It was a rather disappointing weekend for the Skolars Juniors this week, as not one side managed to register a win.
The U14’s were the pick of the bunch, travelling away and holding local rivals Hemel to a 30-30 draw. Hemel had one or two standout individuals who caused the Skolars defence a lot of problems. After 2 weeks without a game, the Skolars started slow and appeared to be rusty, with their defensive organization suffering as a consequence. However as the game wore on Skolars began to get into their rhythm and coach Fred Pentecost was pleased with their completion rate, he commented ‘it was very much a team against individuals today, we overcame our rustiness early on and managed to get back into our rhythm of previous weeks, with the ball in hand we looked dangerous, but Hemel had one our two outstanding lads, with pace and power, who we just couldn’t handle.” Obviously gaining a point out of the fixture was pleasing, and the fact that Skolars travelled with 22 players shows the depth of talent at this age-group.
The U19’s failed to pick up where they left off last week with a poor display against a well drilled Barking and Dagenham side. From the first kick off Skolars looked out of sorts and Barking and Dagenham exploited this and sensed an upset was on the cards. Poor execution in attack and a lacklustre defensive effort resulted in the Bulldogs coming away with a well-earned 22-12 win. U19’s coach Matt Cuss was disappointed with the performance of his side “today was a typical cup final hangover performance, we didn’t turn up at all, and all credit to Barking and Dagenham in coming out firing and they left with a well deserved win, this loss will hopefully do the boys well in the long-term and now we must pick ourselves up quickly for the visit of South London next weekend.”
The U12’s travelled their longest trip of the league season away to Elmbridge Eagles, where they suffered a 62-0 loss, once again with many of the Skolars lads playing their first season of RL it was a baptism of fire against an experienced and powerful Elmbridge side. However the boys are learning each week and this season will stand the young side in good stead for next year.
The U16’s were awarded a walkover as Newham Dockers failed to travel. Coach Paul Thorman was extremely disappointed as he was set to name his strongest side of the season, “the boys have been working hard in training over the past 2 weeks and in half-term and we were looking forward to putting that into practice this week” However it wasn’t to be and now they will refocus their efforts into training and preparing for Elmbridge away next week.
Finally the Mini’s bandwagon once again rolled on, as a large bunch of youngsters, parents and coaches turned out for a great Saturday training session, even though it was half-term the turnout was still great and these little ones will get the chance to wear their brand new kit next week as they travel to Medway for the 5th Primary RL Festival of the year.
