Monday, April 18, 2011

A few photos from the Barclays




The triumphant Sheriffs courtesy of Ali Crossley

Monday, April 11, 2011

Sheriffs take the Bowl

The Sheriffs continued their excellent recent run of performance with an excellent second half performance to clinch victory against LFS. This followed several strong performances earlier in the day, which started with a game against Royal Selangor. From deep defence a kick from Oliver was well chased by George W, which led to an intercept from tackled player for George B to run through strongly to score.

Thereafter some good defensive play saw TRC hold the lead with some strong performances from the forwards.

LFS
We let them through early to score a first try, a second followed as we failed to tackle. Our penalty near their line led to a break away try.

Thereafter things improved and George W broke from a scrum to get near, forwards secured the ball and George W was on hand to score.

A maul near their line saw Julian emerge to score a second.

A good fight back but in the end defeat.

Final pool game against Centaurs A A good start saw us hold our own but Centaurs eventually managed to move the ball wide to score two and a 3rd which was a super try. Strong work from everyone in defence kept things tight for the first five minutes but in the end Centaurs were too good.

1/4 final vs Centaurs BA hard game which Centaurs B won with a single try from a bulldozing run near the end. But some excellent tackling from Julian & Mathew C in the backs particularly.

Bowl semi vs Tamoko Lions

One of their big boys ran through to see TL take the lead. Bowdy then got the ball on the wing from good ball along the line and took it in for a super try out pacing the defence comfortably. George B scored a well deserved second and Bowdy picked up for what looked a score in the corner but it was not allowed.



Bowl final vs LFS


Their speedy winger scored after combative first 5 minutes with some committed rugby fom both sides.

The second half was all TRC from the Julian muscled his way through to score a super try. Good work followed from the kick off for George B to score again. A 3rd try followed for "one of our team" and Julian scored a 4th in the corner to complete an excellent second half comeback.

Well done to the whole squad who performed admirably all day.

Final defeat for Young Guns

Under blue skies we started the day with an pre-breakfast game against Bintang

Good kick from Max led to a scrum ball worked wide to Luke to score early in the corner.

Second soon followed for Luke from strong forward play.

More strong forward play. Tom W stepping in to scrum half and Luke looked on for a hat-trick. He was stopped but Finn was on the spot to score.

Wes ran through with a nice dummy to add a fourth to complete a good start to proceedings.

V Centaurs B

Some good hands led to Luke going close From a lineout near their line Carter took to dive over to score. Good follow up from kick off led to a lineout, then a scrum for Finn to go in unopposed for a super try.
Wes collected his own kick off passed to Luke who cut back for a super try.

Further good all round work saw Josh emerge from a maul to score another super try.

And despite further pressure that was it.


Tamoko Lions

Wes in early for the first try.

Quick tap from Finn saw him break and feed Max to score a second.

Graham took a high pass from Carter to score a third.Josh T did well to score a 4th and a 5th followed from the back of a maul following a penalty.

1/4 final vs Selangor

YGs started slowly but gradually came to dominate and despite not playing at their best scored first when Finn went blind from a scrum near the line.

Bradley broke from a maul to score wide from Carter's pass.

And that was the end of the scoring with spirited defence from RSC.

Semi vs Bintang

A hard start but Wes broke the deadlock picking up on the retreat,
turning and running hard for the corner.

Bradley scored a second after good work from Luke collecting a kick.

Final against Centaurs

A very disappointing first half dominated by Centaurs who went in 4-0 up at half time with some good work in the backs from Centaurs, a few missed tackles from the Young Guns who seemed lack aggression and the game was gone.

The second half saw an early try from Matt Meehan but we could not make up the difference despite dominating throughout as Centaurs defended and made tackle after tackle.


Time for a break from the 10 man game and to focus on 7's so we can successfully defend at the upcoming LFS tournament.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Monday, February 21, 2011

Magnificent in KL

With thanks to Mark "our man at the BEEB" Basham I provide below commentary on the Young Guns performance to win the KL tournament. Congratulations also to the Sherriffs on their excelent performances and for their win in the Bowl- am sure you will recognise those mentioned:

As ever the U12's preparation was leaving nothing to chance and we arrived at the ground to see the pitch bathed in moonlight! Unfortunately, our opposition in the first match were not as prepared and arrived late. We were given a walkover, and 28 points.

The second match kicked off on time at 0945 and the boys won convincingly against Royal Selangor, keeping a clean sheet. Good forward control and tight defense from the backs, but still plenty of room to improve. Final score: 7:0, and 37 points. Scorers: JB, CW, Nonu , Hairy, MM.

Next up was SKJG, a local team. The Young Guns did what they needed to win, and dominated throughout. Head Coach Chris wasn't that impressed and made sure the team knew about it in the post match debrief. Standards are high in the YG's! Final score: 5:0 and 29 points. Scorers: Hairy, JB, MM, CW

Final match in the pool was against Hong Kong Football Club (B). The boys were ready for this game. They had all learned the meaning of "ruthless" and they proved it on the pitch. We knew that we would need a big score in order to qualify well for day two, but the first priority was to win! The boys were dominant throughout, everyone played well and it was a great way to finish the first day. Final score: 7:0 and 43 points. Scorers: CW, Hairy, MM, WM, FS.

Going into day 2 Young Guns were placed second overall 2 points behind HKFC. The low score from the walkover meant we would have a harder route to the final.

Unfortunately the first game was against the Sheriffs. Both teams played well and most importantly suffered no injuries.

Victory against the Sheriffs set up a semi final clash against Centaurs. As ever when TRC play Centaurs, the boys know that they will be in for a very tough game. So it proved again, this being by far the toughest game the boys had played during the tournament. Our forwards found another gear and dominated the play. They were awesome and completely unsettled the Centaurs team. The TRC backs played their part and covered and defended well throughout, not giving the opposition playmakers any time on the ball. We took the lead early on with a super-try through the middle. It appeared that we'd made the game safe when Fin grounded number two, but it was deemed to be 'held up' by the ref and was disallowed. The pressure really mounted when Centaurs broke free to score. Critically, they were chased all the way back and were pushed out to score in the corner. The boys played on, showing total commitment to the cause and once again camped deep in the Centaurs half where we played out to the final whistle. A great game and bragging rights go to TRC. Final score: 7pts:5pts.

The Final was against Hong Kong football Club (A). Having beaten HKFC to win their Tournament in HK late last year, we knew that they would be after revenge. Two 10 minute halves was going to be tough. Tournaments are won by Squads and in this game every member of the squad would be needed. Total commitment was asked and total commitment given. HKFC were blown away by the most awesome display of power and accuracy. No one could have given more and every player delivered a personal best performance. The Young Guns were the deserved winners. Final score: 7try: zero (at this stage it all got too tense for Mr Bash so no try scorers - in any event a victory for the entire squad -Ed)

Marvelous!!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Young Gun's squeezed out twice!

Highlights below of a highly committed performance from each and every Young Gun. The margin between defeat and victory is though fine and today we were narrowly on the wrong side of that equation:


V Sri Lankan Trinity College Blue

A slow game ultimately decided by a try from Josh. Thereafter we conceded a lot of penalties but held out despite strong pressure with some great tackles most notably from Sean.


Won 1-0


Vs Royal Selangor

Good work from the kick off saw strong pressure on their line and a try for Carter.

Good ball along the line allowed Tom W to go over from short range.

A scrum near their line was won against the head for George to be driven over.

Bradley in the corner from another from a good scrum against the head, one of many such wins for Sean today.

Won 4-0

West View

1-0 came from their scrum blind to Graham then forwards to Matt Meehan on the charge.

A second followed for Graham after good ball spread well in appalling conditions. One awesome tackle from Tom M stood out.

Won 2 -0


Vs SJI who had some big units.

Graham in untouched in the corner from an early scrum.

Bradley with a weaving run for 2-0 almost immediately followed.

Aiden for 3 -0 after his excellent support of those with the ball.

4-0 with Bradley juggling but then diving over.
5-0 with Hugo running in from the kick off.

6-0 with Graham diving in in the corner. From ball again all the way along the line.

7 -0 was the final score with Graham again scoring in the corner.

Won 7 -0


So to Valley Fort with TRC needing a win as Valley had scored one more try, and the points difference identical, and what a nail biter it was.

Josh scored early from Xmas present and young guns looked well on course for victory as the forwards starved vf of any possession.

Tom thought he had scored but was held up over the line to prevent 2-0, a couple of other opportunities presented but could not be taken and with time running out Valley had one attack, won a scrum near our line and with only seconds left scored in the corner...

The 1-1 draw meant Valley won through to the semis on tries scored 15 - 14


Plate semi Vs Flying Kukri's


After a considerable delay while tables were computed Bradley chased well George picked up drove on and Matthew Meehan took the ball over to score.

Sean took the ball from a maul for a second.

George and Sean down the blind side traded passes and made progress. From the maul Carter took it up for 3 -0.

4- 0 came when Graham scored in the corner from a flowing backs move.


Plate final vs DEA Tigers


With little time to recover Young guns were almost straight into a Plate final with DEA tigers who's own semi had finished a good 10 minutes before our own had started.

The final was a tight affair, where again our forwards dominated and we created but could not take several chances. In the end it went to extra time two players off left 8 playing

DEA Tigers took advantage to score the golden try to win 1-0.

All in all a very good series of performances. Huge commitment from the whole squad with only the finest margin seeing the YGs knocked out. While not the result we wanted certainly performances for each and every boy to be proud of - apologies to those who i have not mentioned tension and typing do not go hand in hand.

TRC Sheriff's make Cup Semi final

A great effort today from the Sheriff's saw them win their Group and make the semi-final. The story below courtesy of touchline reporter Charles Argyle:

Vs Bintang

Early pressure from kick off leads to two early TRC scrums with forwards and backs combining well to put Miller over the line for his first TRC try. Bintang pressure was twice relieved by line clearing punts from Julian. But the opposition continued to press hard and in spite of spirited defense the Sherriff’s line was eventually breached. Final score: 1-1



Vs. Flying Kukris (HK)

Kukris pressed right from opening kick and scored quickly. A midfield battle ensued before Matthew Crossley opportunistically snagged an interception, leading to Julian going over for a try that evened up the scores. Nail biting stuff at both ends of the pitch in the final few minutes but the deadlock remained unbroken. Final score 1-1.



Vs. St. Andrews

The whole team drives forward from the opening whistle with huge determination and is rewarded with Hugh Goovaerts charging over for his first TRC try. Superior ball control by backs and forwards alike in the pouring rain keeps Tanglin on the front foot with the reward eventually coming - a second try for the Sheriff's and a second try for Hugh. A little bit sleepy after that and St Andrews slip in to make it 2-1. That wakes the boys up, and appropriately enough the game ends with a pile of hard-working Sheriff forwards over the line in the mud with the ref's arm raised for try number three. Hugh's at the bottom of the pile and has his hat trick. Final score: 3-1 in what is turning out to be a very tight group.




Vs. Trinity College (Yellow)


A crucial game given pool standings. Once again, great pressure from the Sheriff’s from the opening whistle leads to an early penalty. Hugh G taps and goes, and is over in the corner. Couldn't ask for a better start. Terrific turnover ball from a midfield tackle in the backs - forwards pile in and win the ball - Hugh G emerges with the ball and charges down the touchline for try number 2. 2-0 up again, and just like the previous game, time for a nap - Trinity take full advantage and make it 2-1 ensuring a nerve-racking final few minutes. But the whistle goes with the winning scoreline intact.




Vs. Zhenghua Primary


Last pool game - a win and it's a spot in the cup semi-final for the Sheriff's. Couldn't wish for a better start as Julian darts over from the first scrum of the game to make it 1-0. Unfortunately we seem to be making the rest of the game more difficult than it should be. Miller saves the day with a spectacular try saving cover tackle on the opposite wing, and then a colossal effort by the forwards holds up a Zhenghua attack over the try line, with Julian's kick subsequently relieving the pressure. After an eternity the ref finally blows for a 1-0 victory and a spot in the semis of a cup competition for the first time in the Sheriff's history.



Cup Semi Final vs Valley Fort.

The Sheriff's know they are in for a tough match, but look ready for battle against last year's cup winners from Hong Kong. The defending champions come out hard and cross the line early - how the Sheriff's respond to this is crucial. But respond they do, driving forward, keeping the ball tight in the wet conditions, charging into tackles and driving hard in rucks and mauls, knocking the opposition back. And then the reward, a try for Hugh G and the score is level against the defending champions - the pinnacle of the day so far. Valley Fort now know they have a match on their hands and have the look of Apollo Creed in their eyes. But they push back hard. The Sheriff's throw everything into defending their line, frustrating their opposition with their best tackling of the day. But finally Valley Fort has an overlap to exploit and they restore their lead. Two more late break away tries in the dying couple of minutes result in a scoreline far more lopsided than the game - you can rest assured that for a good chunk of this one Valley Fort was a little worried. Final score: 1-4



Last words: What a great accomplishment by the Sheriffs - you earned your spurs! I recognize that many are not named above, especially the forwards (I don't know all your names!), but this was a genuine team effort, and each and every boy should be incredibly proud of their performance. Finally, many thanks to coaches Nick and John.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.