Worthing "B" Festival

Due to a very disappointing turnout only three sides took part in the 5th Worthing B festival, Hove and Sevenoaks being the absentees (what is it with Hove these days?)  As a result it was decided that each team would play each other twice and the competition would be decided on a points basis.
 
Brighton looked well drilled and composed from the very start against Burgess Hill who, although certainly physical in the forwards were no match for our flowing backs play.  Four tries up at half time and another two soon into the second period ended the game early.
 
We then faced Havant who had only beaten Burgess Hill by one try in the first game of the day and in theory we would have expected to put a number of tries on them too.  What actually happened was a strong physical battle in the middle of the pitch with Havant relying on an often negative kicking game resulting in a stalemate at full time.  It was clear that the ridiculously narrow pitches would not favour our backs play and we spilled too much possession against the Havant forwards.
 
After a reasonable break we took to the field of play to face Burgess Hill for the second time.  Hill had clearly been watching Havant at work and used the lack of width of the pitch to their advantage and strangled any Brighton creative backs play.  We did score two good tries following well worked passages of play and quick ball from the breakdown although did concede towards the end following a penalty to Burgess Hill.
 
We now had the re-match against Havant which we knew we at least had to draw to win the competition.  The boys started well and were a match up front although a moments lack of collective concentration saw Havant go over to score.  Their reaction showed how much it meant to them to go up against us and our boys were under no illusions that they had to get back into the game quickly.  A strong forwards run saw the Reds in a ruck right on the  Havant try line.  A clever pick and go saw us equalise and go into the second half level.  Good defensive work by both sides meant another tight game, any possession lost in their half was kicked back down field and we had to work hard to get it back in their danger zone.  That said at the end of the game we were pretty much resident in the Havant half thanks to a succession of penalties and would have managed to secure the victory had it not been for some excellent defensive work by our opposition.
 
The draw was good enough in the end for a tournament win although bizarrely the Worthing age group organiser had the pool tied and suggested we play another game as the final.  Having already won the tournament on both points and tries I saw little point in extending our visit to Worthing longer than the four and half hours we had already been there.
 
All of the boys performed brilliantly and every single one of them contributed to a win in one of the final festivals before moving on to the full size pitches.
 
Team:
Harry W, Max, Aiden, Henry, Regan, Jack, Toby, Sam H, Aran, Barney, Angus, Edward, Matthew, William (capt), Morgan, Scotty, Oscar.
 
Waterboy and self nominated senior coaching advisor (although I haven't seen any certificates):
Ned
 
Tries scorers:
Henry 2, Jack, Angus, Toby,  William 3, Regan
 
Brighton  -      Played  4, won 2  drew 2  - 14 points.  (9 tries for,2 against)
Havant -         Played  4, won 1  drew 3 -  11 points.  (2 tries for, 1 against)
Burgess Hill -  Played 4, won  0 drew 1  -  2 points.   (1 try for, 9 against)