Peter Pullin Under 12s Champions 2015 !!!!

St Brendan’s Peter Pullin tournament has always been one of the highlights of the mini rugby calendar. In the past we have pit ourselves against some of the cream of Bristol’s youth rugby and although we have never quite got our grimy little mitts on any silverware we’ve often been close enough to smell it! A core handful of today’s team have actually competed here since they were innocent, innocuous little balls of energy at the tender age of 6!!!! Well, I say compete…….the first outing at this tournament saw the team more interested in kicking a deceased, decaying blackbird around the field rather than partake in any sort of rugby whatsoever, ahhh…..happy times!!!!! Enough of the nostalgia, since then we have seen a few new faces and have sadly lost a few along the way. Anyway, this year’s offering was full of promise due to the recent rich vein of form that had been overduly discovered. And so expectations were high as we looked to eventually win this competition at the final opportunity - next year we leave the warm bosom of “mini” rugby and join the ranks of “Junior”, and therefore will not be invited to this particular festival.

Unfortunately a clash of dates with the Landrover Cup meant the usual line-up was a little different this time out. The public schoolboy finesse of teams such as Old B’s, Thornbury and St Brendans was replaced with the brawn and aggression of Stockwood and familiar foe Broad Plain. Full credit must go to Clifton who also managed to bring along a side despite being in competition elsewhere to make up the numbers to four teams and something that could loosely be regarded and run as a tournament. Therefore in a strange twist of events the Clevedon band wagon arrived as favourites, unfamiliar territory indeed, as in the past although we’ve more than held our own, I’ve felt we were not taken seriously enough and perhaps regarded as “the whipping boys”, “the slightly uglier sister” or “the potato diggers from The West” by our more glitzy adversaries.

First up Stockwood. We’ve never had the pleasure before but I expected a tough game having noted some of their big ball carriers warming up. The match preamble was quick and to the point enforcing the need for absolutely everyone to tackle. Everyone, Tackle…….that’s what we said, about a gazillion times. However in reality we did precisely the opposite. There’s only one credible explanation for this complete U-turn in player behaviour - whilst everyone was engrossed in the previous days incredible 6 Nations finale, aliens must have landed in North Somerset and replaced last weeks team of superb intelligent rugby players with a dozen lethargic, lazy, blue and gold slugs !!!! Fortunately debutant Mr Wadey lives in Bristol and therefore hadn’t been part of this sinister abduction and single handily tackled everything that moved (not his own team of course……..they weren’t moving)!!!!! Due to Wadey, a number of handling errors, the slope and a whole lot of luck we turned around at half time unbelievably only 1 try down. After a few choice words and some “hard to swallow” home truths from the coaches we changed ends and thankfully changed attitudes. At last we started to tackle as a team and put a bit of play together to see Big Mac crash over using “Chicken Wing Power” to level things. This was closely followed by some unusually nifty footwork by Rudsta to take a lead. Magic McCauly sealed the deal late in the second half much to the appreciation of the Clevedon Support. A lucky escape, at 3 trys to 1.

Next up Clifton development side. Seemingly back into full swing, Clevedon rampaged down the hill scoring 5 trys in 10 minutes against a shell shocked Clifton. McCauly scored the first 3, playing out of position at number 8 and getting on the end of absolutely everything! This was followed by another from “Haskell like” Rudsta. The final try at last seeing some movement through the backs and being finished by Reuben, making a welcome return to the man’s game after his exodus to that other strange sport with the funny round ball, it’ll never catch on!!!! At half time we turned around and had a reshuffle ready for some more action and with intent to get this ball moving through the hands. However in a bizarre twist of events (a first for me in 35 years) the referee decided enough was enough and that would be it, blowing for full time and wandered off to a tent somewhere to find his medication no doubt !!!!!! Thankfully 5-0 was a decent enough result and although we were denied game time some of the Clifton boys had quite frankly had enough of trying to get out of the way of some of our monsters.

Broad Plain had also beaten Stockwood and Clifton and so our game was moved to the last of the day and classed as a “winner takes all” final. This was something like Chapter 5 in this seasons Broad Plain Vs Clevedon saga, and I suspect the players may be getting a little sick of the sight of each other. It’d be fine if it was a one sided affair, but Plain are like an annoying dog that no matter how far you throw the stick they just keep coming back as energetic and ready as before! We are well aware that results have gone our way but on each occasion we’ve really had to graft and grind to get those results, it’s never an easy day out against the “Bemmy Boys”. And so as expected a hard fought and determined game ensued with both sides playing a very direct game of rugby. Thankfully McCauly eventually found a gap and finished well to open the scoring. And that’s how it stayed until half time. The second half continued in much the same vein, however it could be argued Clevedons defence was the difference between the sides. The Tiny Tornado was excellent throughout with some outstanding “in your face” harassment and tackling. However tackle of the day was claimed by Woody who boshed a try bound Plainer into touch from a 5 meter tap penalty. It was an absolutely crunching hit that Coutney Lawes would have been proud of. Credit to the Broad Plain prop who jumped up and carried on when many men would have lay sprawling on the ground! Chas was also finding some great tackling form annihilating many a Plain attack with his love for all things physical. If it wasn’t the huge defensive effort annoying and exhausting Broad Plain it was the boot of Mr KFC expertly kicking almost the length of the pitch from one penalty. Towards the end of the half Clevedon eventually got their chance and the ball was moved swiftly through the three quarters and a grateful Tyler Munn took the opportunity to drop over the line and effectively rubber stamp our claim to the cup.

2-0 is how it ended and a day that started with some abysmal defending ended with some heroic tackling and a massive silver cup that will sit pride of place in the Clubhouse. Well done to everyone who participated and to the supporters who are growing in size each week (in number that is – not waist band size). It was a great day out, enjoyed by all. And although some of the opposition weren’t at their strongest you can only beat what’s in front of you and we certainly did that with some to spare. Was it fantastic rugby?………..absolutely not. If I’m honest we’ve played an awful lot better recently but apart from that very first try which came in the first couple of minutes of the first half of the first game, it was more than acceptable. The pleasing thing is that throughout the rest of the day nobody was allowed to pass the Clevedon try line, and that in itself tells a story. 10 trys in 50mins of rugby and to only concede 1 try (in the first couple of minutes) is a good job done. Results are one thing, but team harmony and enjoyment is more important and you all really need to understand that every single one of you is so important to the team. Unfortunately there was some negativity amongst some of the players. This needs to stop right now. I’ve talked about it before so I won’t go on about it today.

Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline & Sportsmanship – embrace these core values and you will become an amazing team. Well done on capturing the cup!

Hit of the Day - Woody
Most Improved Player - Chas
MOTM 1 - Wadey
MOTM 2 - McCauly
MOTM 3 - Tornado