U10's Win at Wilmslow Festival

York Ebors at Wilmslow Festival

With a series of festival successes in the run up to the tour weekend York Ebors were in a determined mood for the trip over the Pennines to Wilmslow. The Wilmslow festival featured sixteen teams in the Under 10 age group and attracts some of the best of the North West teams. York Ebors were placed in Group A and with only the winners of each group making it through to the semi finals there was little room for complacency.

York Ebors 6 v 0 Lymm
York started the festival well with some excellent play from the forwards who were excellent in winning the ball only to be matched by the backs who moved the ball quickly down the line. Strong rucking and fast hands opened the door for Will Andrews to score quickly followed by Sam Elliot to make it 2-0 at the break. Not letting off the pressure George Davies, Patrick Hayes and Sam Elliot (2) added to the score to seal a comfortable win.

York Ebors 4 v 0 Caldy
As the two teams lined up it was clear this was a match Caldy fancied with a physically much stronger side. York however went in completely unfazed and from the off produced a huge hit on their largest player setting the mark for their style of play. Excellent rucking from Oliver Green, Drew Mansell and Joe Simpson completely took the Caldy forwards by surprise and again opened the game for the backs to take advantage. All the backs, Ben Zuiderwijk, Jacob Fleat, Charlie Rae, Sam Appleby, Chris Fox and George Davies produced excellent supporting play allowing the ball to move quickly from side to side of the pitch. Sam Elliot managed to find the gaps, which the passing created, to take four tries with two each side of the break.

York Ebors 6 v 1 Bowden
With the group now conscious of the York side, Bowden came out ready for a tough game. York again stepped up the pace in a gritty opening set of exchanges for Sam Elliot to race through and score. Bowden however took advantage of sloppy tackling to equalise quickly – they were not to get close again. A fired up York side upped their game and retook the lead before the break with Joe Simpson stealing the ball at the line out and forcing his way over the line to score. In the second half York showed their class with excellent support play, huge tackling and fast hands to allow Oliver Green, Will Andrews, Joe Simpson and Oliver Green to add to the score.

York Ebors 3 v 0 Wilmslow
The semi final was to be against the hosts Wilmslow who clearly had their sights focussed on a final place. It was not their day however as they came up against a very disciplined York team. Again the opening exchanges were tense as the teams tried to establish their preferred playing method. With little in it, Charlie Rae put in a huge tackle to stop a Wilmslow move in its tracks, excellent follow up saw the ball move quickly to Archie Stephenson scoring to take the lead. York quickly reinforced this with Sam Elliot racing down the wing to take a 2-0 lead into the break. The second half was again tense as Wilmslow worked hard to come back but some great defending and strong forward play kept the ball in York hands. Will Andrews finally made it safe with a score towards the end.

York Ebors 2 v 0 Macclesfield
The festival favourites were Macclesfield and, having had many previous successes at Wilmslow, were clearly identified as the team to beat. The match attracted a large crowd as word had spread about the quality of rugby being played and that Macclesfield might have a match on their hands. Again York faced a physically bigger side but were unfazed as the three forwards, Oliver Green, Drew Mansell and Joe Simpson fought hard for the ball and tackled ferociously. The backs waited patiently for the ball to come out and produced some quick free flowing passing to keep the pressure on. Ben Zuiderwijk took an excellent pass on the wing only to be tackled close to the line. Again York set up the play and sensing a gap Sam Elliot took advantage to race toward the line and take the lead for York. Macclesfield fought back hard and pressured the York line for some time but some quite excellent defending from the whole York team held them at bay. The determination of all the York players to prevent Macclesfield scoring was magnificent and the lead was held into the break. The second half proved to be equally close. Macclesfield fighting forward only to be held by strong tackling, excellent rucking from the forwards and fast passing from the backs. George Davies took an injury to his ankle but his replacement, Patrick Hayes, was equally as strong and the line held firm. As time started to run out York produced the move of the match, quickly recycling ball for the backs to run and an excellent offload from Will Andrews allowed Sam Elliot to score a try in the corner followed quickly by the whistle to seal an outstanding win for the York team. Judging by the reaction as York collected their trophy it was clear that the win was a magnificent performance.