Old Cats U14 on Tour – Hastings & Bexhill

This was the big one. The climax of all the hard work of cake sales, the awesome casino evening, endless organising etc. Old Cats U14 team on tour!

Weekend started on the Friday. Unfortunately for some, the karaoke bar was open and the songs got mullered – ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ will never sound the same! Although there was some rough gems in the group who seemed to of found their talent. Josh Burton surprising us all. Sally and Kirstie also added to their talents of amazing organisational skills with amazing(ish) backing vocals and groupie, supporting Hastings ‘talent’ on the karaoke.

Saturday bright and early (a bit too early for some), off to do quad biking. Mud everywhere!! Including places where you just could not imagine how mud could get there. Afternoon was spent axe throwing, rifle shooting, archery and crossbow. Again some of the boys finding their aim and adding to their talents.

Then back just in time for the ‘warm up’ game of the weekend England Vs Ireland - 6 Nations. Now I could be wrong, but I think Dave Callanan may have some Irish heritage and gloating rights were all his for the evening (which he managed in style) with Paddy his apprentice.

Sunday and this was the big game. Old Cats vs Hastings & Bexhill. I would not say this was the ‘Worlds End’ rugby pitch, but it must certainly be one of the highest. Somehow they have managed to level a piece of land on top of the hill, overlooking Bexhill town. Great views but it seemed to make the wind we are accustomed in Park Avenue as a gentle breeze. This had to be a ball in hand game. Warm up was not the best for us, balls being dropped with regularity. However whistle went and the boys switched on. This was just an amazing group of lads who had a team bond and spirit which would not be broken. Old Cats got off to a cracking start. Constantly pinning Hastings and Bexhill back in their half. Forwards doing amazing work securing the ball for the backs to do their dazzling moves, which is exactly where our first try came from. A true team try with Paddy adding his skills and pace to finish off dotting down over the line.

Hastings and Bexhill came back though. They started to attack in numbers but Old Cats would not let them spoil the party. Our defence was strong the whole team alert. Any penalties and the Old Cats team immediately drew back by 10 metres and our defensive line immediately regrouped. Then again, through a great team effort of forwards securing the ball passing it to our backs that moved the ball out wide to Toby K who through his blistering pace finished off dotting the ball in the corner.

Again Hastings and Bexhill came back strongly, but you just felt that with Old Cats whole team being on guard, our alertness our togetherness, nothing would breach our defence and we saw out the game to finish 0-10 to Old Cats.

As always some individual performances to pull out.
Alex D – picking the ball up from the scrum and gaining those valuable hard yards in the middle of the field.
Charlie - Getting bigger and stronger with a really wide range of skills. From ripping the ball, powering runs and a great turn of pace.
Paddy – some quick turns of pace and being a handful for the oppo.
Callum – again getting the ball running straight and hard at the defence, proving a handful and was very unlucky not to add to his tries tally.
Harry – what a bulldozer. Has one route on his rugby pitch ‘Sat Nav’, which is route 1 – straight down the middle.
Leo - Excellent work in defence with his 'trade mark tackles'.
Ross – dancing hands and dummies, bring the ball up to the line and releasing the backs to do their work.
Man of the match has to go to Will. Vocal, strong constantly breaking the opposition lines and ensuring Old Cats were on the front foot in attack and nailing his tackles in defence.

These tours are as a result of a lot of hard work from individuals (Sally & Kirstie), local charities and businesses supporting the Caterham youth - (too many to mention all, but special thanks to Caterham Round table, TEQ4 and Arcatech), Old Cats Rugby Club and many others wanting our local youth to have special memories and channel their efforts into a positive manner.

It is that is no coincidence that wherever the boys went over the weekend representing themselves and Old Cats Rugby Club, they only received positive feedback either from the organisers of the Quad Biking event, the Archery/rifle shooting event, from the camp site and from Hastings & Bexhill rugby club. This comes individually from the support they have around them, but rugby has a part to play in bringing a diverse range of boys together as a team and so the biggest thank you should go to our boys for making this an enjoyable weekend for all!