Holt v Swaffham (11.11.2012)

An excellent effort and performance by George, Dean, Shed, Jacko, Jenks, Caz, Tobias, Harrison and Josh, not only for their performance in the game but because they were the only Holt u15s on the pitch.  4 players were recruited from the u14s and Swaffham lent us a player for each half. Special thanks must go to those guys who came and put on one of our shirts, without them we wouldn't have been able to play the game and Swaffham would have traveled for nothing.

An impeccable minutes silence was held before the game, with both teams facing each other and all the other players and families coming to the side of the first team pitch to pay their respects. Brilliant.

Despite being disappointed by the lack of team mates and the re-organising it took to get the 14 players to work together the game was well fought and closer than the final score reflects. Swaffham are a developing side but they are also a very big side and were going to take some stopping.
Although the visitors scored first it was not going to be one way traffic and Holt soon replied, the game settled down and with much of the play in the middle of the field and it became a fairly even and well contested battle. Half time score was Holt 12 - Swaffham 14. A try by Shed and Jenks with Shed converting one of the tries.

Swaffham started the second half a little sharper and got an early try, which wasn't converted. However Holt pinned the visitors back not only in their 22 but on their 5 metre line and were denied a try by some very strong defence and a foot just in touch. Harrison eventually managed to close the gap after a quick penalty was taken. From this moment Holt could have edged ahead but Swaffham had found their rythmn and started to find holes in the Holt defence. A couple of further tries by the boys in yellow meant the final score was Holt 17 - Swaffham 31.

Well done to Swaffham who were obviously delighted on the final whistle, they came with 20 players and even loaning a couple to Holt still rotated their subs and gave everyone some valuable time on the pitch. An excellent effort by the Holt players, they had to tackle twice as much, cover more ground and gel with players they had only met 10 minutes before the game.

Man of the match: Tobias. Who worked really well with Caz at 10 and Josh at 8, digging the ball out and making things happen. When Tobias stood on the chair for his 'boat race' he was still only as tall as the Swaffham man of the match, before he climbed up on his chair. Congratulations Tobias and good to see you pulling on that shirt.

There was no Turd Of The Day presented for obvious reasons and Mel very kindly offered to wash the shirts. I will need to organise a rota system for this, so we can all share the load. Hands up who wants first dibs?

A big thank you to the helpers in the kitchen and with serving the matchday lunch. Not ideal for parents to help when their children are playing but it was just one of those unfortunate unavoidables. The Minis should have been away, as should have the u14s, which only left us and the u13s, who were scheduled to have had a match but it was cancelled very late.

Thanks to those who did let us know in advance that they were unavailable - obviously there were other events happening, a Norfolk fixture and Remembrance Sunday. But please let us know if you are unable to play as early as possible because matches can be cancelled, as a last resort, even though it does cause issues with ordered food and arrangements with the kitchen but at at least it will avoid any future embarrassment.

West Norfolk v Holt (04.11.12)

The result of this fixture was a difficult one to take. Holt were ahead for virtually the entire game, leading early on and kept on plugging away to stay in front right until the end, in fact the last play of the game and the longest 20 seconds ever. We felt robbed. So much hard work on a freezing, wet, muddy day and with half the team either absent or playing out of position it was looking like an incredible but totally deserved victory. However West won by the margin of 2 points. Next time...

The first half was against the rain and up a slight incline, yet Holt were not going to let that stop them showing how well they can play. After a scrappy passage of play, partly due to the conditions, a scrum was awarded to the home team which Holt won against the head. Something that happened plenty of times in the game, even though Holt must have been giving away a stone a man, at least. The ball was passed out and Alexander made a great run, Matti took the ball on the switch and was through.

The second try came from Jenks, a super run following another brilliant scrum. The ball came wide and Jenks was off up the left touchline, like the Jenks of old, to go over and make it West Norfolk 0 - Holt 10. However West came back into the game late on in the half to score a couple of tries and convert one. The first was a break down the wing and the second a bundled over try near the posts. Half time West Norfolk 12 - Holt 10.

The half time talk was short and sweet. Keep playing the way you did in the first half, Holt had the slope and the wind with them, they were told to use it and keep up the great work. With only a couple of spare players everyone had to dig deep for the rest of the game. Holt's third try of the game came from a long line-out, intentional I'm sure, snatched by Jacko at the back, who then made a surging run through the middle of the pitch to score under the posts. Ally converted.

The next try followed another powerful break by Jacko, who totally unselfishly off-loaded to Matti just short of the line. Matti was held up but the ball was re-cycled and fed out to the right wing where Matti popped up again and went over. West Norfolk 12 - Holt 22.

Then came West's response. The first a gift after a complete mess-up on our try line, the ball popping out and one of the West players flopping on the loose ball. Holt still continued to attack and kept pegging West back into their own twentytwo, however as much pressure as Holt exerted they just couldn't add to the score. Then came the heartbreak of a line-out on the Holt twentytwo, West stole the ball and tried to bundle their way through but some brave defending by Alex and Finn kept the home side out. Unfortunately the clock couldn't tick quick enough and more importantly Holt couldn't get possession of the ball to kick it into touch and West managed to get the ball back to the centre of the pitch and burst through under the posts. A simple conversion and the final whistle. Final score: West Norfolk 24 - Holt 22.

As hard as it is to take the defeat there are a great many positives to take from the game. A game played in tricky conditions with several players missing and many others having to play out of position. There were some great interchanges of play, some strong running and tackling. The scrummaging was immense and the spirit was absolutely brilliant, everyone stepped up to the mark. Great effort everyone.

Now for this week's guest photographer: Step up Mel Robson. Okay I just handed her my point and shoot camera but the resulting images, I'm sure you will agree, are possible Turner Prize contenders. I'm not even going to caption these ones. Not because I can't see anything in them but because I think they speak for themselves. Mel, get yourself and agent, you could have found a new career...
(ps, these were the better ones).