Fixture

After their great display in the Tetbury sunshine the U10 Squirrels travelled to Dinas Powys for a mini tournament. It was a cold and blustery day for the boys at The Common.

First up the Squirrels faced a big and physical Llantwit Fardre side . Aaron who had an excellent game got the squirrels off to a dream start scoring straight from the kick off . Llantwit  though struck back to level the score almost immediately . The squirrels had a lot of the ball and attacked with strong  running from Aiden, Josh, Callum and Jack but they were driven back by heavy and on occasion high tackling . Llantwit  gained the upper hand in the first half and scored some good tries despite brave tacking from the squirrels with Sonny, Josh and Ben to the for. Llantwit started the second half where they left off and  built their lead further. To their credit the  squirrels didn’t let their heads drop and Evan Hall, Calum and Seb led a fight back combining well in midfield to set up Aaron who burst through for a try on the final whistle. A brave effort from the squirrels  in what was a bruising encounter .

Across onto the next pitch the Squirrels played a very accomplished Dinas Powys team & before you could blink Dinas had the Squirrels on the back foot having touchdown 3 early scores. Evan S tried to hold back the Dinas tide with some massive defensive tackles! Jack and Joel were Rottweilers at the breakdown - ferociously claiming any loose ball. The pressure led to Squirrels first try - an excellent pass by Chester releasing Logan for a try. Despite more tackling and rucking from Evan R and sniper-like runs from Evan S - Dinas ran in a couple more tries. A 'robust' coaches pep talk at half time encouraging the players blow the cobwebs away & have some fun - led to a more balanced game in the second half. Jake made some hard yards ball carrying for the team & Jack wriggled through the smallest of gaps to dive over for a second Squirrels try! Lewis touched down for our third but Dinas finished off the match in style! It was good to see the Squirrels really stepped up in the second half.

Next up, the teams switched over and the other Squirrels played Dinas Powys . Both teams were evenly matched in this entertaining high scoring game . The squirrels again got off to a great start with Josh breaking through the defence and offloading to Aiden who powered over for a try . Jack , Sonny and Callum made ground with some strong running  and there was a great finish by Seb who weaved his way through  a packed defence for a try . Dinas Powys hit back with tries from their speedy wingers to move ahead. Aiden and Sonny helped keep Dinas away from the try line with some fine tackling and Aaron made a great interception to grab a try for the squirrels at the end of the first half . In was either sides game going into the second half . Dinas though got off to the better start after the break with some quick tries which left the squirrels with a bit to do . The squirrels kept going and their efforts were rewarded with two excellent tries in quick succession from Ben who ran the ball in from distance on both occasions. It was close but not close enough for the squirrels at the final whistle. A much better performance and one to build on at Llandaff

Finally the Squirrels played Llantwit and again found themselves on the receiving end of 3 quick tries. This time the Squirrels responded! Jake was a mountain in midfield - fantastic crashing runs. Chester converted and Jake got one himself. Great interplay from the Evans (R&S) and a scorching try from Lewis - got Squirrels back to touching distance. Jack put a blinding tackle to stop a certain try and Jake went over for a second. Joel really began to throw himself around and make some amazing hits. Llantwit just had that tiny edge over the Squirrels and just managed to keep 1 or 2 tries ahead in the second half. Good rugby and lots to take away!