As with most years, we entered the Slough Tournament, but this year was different. This year Aldermaston won the U11s tournament, despite only having 8 players turn up on the day. After a brief meeting with the other teams’ coaches, Bracknell agreed to lend us 3 players and all agreed to play with 11 per team.

There were 5 teams in the competition & were played a round robin set of games.
Our first game was against Bracknell. They scored first & continued to lead into the second half. During the second half, Scott did go over the try line but was, due to the tough defending of Bracknell, deemed to be held up. Undeterred Aldermaston continued to push forward & were rewarded when Scott went over the line again & this time the try was given. The final score was 1-1.

Game 2 was against Slough.  The drive & determination from the first game continued into this game with all 11 players working hard and the result was a reflection of this, with 7-0 victory to Aldermaston. The tries were scored by Charlie (3), Reece (2) David & Alex (Bracknell). The try by Alex warrants a special mention as it was an excellent example of a winger’s try which was set up beautifully by a super pass by Reece.

The next game was against Drifters. Again, all 11 boys played their part. This time we won the game by 1 try to 0, with Reece scoring our try. Tim (Bracknell) did go over the try line as well but was deemed to have his foot in touch when he did, so the try did not count.

In the last game in the pool competition we came up against Chesham. With the same 11 players on the pitch for their fourth game, a bit of tiredness was creeping in but they carried on going and came out as 2-1 victors. The tries were scored by Alex & Reece.

With the pool games over Aldermaston were top with Drifters as runners up. These two teams lined up to play the final!

Aldermaston took the lead with a try by Reece in the first half. Drifters pushed hard but Aldermaston defended their line like there was no tomorrow towards the end of the first half. The second half was a hard fought affair with both teams playing their hardest to get a score. When the final whistle went, the cheers went up from the reds – Aldermaston had won!

The players were Ben Wickens, Charlie Wilkinson, David Appleton, Jamie Payne, Joe Bovington, Joel Busbridge, Reece Coker and Scott Winton. Callum Hales, Alex Rivett and Tim Robertson normally play for Bracknell but for today they were honorary Aldermaston players. All 11 boys played in all 5 games as we had no replacements on the sidelines and all 11 boys played their part and played well.

On the behalf of Ian, Bruce and myself, I would like to congratulate the team in their success today and to thank them all for their efforts on the pitch. Also we would like to thank the parents, family & friends for their vocal support from the sidelines.
Elaine
Team manager

Photos from the u11s, u9s and also u7s day at Slough are here : http://www.aldermastonrugby.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&page=slideshow&gid=80&Itemid=57