Alton U9s put on anything but a 'Chilly' performance at Winchester Festival

After a brief glimpse of summer on Saturday, Alton U9s arrived at Winchester greeted by a stiff wintery breeze meaning that additional layers of clothing were very much a requirement.

However, there was nothing chilly about the performance in match 1 against a much fancied Basingstoke team. Alton hit the ground running and defensively tackled everything that moved (or didn’t move in fact) and really put the defensive push into good effect, causing a lot of “panic” in the Basingstoke ranks, often throwing the ball up into the arms of the waiting Alton players. Basingstoke snuck in for 2 tries but it was no match for the impressive 9 scored by Alton including hat tricks from Oscar Thirlwall and Toby Arrowsmith. A great start by the whole team.

Match 2 was a very different encounter against an impressive Andover team. Dressed in all black, they not only looked like Ninjas but tackled that way too. Full of big runners and every tackle was made below the knee, stopping Alton on the spot at every contact area - a good lesson for the boys. Andover ran out to an early lead with the odd try keeping Alton within touching distance. A big second half was needed and Alton delivered. Teamwork and patience were the order of the day due to the exceptional tackling by Andover with 2 notable team tries, both finished off by Joseph Smythe. In the closing seconds of the game, the score was 5-4 to Andover but Alton had a promising attack. Toby lay injured on the floor around half way but once he noticed his team needed him in their final attack, he jumped up to support the hard running lines and scored in the corner. A fantastic and hard earned draw 5-5.

Match 3 was against Winchester Gold. Another very tough, close game bringing out the best of this Alton team once more. A brace of tries from Zach Hayward through some very determined running, one of which was a result of big defensive pressure and a turnover, helped Alton to a slender one score lead with seconds to play. While defending their line, hard tackling by the whole team exemplified by Gethin Jones, putting his body on the line in front of the big Winchester runners, resulted in a key turnover pounced on by Alexander Smythe and he proceeded to sprint, with deceptive pace, three quarters the length of the pitch only to be stopped by a tremendous cover tackle. However, the pressure had been stamped out and the whistle blew for full time giving Alton a well earned win 4-3.

Next up in match 4 were Vectis which saw another evenly matched contest. Alton were a little slow to get started in this game and Vectis opened up a lead in the early exchanges. However, a strong tackle from William White in midfield seemed to spark Alton into action and tries from Oscar and Sam Wey after some evasive running to find the space meant Alton secured a draw 2-2.

Last game of the day saw Alton head over to the other pitch for the under 9s and take on Winchester Black. A somewhat unknown quantity as we had not seen any games played on this pitch and it was certainly a tough encounter. Tackling was the key in this game and it only took one missed tackle to enable Winchester to score through their dangerous runners. Two tries for Winchester were matched by two from Alton, typified by the pace and running lines of Liam Smith who crossed the whitewash with a well worked try. An amazing defensive effort from the whole team, notably from Max, refusing to give up and often making tackles so low he had hold of the boot straps and a hugely physical performance from Oscar, meant that it was 2-2 with a couple of minutes remaining and Alton attacking ball. Unfortunately a serious looking injury to one of the Winchester team meant that the match was abandoned and a very worthy draw was signalled. Those reading will be pleased to know that after a trip in an ambulance to hospital and a good dose or Nurofen, the injured Winchester player was given the all clear. Good news.

Another great day for Alton, going unbeaten. I even heard coaches from other teams defending slightly dubious refereeing decisions on the basis that “Alton can soak those up being such a strong side”.
Two awards were presented at the end of the day, both of which could have been given to the whole team such were the all round performances. The Hulk went to Max Elton for some unbelievable tenacity in defence and the player of the day went to Alexander Smythe for showing a real step up in performance and excelling in all areas of the game. Well deserved and a day the whole team can be very proud of, hopefully learning a few valuable ‘rugby' lessons along the way.