakdown from Tom and Hugh dealing with some rapid NM defence. Olly and Aiden countered with some amazing tackles of their own but NM seemed to find more space in the pitch than us and scored twice. Showing great resilience, Celts came back with a cracking brace from Harrison to level things up 2-2. With the game heading for a draw, NM managed to work the ball out wide and with the final play of the game snuck in at the corner for the winner. A courageous effort against a very strong team - Celts gave it everything!

To finish 2nd in our group was a tremendous effort and set up our Plate semi final against an unbeaten Havant from Pool 4. By this time the tournament was closing in and every effort was being made by the officials to get everyone home at a sensible time by bringing games forward. The Semi-final may have come too quickly for a few Celts who had given everything to get us this far and were desperately trying to recharge! Havant were in the same shape and despite 2 disallowed tries we found space out wide and Harrison scored 2 more tries. Great battling defence from Jack and Olly gave Havant no real way through and we held out 2-1 winners to make the Plate final against guess who?...home favourites Peterfield!

Harrison caught Petersfield napping and scored an excellent solo try to put Celts ahead but Petersfield showed why they were worthy finalists and powered through for an equaliser. Henry used his poaching instinct and picked up a loose ball in our half, outran 4 Petersfield players but was caught just before the line and took a heavy fall. Great effort Henry! Jake and Olly tried to break through but Petersfield showed great defence. A very tight game was decided once Petersfield broke wide to squeeze in at the corner for what ended up the winner. Celts battled to the end and came close to an equaliser before eventually the final whistle blew. Plate runners up 1-2.

There are too many compliments to make for our boys on here but ultimately the coaches were extremely proud of the boys effort, commitment and never say die attitude. Good signs of things to come....

Tries Scored: 16, Conceded: 10

Well done parents, grandparents, everyone who made the effort; we can't do it without you and thanks to everyone for clearing up. One other note, the Club was also represented impeccably off the pitch; we thank you for your great support. Thanks also to our sponsors Solent Fire Protection Services - the boys looked great! http://www.solentfire.co.uk

Thanks to Jake's father for taking the photos.

See you at home this Sunday for a nice relaxing training session against Portsmouth US...!

Well done CELTS!!

Monty