Colfs Festival 2017

On a fairly mild but blowy Sunday morning the Gravesend Gladiators (U10s) started arriving for Old Colfeians for their 2nd festival in as many weeks and spirits were high after a 100% record last week.

The draw read as follows
1. Gravesend v Old Elthamians iii
2. T/Wells v Gravesend
3. Dartfordians v Gravesend
4. Gravesend v Old Whitgiftians

Match 1
The Gladiators started very well and quickly turned the ball over from an Old E's start and quick passing led to an early try. Strong tackling and rucking from G's led to another turn over and another quick attack saw us go over again. The rest of the half saw Old E's with a lot of ball but they failed to make any ground against a very resolute Gs defence. The HT changes were made and we quickly ran in another try from the restart. The rest of the game followed the same pattern and solid defence and quick turnovers saw Old E's frustrated and another 2 tries were run in.
Final Score
Gravesend 5 - 0 Old E's iii

Match 2
Confidence was high going into this one but it became clear from the off that Wells were going to be a much tougher prospect. They were wrapping us up in choke tackles and getting plenty of turnovers. Wells quickly ran in 2 tries in the 1st half and emotions in the G's were running high. We calmed them down in the interval and made some changes to freshen it up and reminded the boys that they were still in this game and to play like they knew they could. Unfortunately the 2nd half followed the 1st and Wells kept using the choke tackle and were ripping the ball very effectively. The G's defence was better and we only conceded 1 more try but failed to score against a very resolute and well drilled Wells defence.
Final Score
Gravesend 0 - 3 T/Wells

Match 3
The boys were fired up after their defeat and wanted to make amends in the local derby against Dartfordians. We quickly scored the opening try from the start with some strong running into space. Another 2 quick tries followed with more strong running and some good passing. Also the Darts defence wasn't as strong as it could have been. Another few changes at the break to keep the boys fresh and Darts quickly scored from the restart with what was some very poor tackling from Gs allowing one big lad to run through the middle and put it down. This seemed to steel the Gs and a lovely intercepted pass led to an easy run in. Again strong defence and rucking for the remainder of the game led to no more scores being conceded and another try being run it.
Final Score
Gravesend 5 - 1 Dartfordians

Match 4
Although we played Whitgiftians last week, the boys who played them noticed a very different team to that one. G's started the match and a strong run into the heart of the defence led to a rolling maul going the length of the pitch and going over the line for the 1st try. The G's now had their tails up and some strong tackling and counter rucking led to a quick turnover and some good passing led to another try. Whits now knew they were in a game and they made a couple of quick substitutions which unfortunately seemed to bolster them and some strong running and uncharacteristic missed tackles led to 2 quick tries. 2 - 2 at the break. We made our final changes to the team and again strong running and very good offloading in the tackle led to another try for Whits. To their credit the G's didn't have their usual team melt down when they go behind in a match and they all gave 110% and kept very good discipline against a very physical and well drilled Whits team. Unfortunately, Whits ran in another try and the G's failed to add to their tally.
Final Score
Gravesend 2 - 4 Old Whitgiftians

Although the boys didn't enjoy the 100% record of last week they still had a very good day and performed very well against some very strong and well drilled teams. As the festival season goes on it seems clubs are building up to fielding their strongest teams from large squads of players. We have to mix our team up every week as our squad isn't as large as other clubs, so as many players get games as possible.
Very proud of all the boys and they were a credit to themselves their parents and the club.
Come on you Gsssssssss