No losses but U12s out of the Gloucestershire Cup

Clifton U11s went to Matson RFC to defend their Gloucestershire Cup title with high hopes on the back of winning the Clifton and Keynsham tournaments so far this season. Two last minute changes on Friday following injuries were not a worry as there are a number of players who can step in from the squad. So with Ollie Simcox and Ben BM out replacements were found with big Matty and George Davey.

Some last minute teams withdrawing meant only 5 pools and Clifton were in one of only 2 groups of 4 teams, the other groups had 5. This, as we were later to find out, provides an unfair advantage to the larger groups.

Cheltenham

First up were Cheltenham. We have only played Cheltenham once before, last year in the Land Rover Cup. They are a side we would like to play regularly as they are a strong side and give us a good game. Unfortunatley they are not on the minis fixture list. They were not to disappoint and proved to be the hardest competition of the day. The first half we played up hill. For those of you who have not been to Matson this is not a slight slope but a significant hill. Clifton did well to keep the score sheet clean though an early knock to the head to Paddi saw him out for the rest of the game. Second half and with the hill in our favour and the dog poo behind us, or was that part of the mud bath, Clifton piled on the pressure. Cheltenham were no push over but James Wood charged through to secure the winning try. A well fought match by both sides and some superb strong and physical rugby. We look forward to playing Cheltenham again.

Bredon Star

A side that I do not believe we have played before so a bit of an unknown quantity. Another good spirited game by both sides and at half time Clifton were leading 10-0 with tries by George Davey and Ben Paine. It was our turn to play up hill in the second half so we couldn't rest on our laurels as the hill is worth a try or two in most games. Clifton kept the pressure on and made the hard ground up the hill to win 15-0 with a second half try by Connor.

Thornbury

Our final game of the group and we were to play Thornbury. They had just finished a game and to be truthful didn't want to play us. Having been convincingly beaten in their previous 2 games they had mentally packed up and headed home.

It is hard to keep your head up when the conditions are poor and your have been thoroughly beaten but this is what makes a team. Clifton ran in 2 tries in the first half; big Matty and Sami. The second half with no defensive tackling saw a further 3 tries scored; Milan, Jake and big Matty. There would have been more but the half was cut short from 7 minutes to 4. I am not sure who agreed to the shortening of the game. The referee was understandably being kind to Thornbury, what he didn't realise is the impact this would have for Clifton in the Quarter finals. In addition Ben Paine had picked up a shoulder injury so was out for the quarter finals.

Clifton had won the group convincingly and had once again kept a clean sheet. Looking at the try scorers for Clifton it shows that the weather conditions and the very small pitches did not allow Clifton to play the flowing rugby they look to play and release the backs. Not a single try was scored by the backs in the first 2 games.

It was however a strong group with the top 2 going through to the Quarter finals and the 3rd place team through to the plate so Clifton boys had done .

Quarter Finals

With the much anticipated draw we found ourselves against Tewkesbury who had also won all of their group games, kept a clean sheet and were looking to take Clifton's title from them. They were probably one of the stronger sides in the final stages.

Having agreed within our group to play hand offs in the group stages Tewkesbury did not want to, although I believe all other semi finals did, but these are the Gloucestershire rules, and they were within their rights to request this. Tewkesbury put Clifton under pressure from the start and within 40 seconds Andre sustained a nasty knock to the head. This stopped the game for sometime (I am please to say that Andre is fine bit is off games for 3 weeks as a precautionary measure). With Andre still receiving medical attention the game was moved to the next pitch and the game restarted. Tewkesbury were up for this game and played exceptionally well from the start.

Clifton struggled with the interpretation of hand offs giving away no fewer than 8 penalties. Tewkesbury as you would expect took great advantage of these penlaties and the conditions and put some impressive kicks in. One of which led to a try by Tewkesbury. Clifton found themselves trailing 0-5 at half time. Clifton were hot out of the blocks after half time scoring almost immediately from the kick off, with a ruck having been formed Matty found himself at fly half and charged through to score.

Try as Clifton did there was no way through the Tewkesbury defense who held the score 5-5. With a draw at the quarter final stages it then goes to points difference in the group stages. This is where playing in a smaller group and our shortened Thornbury game played against us. I understand that this happened to Tewkesbury last year so it was their year to get the rub of the green.

The boys took the defeat well and gracefully and will use it to build on this season. We all wish Tewkesbury the best for the rest of the tournament on 20th March 2016 and are sure that they will do well as they are a strong side.