Nail biting highs and lows for Menaces and Rogues at the Hinckley U10’s Mini-Rugby Festival

There were two pools in the tournament and Rogues were drawn in Pool A as Market Harborough 1 against Burton, Hinckley and Rugby St. Andrews.

Rogues played Burton in the first game, narrowly losing by 2 try to nil margin despite some hard tackling from Will Green and impressive forward running from brother Zack.

In the second game, Hinckley showed what a class act they were and despite Henry Joule opening the scoring for the Rogues, Hinckley managed to even the score by half-time. In the second half, Harborough lost the ball too many times at the break down and as result conceded three more try’s before the final whistle blew.

The third pool game against Rugby St. Andrews was a turning point as Rogues became the dominant force on the field. Two first half try’s from Ewan Jones and one a piece for Will Green and Billy Stamp-Ellam knocked the confidence of Rugby St. Andrews. The second half gave Henry Joule an opportunity to score a hat trick and round off a fine win for Rogues.

Menaces as MH 'B' faced Worcester, Lutterworth and Hinckley 'B'. First up were Worcester who proved to be tough opposition and they seemed to carve through the Menaces defence, opening up a 3:0 half time lead. The second half was much closer and the game finished 4:0. Next up were Lutterworth, who were giving a run out to their county cup tea. Lutterworth took the lead, but the turbos of TK Kemp were deployed to full effect to level the game. Unfortunately Lutterworth scored two more to record a 3:1 win.
In the final game against Hinckley, Menaces faced familiar opposition in their hosts after a number of meeetings this season and a regular thorn in the side 'Alfie' opened the scoring. George hooper levelled with a fantastic effort then George Hallam scored to take the lead. In the second half, despite an injury to Alfie Hinckley were able to level the game meaning Menaces finished 4th in the group.

rogues gaining 3rd place in Pool A meant that the two Harborough teams faced each other and Rogues faced Menaces in the “Plate” semi final. This was the tightest game of the day as both sides fought hard to secure the honours to represent the club. The scoring was opened by Stamp-Ellam for the Rogues but it was followed immediately by Kempy from the restart. For the first time in the day, in the form of Frank Clarke Menaces actually rucked and the ball was distributed fantastically by Stockley and Bellamy to Kemp who added his second.

The second half was equally tough, Stamp-Ellam managing to score the only try of the half for Rogues and thus securing a final spot for them based on the first try scored rule.

The tired legs but the brave hearts of the Rogues faced Lutterworth in the Plate Final. Rogues opened the scoring with a fine try by Zack Green and absorbed great pressure throughout the first half. Lutterworth upped their game in the second half scoring three times. A consolation try for Zack Green was disallowed by the ref in the dying seconds of game and Lutterworth won the day.