Hove U10s B - Brighton Festival - 16 Oct 16

The first 'B' festival of the season at Brighton saw us take a team with both experience and some new blood and it was a great team effort with some really strong rucking and finishing. First up was Haywards Heath, and in a tight opening game, so strong tackling and counter rucking resulted in a really good 3:2 victory for Hove in their first match with 2 tries for Alissio Mandica and one for Sammy Trenchard.

Next up was a strong Heathfield team and despite some valiant tackling and effort from the boys, we were punished by some fast break-away tries and the team suffered a 4:1 defeat with a good consolation try from Sammy Trenchard.

What was great to see was how the team bounced back in the next match against Pulborough. The team started to really play as a team and some of the rucking and counter rucking, particularly by Toby Heal and Ethan Usherwood was first class, which gave a platform for the attacking players to run through Pulborough. A great 7:0 victory for Hove with a hat trick of tries from Sammy Trenchard and one each for Toby Heal, Edward Campbell, Alissio Mandica and Nathanael Andrawos (almost the full length of the pitch!).

The final match was against our rivals Brighton, and it was a very close match. Some excellent defensive work and there was a great ebb and flow to the game, but it was a last power push by Brighton that got them that elusive try to win 1:0. Gutting!

Anyway, a great tournament for the team and brilliant to see the new boys come into the fold and play so well. Well done to Alissio Mandica, Edward Campbell, Finton(Finn) Crean, Jack Tucker, Joseph Cowland, Nathanael Andrawos, Sammy Trenchard, Toby Carden, Toby Heal, Zac Papanicola, Ethan Usherwood and Edward Stone.