Southwold v Holt 23.04.14

 A bleak day dawned. Cold, windy, sombre, overcast.  Much like Rob's mood when it become apparent that only 12 Holt lads had made the effort to travel to the ends of the earth...well, Southwold...on a Sunday morning. Southwold kindly lent us a couple of players taking the number to 14 by kick off. 

The boys taking in every single word of advice.

Holt were playing uphill but with wind behind in the first half.  Ally kicked off and it was clear from the first few minutes that this would be a competitive match. Good commitment by both sides and, with the match being played on a small pitch, there was little room to run around the outside. Holt struck first.  Good strong running from Theo who broke clear and made 30 yards, and Alex Storey, then Jack and Dean clearing out a ruck in text book style and Jenks doing it the hard way by running through 5 Southwold tackles to touch down in the corner.  5-0 Holt. 

The break out.

The flying finish.

Southwold came back from the kick off and forced their way into the Holt 22. Somewhat surprisingly their 10 decided to attempt a drop goal with a clear overlap outside him. The ball wobbled over. 5-3 Holt. It had become clear by now that we had the upper hand in the set scrum, our stalwart front row of Alexander, Dean and George coming up trumps again.  Southwold must have been a good 2 stones a man heavier. Shows that contrary to the impression given, some of the scrum must listen to Carl during training! Or it could be luck.

Crafer, the flanker. I'm sure that's what they said when he had a case of
white line fever breaking from the back of a driving maul 5 metres out,
only to end up 5 metres further back. Of course I could have been mistaken...

Bees round a honey pot.

There followed a scrappy period of play with neither side able to dominate. Some good defence from Caz, stepping in at 9, and Matti in the centre stick in the mind. Eventually, after the fourth offside penalty in as many minutes against Holt, Southwold's enormous prop dropped over the line. 8-5 Southwold, 20 minutes played. Holt caught the restart cleanly, Jack made a break and Alex S powered over to score. An excellent conversion added by Ally meant the score at half time was 12-8 to Holt.

Matti needing some more hair gel.

Alexander about to drive into the referee. Tempting at times...

Southwold kicked off to start the second half. The ball was well fielded by Will, the borrowed 15 and he cleared the ball beyond the half way line. There followed a purple patch for about 10 minutes of vintage Holt attacking rugby with all the boys contributing. Jack broke clear, passed to Alec who was stopped a metre short. Good quick recycling saw Ally score under the posts. 19-8. Immediately from the restart Jack again threw a dummy, hurtled through a gap and Alex S finished off emphatically, scoring his second try of the day. 26-8. It really was a wonderful display by Holt of committed running rugby, with excellent interlinking between backs and forwards and effectively sealed the result.

Snatch and grab.

Jacko hopping to give Southwold time to catch up.

For the final 15 minutes Southwold came back into the match. This was followed by a great pick up and go from Jenks at the base of a dominant scrum, good sniping work from Caz at 9, some strong running from Alexander, Theo, Alex and Matti all impressed. The last play of the game was excellent.  Southwold kicked from their 22, Alec was in perfect position and fielded the ball by the touchline. He set off on a jinking run, making good ground.  The forwards piled in to ensure quick ball and Matti walked in for our final score by the posts.  33-8 final.

Nose plant time.

Storeymaker looking the part. (Please swap letters around for your amusement).

An actual penalty to Holt, captured on film.

It was great to see the response from the Holt lads to the tough loss last week to Walsham. They played the whole game with 14 men and came out fairly comfortably on top. Men of the match for Holt - Caz for his all round game at 9 and Alex S for his 2 tries and strong running. Again, no turd awarded this day. Special thanks to the Southwold lads who played for us - Will at 15 had an excellent match and it was great to see Christian back in the Holt shirt.

Holt men of the match. Alex and Caz. Well done guys, could have gone to a number of players.
No turd awarded this week as everyone put such a great shift in.

An action shot of the author. Great work on this season's match reports,
sometimes even in the same week as the actual match.

Photography thanks to Amelia Ghanbouri and her new assistant Tracey Ghanbouri (when Amelia had lost the use of her hands through frostbite)..

Maybe a selfie is required next game, with the boys in the background as a show of their appreciation for her catching them at their best. 

Holt v North Walsham 16.03.14

A breezy, sunny day for the biggest friendly match of the season.  Walsham were coming to Holt en masse across different age groups.  The U.16s were on the First XV pitch. Game on! Walsham brought a full  squad of 22 players and were out on the pitch training, running through drills and generally looking keen early.  Holt were not. Our eventual 16 lads shuffled out and starting some desultory jogging around 40 minutes before kick off.  Ali was away so Mr Versatile took the reins at 10. 

Walsham kicked off, George caught, passed to Jacko who shipped it to Mr Versatile. Shed, for of course it was he, sold an outrageous dummy and cut through the Walsham defence like a laser beam. He made 25 yards before passing to Callum who was bundled into touch.  Great start. Holt were clearly up for the challenge.

Alex. Flying.

Shed teasing the entire Walsham team.

The first 15 minutes were very even, lots of hard running, good tacking and ball retention by both sides.  This was shaping up to be a thrilling contest. Eventually Walsham won an attacking line out, there was a knock on and Walsham nicked it against the head and scored in the corner. 5-0 Walsham.

Team cuddle. 

Holt came back very strongly from the kick off, won turnover ball and Titus launched an excellent kick and chase. Walsham knocked on, Holt won their own put in from the scrum. Titus sniped down the blindside and passed to Roadrunner in space.  Callum scored under the posts. 5-5. Mr Versatile took the conversion and tried to score a football penalty.

Nabbed by Titus. 

Powerhouse. No George, not you.

Walsham surged forward after the kick off and some untidy play by Holt saw us concede a scrum in our 22 from a knock on. Walsham number 8 picked up and drove over.  A disappointing try to concede for Holt. Holt quickly conceded another penalty after the kick off and the Walsham 10 slotted it. 15-5 Walsham. Things were starting to look bad, more Walsham pressure but a great cover tackle from Alex S and some dogged resistance from Alec and Caz saw the ball held up over the Holt line. Half time. It had been a terrific half of running rugby with both sides playing with flair and commitment.

And he's off. Look at the chasers and support.

The big boys do battle.

An easy take.  

The second half started well - Shed kicked off, the forwards won a turnover and Callum made good ground before being tackled into touch. Walsham won the line out and despite a wonderful covering tackle from Callum scored near the posts. 22-5 Walsham. Despite manful efforts from Holt the prognosis was starting to look bleak...then, as so often happens, we found another gear. Jack went on a powerful run, passed to Alexander who rumbled forward and slipped it to Callum. Cal chipped it over the last Walsham defender and bam! Late hit off the ball penalty try awarded. 22-12. Theo caught the ball cleanly from the kick off yet again.  The ball was recycled quickly and Titus took off. The play went through the phases with Jenks, Dean and Tommy T all doing their bit and Holt were awarded a penalty near the Walsham line.  Quick tap from Titus, stopped a metre short. Robin was on hand to scoop up the ball and score. 22-17.

Holt scrummaged so well all day. Low. Straight. Brilliant.

Jacko looking to gather as many Walsham players as possible.

Dean getting high. (ish).

Noah making an arc. (Please feel free to groan).
More amusing though are the rugby posts with legs.

Walsham were not going to fold.  They surged towards the Holt line and their big number 5 broke through and charged towards the line.  Two streaks of black were in pursuit. Different body shapes but probably the same surface area.  Alex Storey caught his man two metres from our line and George stood firm over the body, won the turnover and we cleared to touch. Fantastic commitment, although there is a case for saying No5 should have been tackled higher up the pitch.

The line-out. Double podded...

Ready, steady....

Acting scrum-half Theo. Really?

With 10 minutes to go the strength of the Walsham bench finally told and they ran in two more tries. Final score was 37-22. It had been a tremendous match played in the right spirit by all the boys.  For Holt all the boys played well but mentions in despatches for Alexander, Callum, Jack, Theo and Alex who all had terrific games. Man of the match quite rightly was Titus. He drives the team on and never plays without full commitment. Turd for the day awarded to no one.

A view from one of the obstructed seats in the stand.

Fortunately the tickets were cheap.


Roll on Southwold!

Pics by the great Amelia Ghanbouri.
Words by the late Geoffrey Webster.
Guest photography this week by Michael Cocker (Tommy T's Grandpa)

Fakenham, Swaffham & Holt - Craig Prior Memorial Day

Editor in Chief: Geoff Webster

Chief Paparazzi: Amelia Ghanbouri

Raring to go.

Another beautiful sunny Norfolk day dawned and the boys sprung from their slumbers on Sunday with joie to vivre, in awe of the bounties of nature. In the real world, we were due at Fakenham rugby club at 9.45. No one was there at 9.45. We were due to play the first match against Swaffham at 10.30 but were missing George who had waited until after passing Holt before casually mentioning he had forgotten his boots. Mel said "oh what a pity never mind dear" and turned back to retrieve them. So our first match in fact took place at 11.

A study of excellence.

The Holt scrummage machine.

Titus putting in.

Titus passing out.

The 3 way friendly competition was organised in memory of a Fakenham RFC lad, Craig Prior, who tragically died recently at just 18. Craig, a prop forward, played for Fakenham at senior and youth level and had also represented Norfolk and Leicester Tigers’ Elite Player Development Group (EPDG).

Billy Whizz. Closely followed by, well usually nobody..

Caz makes a break.

Jack makes a pose.

Evidence of one of Jack's favourite passes to nobody behind him.

The format was to play 2 twenty minute matches. Swaffham were up first for us and from early on it was clear we had the upper hand. Theo was first to score - a rampaging run from the ten metre line culminating in a score under the posts. 7-0 Holt. Tom Caz made a huge hit shortly after the restart and some good running from Jenks and swift hands from the backs saw Ali cross in the left corner. 12-0. From the kick off Holt conceded a penalty and Swaffham threatened for the first time. Stout defence kept them out, Jacko won a turn over and Callum received the ball in space. The rest you can guess. 19-0 final score. The set piece was a strength for us all day - particularly the scrum. I do not think technically there is a better front row than Alexander, Robin, George and Dean in Norfolk.

Up you go.

Down you come.

Just what Caz is doing I have no idea.

Holt stayed on the pitch and played a Fakenham side still smarting from their cup defeat a couple of weeks ago straight afterwards. The game was tightly contested. Holt conceded 10 penalties in the 20 minutes to the Fakenham choristers zero. Ultimately Fakenham won 5-0. Some good play in this match from Robin (catching and driving at line out), Dean playing on the blindside,Titus sniping at 9 and Alexander ball in hand, tackling and in the set piece. 

Scrum fun.

A Holt sandwich.

Ruck time.

Probably a penalty. There were quite a few. Against Holt.

Callum about to break free. Again.

Theo striking a pose.

Ultimately this was a day of remembrance and there was a moving one minute of applause from all players and supporters for Craig Prior after the u16s had finished their game before the Colts, many of who played with Craig kicked off their game.

And here's a few pics from the catwalk.

Socks down. One leg out. Nice.

Hands on hips. Long shorts. Classic.

One hand on hip. One sock down. All in black, something for the new season. Suits you sir.

Our man of the day I thought was Alexander for an excellent all round display. 

No question about who received the turd is there, Bootless George?