JUNIORS NEWS 2010/11 Season

Grasshoppers end season on a high!

Grasshoppers U14's ended their Herts and Middlesex League campaign with a 34-10 win against Hemel Hempstead writes Phill Tait.

After both sides gained promotion last season this was a very good measure of progress as the teams were very evenly matched in 2010. The hard work that G's have put in the twice a week training sessions has clearly paid off as the result was never in doubt.

Grasshoppers ran in six tries with skipper Ian Upton scoring two, Mohammad Mallah, Lesley Jayathon, Jake Ross and Brandon Sumer all scored one each with Harry Cushen and Harry Wicks each scoring a conversion.

The result lifted Grasshoppers over both Hemel and Ruislip leaving the side a very creditable fourth position.

27/03/11 GRASSHOPPERS 32 v BARNET 34

After Grasshoppers kicked off there was a period in which each side tested the other with alternate periods of attack and defence. After 7 minutes G's were attacking when a neat collection from the Barnet full back gave him the chance to run 60m and score the first try under the posts. 0-7. G?s controlled the ball well for the next 10 minutes and a powerful scrum gave Leon the time and space to score G's first in the corner. 5-7. They remained in control until the end of the first half when Jan drove though midfield to set up a ruck on the line from which Nassim dived over to make the score 10-7 at the break.

At half time the visitors made several changes and started the second half much brighter. After only 2 minutes they won a turnover and moved the ball quickly wide to score in the corner. 10-12. Grasshoppers responded immediately, turning over Barnet's first attack and passing wide for Bruno to run 50m and score in the corner. 15-12. For the next 5 minutes Barnet applied pressure, winning an attacking scrum under G's posts allowing their centres to break through and score under the posts. 15-19. Yun Shun created an excellent individual try after ten minutes when he dummied his opposite number and sprinted away from the Barnet defence to score under the post. 22-19.

Grasshoppers then failed to catch the kick off and Barnet punished them by claiming the bouncing ball and passing it neatly to the wing for a try in the corner. 22-24. Barnet retained possession from the kick and advanced to set up a ruck on Grasshoppers line from which their forwards drove over in midfield to score. 22-29. Grasshoppers were now 7 points down with 5 minutes to play. It was Barnet's turn to fumble the kick off, giving away possession and allowing G's centres to pass the ball quickly out to Ajay who dodged three tacklers to score in the corner. 27-29. Grasshoppers caught the kick off but Barnet's defence held them within their own half of the field until Bruno broke through a tackle and sprinted half the length of the pitch for Grasshoppers to take the lead, 32-29, with more than thirty minutes gone. The referee?s watch showed time for the kick off. G's caught the kick off but gave away two successive penalties at the resulting tackles which allowed Barnet to drive home from the 5m line to score with the last play of the match. A very close game which neither side deserved to lose.

U15 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 6th March 2011

London Welsh 15 v Grasshoppers 15

Grasshoppers kicked off on a very cold, damp morning by the Thames. G's started the game with more intensity and their forwards dominated the Welsh pack holding the play in the opposition Welsh half of the field. Their dominance was rewarded after 8 minutes when a massive drive at a scrum made space on the blind side for Ajay to run the first try into the corner. G's remained in control of ball until, after 13 minutes, the Welsh forwards picked up the pace and forced the play down to the G's line were they overwhelmed the defence and scored in the corner. For the rest of the half neither side was able to develop their game. Mistakes in attack and good defence held the play within the two 22m lines. Eventually G's heavier forwards forced a succession of rucks and mauls forward until Nassim was close enough to drive through the fringe of a ruck to score and give us a 10-5 half time lead.

Welsh started the second half with more purpose and intensity, with backs and forwards combining to allow a break through the centre and a try in the corner after six minutes. The game then became scrappy with a succession of mistakes and infringements by both sides causing both sides to become frustrated. Thirty minutes had passed when Welsh charged down a clearing kick and were very fortunate to be able to chase down and score from the re-bounding ball. A cruel blow as time was running out and G's did not deserve to lose. However they showed great character and passion and then put together the best period of play in the game. They chased and turned over the kick off and then retained possession through many phases with no infringements. Six minutes of forward pressure sucked in the Welsh defence and made space for Yun Shun to side step and dummy over the line for a try.

A draw was a fair result on the day, but G's could have won the game if they had played the whole game the way they played that last 6 minutes.

U14 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 16th January 2011

Grasshoppers 58 v Harrow 0

Big win for confident Hoppers

Grasshoppers U14’s moved to second place in the Middlesex and Herts league with a 58-0 win over Harrow this weekend, writes Phill Tait. Harrow held on very well for the first twenty minutes in blustery conditions at Macfarlane Lane but eventually pressure from the Hoppers forwards resulted in the back division having plenty of ball and an avalanche of tries followed.

Barend Pieterse scored 3, Harry Cushen 2, James Gill 1, Les Jayanthan1 and Ian Upton 1. Harry Wicks scored with a penalty and Cushen was successful with 5 conversions with a near gale force wind blowing across the pitch

Thanks to Phil Upton for the photographs

u14 v Harrow Scrum

u14 v Harrow

U15 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 16th January 2011

GRASSHOPPERS 13 v HERTFORD 25

Hertford kicked off into a stiff cold wind on a seasonally grey morning. Initially neither side could get their game going and the first 10 minutes was a succession of turnovers and penalties within the two 22 metre lines. Hertford settled more quickly though and worked a slick passing move from a scrum 30 metres out to score in the far corner. 5 minutes later Hertford gave away a penalty for holding on 35 metres out in front of the posts which YunShun kicked over. Grasshoppers caught the restart kick cleanly and sharp passing from Jack and Jamie made the space for Leon to evade the defence and score a try. Mistakes and penalties continued to frustrate both teams and after 25 minutes Hertford kicked the ball away to allow Aiden to kick into the corner for Ajay to chase, gather the ball and score in the corner. After this Grasshoppers gave away a succession of penalties which allowed Hertford to set up an attacking ruck in the corner and score with the last move of the half to make the score 13-10 at the turn round.

In the second half Hertford had the benefit of a strengthening wind. After a messy 10minutes Hertford cleared the from their own try line into Grasshoppers 22, they chased well and won a scrum 5m out. Hertford won clean ball and darted round the fringes to score close to the corner. The try was converted with a very steady kick. Grasshoppers then endured a sustained period of Hertford pressure until they forced a penalty in front of the posts after 25 minutes which was scored. Grasshoppers then tried to attack and make up the deficit but unfortunately lost their shape and allowed Hertford to score with the last play.

Grasshoppers were disappointed with the final score but Hertford were the better team on the day.

U15 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2010

WELWYN RFC 7 v GRASSHOPPERS 24

Welwyn kicked off in the drizzle on a sticky pitch. For the next ten minutes each side attacked and defended in turn without making any breakthrough. The first score came from a Welwyn scrum 10 metres out and under the posts. Grasshoppers struck against the head and moved the ball out smartly to release Aiden to make a strong run through midfield and score next to the posts. Aiden scored the conversion to make the score 7 nil. Welwyn then over hit the re-start kick.

Grasshoppers won the resulting scrum and Yun Shun dodged the Welwyn fly half and sprinted all the way to the line to score between the posts. Aiden converted to make the score 14 nil. Welwyn then picked up their game and defended effectively till half time.

The second half began with Grasshoppers dominating possession and territory. Welwyn were able to defend for about ten minutes until a succession of rucks close to the line made room for Leon to dive over in the corner. Shortly after the re-start Grasshoppers had a scrum 25 metres out. Paul picked up from the base and ran for the line, 3 tacklers tried to bring him down but Paul was strong enough to reach the line make the score 24 nil. Welwyn then enjoyed their first period of pressure and a succession of penalties given against Grasshoppers led to a penalty 7 metres out from which Welwyn charged over. They kicked the conversion to make the final score 24-7 to Grasshoppers.

A successful morning collecting all the points away from home, showing how much the team have improved since their last league game but also showing that they still have scope to improve.

U13 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 7th November

Grasshoppers 17 v Harlequins 10

After a second half drubbing against Ruislip last week (good first half though!) we spent the Wednesday night training solely on tackling practice and I do believe we made a connection with some guys as I recorded the tackles made (most anyway) on Sunday with the religious zeal of a VAT inspector.

36 decent tackles made in the game with Andrew and Taz making 6 apiece and Alessandro and Jake making 7 each which is a fantastic work rate made from positions 9,10,12 &13. I will be keeping my eye on tackling over the upcoming weeks.

Harlequins managed to score 2 unconverted tries, and the second one came later in the game by us giving away too many penalties and if it wasn’t for some more steely defence on our try line we would have given the game away.

Our scoring started with some intelligent individual footballing skills by Andrew controlling the ball very well with his foot to get in behind their defence, our second try came with Alessandro’s trademark bullet straight through the defence to find an open park and a trail of harlequins. The third try was a well deserved and long awaited try by Sam whose galloping run and style that I can only describe as if he had a swarm of angry bees surrounding him and the action one would take to swat every single one away.

There were many other positive points to pick out such as Peter’s ball stealing in tight situations won us good possession that we missed last week.

Looking ahead we need to keep the tackling theme going so everyone feels happy and confident that they can tackle anyone. Also we need to look at the ruck situation when the ball is on the floor.

U15 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 17th October

Grasshoppers 7 v Dunstablians 15

Grasshoppers received the kick off staring into bright sunlight and ran the ball back into Dunstablians territory only to be repelled by a well organised defence. Grasshoppers dominated possession and position throughout the first half. Grasshoppers forwards and backs made many strong runs but failed to score due to excellent tackling by the visitors and some nervous handling from the G’s. The visitors were prevented from benefiting from G’s mistakes by an excellent performance from our front five disrupting the opponents scrum and wining several balls against the head.

The half was nearly over when Dunstablians No 8 collected a loose ball and broke through the centre of G’s defence. He ran strongly for the line and left our covering backs no chance to catch him and prevent a try under the posts. The conversion was made. Shortly after Dunstablians kicked the ball high into the bright sun, the ball was not taken cleanly and the confusion which resulted left Grasshoppers offside and a penalty was awarded which was kicked over to make the score 0-10 at half time.

The second half continued like the first, grasshoppers attacking a Dunstablians side which was happy to keep a tight defence and not take any risks. Dunstablians had only one attack in the whole half. They kicked out a penalty to G’s 10m line, drove from the back of the line out, sucked in the covering defence and passed the ball out quickly to allow the wing to score in the corner. A well worked and clinically taken try to make the score 0-15.

For the following 15 minutes Grasshoppers launched wave after wave of attacks. They came very close to scoring on several occasions but were beaten back until some sharp handling opened up space for Leon to score right at the end of the game. Aiden made a difficult conversion to end the game 7-15.

Grasshoppers may have deserved to get much more from this game but Dunstablians defence was excellent showing great concentration and commitment.

Brett Stacey

U14 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 17th October

Grasshoppers 24 v Bank of England 10

Grasshoppers U14’s started this seasons league campaign with a good win at home to Bank of England writes Phill Tait.

Joseph Formby opened the scoring for Hoppers with new player Barend Pietersen adding a second. However Bank scored twice and only Harry Cushen’s reliable kicking separated the sides 12-10 at half time.

As seems the way with Hoppers a strong second half and some astute substitions by coach Dylan Matthews resulted in Formby scoring a second and skipper Ian Upton finishing the game off with a powerful run and try. Harry Cushen was successful in two conversion attempts.

U13 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 10th October

Grasshoppers 31 v Hammersmith & Fulham 15

Late night team parties the evening before a game, to be avoided or was it an essential bonding session to be encouraged...?

G’s form shows that on many previous occasions if we score first we win, however that was not the case on Sunday where H&F touched down for the first try, things were not looking up but I had a plan – we had 16 players on – that’s gotta work, right? – no the ref was far too sharp for that.

It took a long time to settle into our game and a low scoring half ensued. After the break the backs tried a different combo Jake at 9, Taz at 10, Luna at 12 and Matthew at 13 and boy did it work! Andrew shifted to fullback in which he filled Luna’s position with pure class coming into the line to score and tackling like a demon as our last line of defence. Things started to click in this half where some stand out performances by Elliot and Tres provided the backs alot of ball to weave some magic and this was optimised by Luna whose draw and pass (twice) gave Lewis two further opportunities to show H&F a clean set of heels – the boy’s got GAS!

H&F main threat were two big lads in the forwards that Alessandro seemed to have a career tackling them all day but earned his pay packet and topped it up with a bonus by rolling off the back of the scrum to score his trademark “bullet” try (bullet – straight ahead is the fastest way to the tryline)

H&F had a resurgence in the 2nd half and we were pinned on our try line on several occasions but some gritty determination by the likes of Ben and Harry (not Ben and Jerrys) held a fantastic line of defence – well done guys it showed alot of heart preventing H&F crossing the line more often.

I believe the crowd enjoyed the match immensely and I would pay money to see that game again! When wingers score tries it usually means the team and I mean the whole team put in the hard short yards for Lewis to stretch out the long yards (not forgetting Stanley and Tyler’s individual efforts)

Best part of the days; Steely defence, draw and pass for wingers to score or hard graft in the front row – you decide!

Apologies for any efforts I have missed and a special thanks to Okocha who volunteered to play for H&F as they were short of a prop – unselfish and got some good ball too.

Simple game rugby, win the scrum or lineout, pass the ball to the winger and score tries.

U13 MATCH REPORT SUNDAY 3rd October

Grasshoppers 7 v Hemel Hempstead 7

Despite the previous 48hrs producing heavy rain Grasshoppers ran out onto a firm pitch in front of a large expectant crowd. The game began with a miss field of the kick off by G’s this set the tone for next 10 minutes with grasshoppers spending most of that time in their own half. The pressure eventually leading to a well worked try by Hemel Hempstead. This was converted. With the grasshoppers scrummage increasing in confidence and ability as the season progresses they coped with the heavier Hemel pack pushing down the slope well, thanks to the heroic efforts of Tres, Jamie, Okoacha and Elliot in the front row. From the base of the stable scrum Alessandro made some penetrating runs on which grasshoppers were able to put persistent pressure on the opposition with Sam Magee nearly barging his way offer the line only to have the ball spill from his hands. In retrospect at this point we had the opportunity to win the game, players and coaches overlooked the option for kicking for goal when the two penalties were awarded in Hemel’s 22.

For G’s the highlight of the half came after Alessandro broke up field grasshoppers pack provided quick ruck ball Andrew Mason attacked hemel’s disorganised defence on the blind side to feed Lewis who out paced the opposition to cross the try line only then to drop the ball.

Downhill in the second half grasshoppers began to dominate: the scrummage became more Omnipotent; good hooking against the head from Elliot limited Hemel’s ball; Daniel Cussons bullocking runs helped keep the pressure on. What kept Hemel in the game was the uncharacteristic handling errors preventing any flow in the grasshoppers back division. But it all clicked into place half way through the second half. Andrew Mason broke the gain line close to the scrummage followed by snappy inter passing a couple of quick rucks the ball was fed to Lewis on the other side of the pitch for him to scorch passed a covering defence to touch down in the corner. A very gratifying try.

Under pressure Harry Fox against the wind put over a conversion worthy of Twickenham to draw the match. The continuation of a good all round team performance kept the pressure on Hemel but could not quite get us over the line.