This weekend was a highlight in Skolars short history as no fewer than 120 players, from the age of 7 right up to 29, wore the red, black and green of the North London outfit across Saturday and Sunday.
Our youngest age groups in the U9 and U11’s travelled to St Albans to play their Centurion counterparts in a mix of training and competitive games. The boys and girls from Skolars had a great time and both sets of players and coaches gained a lot from the experience. Something they can take into their first Festival at Medway in two weekend’s time.
New River was a busy place on Saturday, as our U13’s, U15’s and U17’s all were drawn at home in the first round of the London Challenge Cup. There was a mixed bag of results for the Junior age groups, with our U13’s facing off against Invicta Panthers for the second time in 3 weeks it was a chance for this new age group to continue their development. The Skolars boys were again competitive for a while and went into half time level, however the size and physicality of Invicta began to take its toll and Invicta ran away with the match, finishing with a win by 52 points to 18.
The U15’s were up next and again faced Brentwood Eels a side they had previously beaten by 50 points at the start of the season. However Fred Pentecost’s boys were mature in their performance apart and apart from a 10 minute blip at the start of the game, stuck to their game plan and clinically dispatched their opponents from Essex with a 52-10 scoreline.
As the games reached the afternoon stages – the U17’s took the field against an unbeaten Elmbridge Eagles from the Southern conference. A physical contest was promised and the first 20 minutes wouldn’t have looked out of place on the main pitch the next day, with some hefty carries and tackles put in by both sides. For the second time that morning, scores were level at half time, however the game changed on a reckless sending off by Skolars full back Jerome Yates who saw red for a late challenge on a Brentwood player. This altered the dynamic of the game and Brentwood exposed the ever increasing gaps in the Skolars defence and crossed for an unanswered 20 points in the second half, winning the game 30-10.
Only the U15’s now lead the charge in the Cup for the Skolars, with the U13’s joining the U17’s in the Shield competition at the beginning of May.
It was great to see many of our Mini’s and Juniors completing their weekend of Rugby League, by taking their place in the crowd on Sunday to cheer on their 1st team counterparts in what was an outstanding second half display of rugby league from the boys in red, black and green. Hopefully as the majority of our age groups have the Easter weekend off, we will see a similar amount down at Hemel on Good Friday, to cheer on the Skolars to victory over their local rivals.
