One try away from success

Clifton U10s were drawn in group 1 against Dursley, Old Patesians C, Bream and North Bristol. With a squad a 14 we started the day with high hopes.

In the Cup match everyone fields their best side and with only the winning team going through to the quarter finals we had to win every match to make sure of a place.

First up were Dursley. At half time it was 3-0 to Clifton so a decision was made to substitute 5 players. This meant that all the players would have had some playing time early on under their belt.

The full time score was 4-0 to Clifton. Tries by Ben B-M, George Heming, Jake Davies and Sami Hamid.

Next up were Old Patesians. A side that we had not played before. The half time score was 3-0 to Clifton. This time only a couple of substitutions were made. The final score was 8-0. Tries by Ben Paine (3), Ollie Simcox (1), Sami Hamid (3), Theo Beavon

We suspected that the remaining 2 games were going to be tougher, and they were, though the score line did not reflect this.

Bream were next. Once again Clifton opened an early lead and by half time were leading 1-0. The closest game yet. Half time came early due to an injury to a Bream player. The final score was 4-0. Tries by Ben Paine, Ben Rogers (2) and Jake Davies.

The last game of the group was to be North Bristol. Neither side had lost a game so far in the group. Clifton had to win to go through to the quarter finals. A hard fought start to the game saw Clifton at half time winning 2-0 and by full time 3-0. Tries by Ben Paine, Paddy Pearce and Sami Hamid.

Clifton win the Group with a clean sweep and no tries conceded.

Next up was the Quarter Finals. We drew Old Bristolians, not the draw that we wanted. OBs are a team that we know well so we knew that this
was not going to be an easy draw.

This was a very hard fought match with neither side given an inch. At halt time is was 0-0 and to be honest OBs had the upper hand. A couple of changes at half time did not bring the change of fortune that Clifton were looking for. The final score was 0-1 to OBs. So close.....

We wish OBs success in the tournament and we will be back next year.