Ledbury RFC U7 vs. Pershore RFC U7.

As so, on a beautiful winters morning the U7s travelled west to Malvern (to play Ledbury), to make use of the all-weather surface courtesy of the towns college. Once again the Pershore U7s managed to field strong numbers and this allowed them to be split into three separate teams of four. As you can imagine this creates quite a lot of organisation for coaches, team managers, and parents, and makes creating an accurate report of the matches somewhat complex, so as such I have reserved the right to embellish the action and not give the names of those involved.

With the departure (inter-team promotion) of a couple of key players from the U7s, some may have questioned if the team they had left behind, would be as strong. There will always be the inevitable void when players leave a team, but sometimes this gives others the opportunity to shine. And this is what has happened within the Pershore Pirates ranks. Several of the players (I won’t mention names so to avoid embarrassment - they know who they are) have over the last few weeks stepped up a gear in terms of personal performances, thus allowing the coaches to create teams that contain a good mix of ‘experience’ and ‘youthful enthusiasm’. This holistic approach to team management can mean that the strongest team doesn’t always get played, but it does mean that the newcomers are constantly mentored by their peers. This is important to us at Pershore.

To the matches ... Ledbury are a friendly, smart looking team, and there was quite a size difference between some of our younger players and those of their Ledbury opposition. It may sound like we're getting the excuses in early, and there is a small piece of truth to that. However, as with the matches that were played last week against an equally sized Worcester, the one thing that the Pershore Pirates show no lack of, is determination.

Results:

Team 1

Match 1 Ledbury 7 - 3 Pershore

Match 2 Ledbury 4 - 4 Pershore

Match 3 Ledbury 6 - 3 Pershore

Team 2

Match 1 Ledbury 4 - 6 Pershore

Match 2 Ledbury 7 - 7 Pershore

Match 3 Ledbury 7 - 4 Pershore

Team 3

Match 1 Ledbury 5 - 3 Pershore

Match 2 Ledbury 6 - 4 Pershore

Match 3 Ledbury 7 - 3 Pershore

It may have something to do with the surroundings, the excitement of playing on astroturf (other turfs are available), the fact the sun was shining, or just because (!), but everyone had a great morning at Malvern. I even saw tears, of what I can only imagine must be joy, in the eyes of one of the Dads. Thanks to the Ledbury U7 for hosting us.

Coming away with more wins would have been the icing on the cake, but who likes icing anyway, it’s fattening after all! Hotdogs are much better!

Next week we look forward to Upton coming to see us at Piddle Park for more Rugby, Bulldog, hotdogs and fun. We can but hope we might have some more sunshine too.

Anyone wanting further information on playing should contact Ben Andrews on 07779 927 852 or e-mail prfc.juniors@hotmail.co.uk