Around 160 youngsters converged on Greenlaw on Sunday for a festival of rugby.
Stewartry Sharks welcomed old foes Dumfries Saints and new opponents Carrick for the day, with plenty of grit and determination on display from the players.
The Sharks P1-3s had a number of players making their debut and it was great to see them getting stuck in. They all played their socks off and showed serious stamina as they played a lot more match time than usual due to Carrick’s bus being delayed.
There were lots of big tackles in the P4-5 games. Dumfries proved to be very tough opponents and the Stewartry Sharks P4/5 teams worked really hard to defend against them. There was good support play, passing away quickly and some impressive runs by the Sharks.
They applied lots of pressure and were rewarded with good tries and even some intercepts. The game against Carrick was another physical game and the players gave their all and both teams scored some impressive tries. There were lots of tired bodies by the end.
The Sharks P6 team was pitted against two well drilled Dumfries P6 teams and played a round robin tournament. It was a very difficult day for the Sharks and the players showed real commitment in all that they did, with some ferocious tackling and determined running.
With a lot of new players joining the team this season, it was down to some of the more seasoned campaigners to lead by example, and Mitch, Jack, Euan and Tyler really stepped up and put their bodies on the line and made coaches, parents and teammates proud. There were also some excellent tries scored and a first ever competitive try for Logan.
Despite their best efforts, it was the Dumfries P6 teams who had the upper hand, dominating at the breakdown and in the tackle to take wins in each of the matches.
The Sharks P7 team played a round robin tournament against Dumfries and Carrick.
The first fixture was against Dumfries and was a very competitive affair, with both teams scoring after some free-flowing moves, showing excellent handling skills and making the most of the width of the pitch.
Strong Stewartry tackling from Murray, Zander and Lily and positive counter-rucking at the breakdown allowed a number of turnovers. This enabled Ciaran, Matthew, Jack, Sam and other mazy runners in the team to carve up the pitch and start dominating the scoreboard, taking the win in the first match.
Due to the late arrival of Carrick a second game against Dumfries followed with the Stewartry team hitting their stride straight away, winning the physical battle and running in a series of excellent tries featuring good running, passing and offloading involving the whole team. Despite the hard work and excellent passing and handling from Dumfries the Stewartry team was able to convincingly take the victory in the second match.
The last game was a first ever outing against a plucky Carrick outfit who had a heavily disrupted preparation to the match and were never really able to get into their rhythm – in part due to the pressure applied by a rampant Stewartry whose confidence was high after two previous wins. The scoreboard finished heavily in Stewartry’s favour with tries from across the team, capped off by a Doddie Weir–inspired mad giraffe try from Cameron to round out a very successful morning for the P7 team.
