Saturday 15^th October 2011

Ealing Festival 0 Hammers 0

Our first contact festival outing for the Under 9s proved to be a tough learning experience. We fielded a squad in each of the two tournaments , giving 26 kids a chance to run out. The festival was a particularily high standard with all the strongest programmes present, and I’m glad to say the hammers squads aquitted themselves well.

On both the A and B sides, the kids played with confidence and enthusiasm but that wasn’t enough for either to get out of the group stage.

The A team played both eventual finalists in this pool, underlying the strength of their pool. The first match was against Ealing A (6 - 1) . The Hammers then rallied and focussed on tackling better and produced a superb display against Teddington A ,the winners at Windsor festival the week before losing 4 - 2. London Welsh A (5 - 0) saw the Hammers dig deep in the face of a physical Welsh side hungry to avenge the days earlier semifinal loss. The final match vs Ruislip A (2 - 0) again saw a spirited Hammers effort. In summary we learned a lot, and will get better for it.

The Bs got off to a good start, beating the Ealing Tigers 1-0 in their first match and scoring early against Barnes in the second. Barnes recovered quickly, however. Their slightly bigger size proved to be an advantage and they won 3-1. The going was tough against Rosslyn Park Bs and after a physical match with lots of running around, Rosslyn Park beat our kids 5-0. The kids regrouped for the last match but even with a very strong second half, they lost to Grasshoppers 4-2.