Finchley U7s away at Regent's Park

On a cold and frosty yet sunny Sunday morning the Finchley 7s made their way to the Away game at "the Hub" in Regents Park. After the "round the posts and back" and " caterpillar" warm up they got to work in 4 separate teams with rolling Subs.
The boys are now evolving in to a cohesive unit of well honed athletes who are passing the ball with real confidence and purpose. They are all showing great support play and enthusiasm which is great to see. We all finished up at the Hub for a well-earned bagel and some soup.

Paul's team - James M, James R, Jacob, Bobby and Rory

3 matches in all. Finchley - Regents Park 3- 6 , 6-3 and 5-4. The first game must have been against the under 8's ! (The size of them). But no, Finchley U7s don’t give up that easily. Of the 3 games played everyone scored at least a one try. Bobby and Jacob with power and pace, James M's ability to change of direction and determination including questioning the ref's decisions ( Not really allowed James M but I kind of like that). James R and Rory with great passing, support play and bursts of brilliance leading to some great tries from everyone on the pitch.

Adam's team - Alban, Eddie, Telen and Alessandro

They got stuck into two matches against our hosts. The first match saw some mazy runs leading to tries from each of our Finchley heroes who ran out the match clear winners with 5 tries to 2. The second match was a more rough and tumble affair with both sides getting stuck into some tackles...sometimes a little too much. It was also a free scoring game with Alban and Thielan scoring some memorable tries. Regents Park were also up to the task and the match was drawn 7 all. Well done to the boys!"

Andy's team - Cairo, Matthew, Yash and Lennon

The four intrepid warriors that I was entrusted to (Cairo, Mathew, Yash and Lennon) immediately bonded and played well together. We played three games in all winning two very easily (8-0 and 6-0) and having a tight game against Regents Parks oldest team, eventually winning 6-4. I was hugely impressed by the way the team has improved in their defending and knowledge of the rules and tactics. Mathew bore the brunt of the defensive effort for the team whilst Yash, Cairo and Lennon scored the tries. The pace of Yash and Cairo was too much for most of our opponents and Lennon's ability to pick up on bobbling balls and his elusive running lead to him bagging a lot of tries. Even though it was a long morning the boys all maintained their focus and are showing some real talent.

Chris' Team – Daniel, Ollie, Max and Toby

The boys played 3 matches. The first match ended in a draw 9-9. The boys started in impressing form, running in some superb tries. Ollie with great pick up of the often loose ball and charging runs through the pack. Twinkle toes Toby, ever light on his feet, made some amazing darting runs to touchdown in the corner. Support play in this match was the best we have seen.
The boys went into Match Two with maybe a little too much confidence and were down 3-1 at half time, However, in the second half, after a stern talking to and the implementation of the ‘Tackle Tackle Tackle’ war cry at the blow of every subsequent whistle the boys turned the game on its head. Some lovely passes away from the tackle from Daniel allowed quick recycling of the ball, and with some powerful running by Max we went on to win 9-3.
Match Three started well; Finchley were ready to make the most of descent in the ranks of Regents Park (resulting in-team fighting), our boys maintained their disciplining at all times. Again, they made some great runs, but tired legs meant we were lacking in support, and playing to the 3-second-rule meant we lost possession all too often and were not able to capitalise on breaking the gain-line. What this proved, however, was the boys ability to make tackles under pressure and maintain their defensive line at the restart, We lost 8-5, but the boys were happy with the day’s work, as were the parents! A great morning out.
We didn’t know where to go for the soup! :o(