This weekend was a fantastic one for all 3 London Skolars Junior teams as they recorded some important wins in their respective leagues.
With only 2 regular weeks of the season left, all 3 teams are positioned very well to make the play-offs, which would be a first for the club and a fantastic achievement for everyone involved.
Our young U13’s have got better and better as the season has gone on and are improving dramatically with every game. Saturday they faced a big and powerful Southend Spartans team who proved very difficult to breakdown. The size of the Southend players proved a real handful for the young Skolars and time and time again they were pinned in their own half, by some aggressive running and disciplined defence. However the Skolars to their credit used their speed and footwork and after young half-back Thomas Quill cleared up a charge down for another set of six, they managed to cross for the opening try. This try really gave the Skolars confidence, and after surviving another onslaught from the Spartans, the forwards managed to find some gaps in the Southend defence and powered through for a second try, almost a carbon copy of the first.
With the Skolars well on top, Southend managed to capitalise on some lacklustre defending to give themselves a life-line and cross over in the corner just as the half-time hooter sounded. A tight second half was in store, but after some wise words from the Skolars coaches their play tightened up a fair bit and set after set was completed, pressuring Southend’s bigger forwards. Then came the try of the game to seal the win, a fantastic break by the Skolars half-back was finished in the corner by Alexi Spyrou, a fantastic team try that sent the watching parents into raptures. Southend had the final word with a great solo effort from their barnstorming prop, but it was Skolars day on the south coast, recording a fantastic 24-20 victory to keep them at 3rd in the table.
The U15’s and U17’s were both at home and both had the pleasure of playing on the brand new 3g for the first time this season. This seemed to lift both teams and they played some fantastic open, expansive rugby league to run in a huge numbers of tries against some valiant opposition. The U15’s beating Southend Spartans 46-6 and the U17’s having an incredible first half performance to beat Croydon Hurricanes 54-16.
This weekend sees another 3 important games, the U13’s at home to 2nd placed St Albans Centurions whilst the U15’s can all but win the league with a victory over their closest challengers Eastern Rhinos, these games kick off at 10.30 and 11.30 respectively. The U17’s will be wary of slipping up as they travel away to play Brentwood Eels.
