The long awaited Kent prelims were the reason for the second tournament in successive weeks for the development squad. This year saw the boys (and associated supporters) travel to Medway. This is a venue that holds fond memories for the squad as it has proven to be a happy hunting ground for them in the past, with outright development festival wins in both 2012 and 2013. Could history repeat itself for them? As is the norm, a quick mention of the weather that greeted us seems appropriate – cold and windy - though the braver coaches’ choice of wear remained shorts.

The format was similar to the previous week’s, in that teams were allocated a league in which they would play all other teams and the winner of the group would progress to the final of the competition. For the second week running, the boys were pitched against Aylesford Bulls, with teams from Sevenoaks and Old Alleynians making up the remainder of their group. If the previous week’s festival was anything to judge by, the boys had a stern challenge on their hands..

The first match was against Old Alleynians, a team we know to be strong across the board. The boys started well and put a lot of pressure on the OAs. Whilst the boys were missing a little ‘size’, with a few key players missing, they were still competitive in all areas with strong tackles and well contested rucks and mauls defining their desire to perform well. Such play resulted in the ball making its way to Daniel S, who once again stretched his legs to move the ball from a defensive position all the way to the opposition’s try line and register the first score of the day. Directly from the resulting kick off, Max J gained possession of the ball and, following instructions from the coaching team to move the ball up the pitch, did so so effectively that he also scored. Darts finished the half two nil up. Unfortunately the lead was not to last. Whilst the boys continued to pressure the breakdowns, OAs seemed to have found a little extra in the half time and were that much more effective in these positions. On two occasions, they were able to get the ball out to a player in space who then was able to evade tackles and register a score of their own. This left the score even as the match ended. Nonetheless, the boys have played OAs in the past and this ranks as one of their best performances against them, as they had played well enough to lead the match for a period of time.

The schedule was not kind to the boys as their second match, against Sevenoaks, was to directly follow this match. Thanks must go to Sevenoaks for offering the boys time to recover themselves before the match started. However, the time they had seemed not to be enough and the match will not go down as one of their finer performances. Perhaps it was a continuation of the slightly less focussed tackling they showed in the second half of the OAs match, or that they simply needed more time to recover, but the boys struggled to put together the kind of strong play that had epitomised their previous performances. Sevenoaks seemed to have the advantage in most areas of the pitch, winning the majority of the rucks, mauls and scrums. They also used the width of the pitch well, moving the ball across their backs with pace. This was something we had seen them do in their match against Aylesford. So, whilst they boys were unable to gather themselves sufficiently to score against Sevenoaks they did concede a number of times and as a consequence lost the match by some margin and this was to cost them dearly.

Their third and final match was against Aylesford Bulls, who the previous week they had done well to register a draw against. So the emphasis was on the boys to step up and put into practice the lessons they had learnt against Sevenoaks. This they did with aplomb. As expected, the game started off as a tight affair with both teams putting in equally aggressive play to the point that clear advantages seemed hard to come by. However, the boys did manage to gain one advantage, the consequence of which was a winding run from Owain to get the ball over for a first score. Resulting play was again tight, but a strong scrum from the boys saw the ball out to Owain who, after a short run, offloaded to Joseph who put together his own strong run to break through a few tackles and put the score up to two nil. That was how the first half finished. The second half saw much the same. The next key moment came when a period of pressure on Aylesford saw the boys force an error and gain possession of the ball. This was subsequently moved across the pitch with some sharp passing and ended up with Max J who ran in the boys’ third try. The boys continued to put pressure on Aylesford after the kick off and were pressuring them on their try line when the ball was turned over in Aylesford’s favour. Their player then put in his own long run only to be tackled just before reaching the try line. Despite Darts’ attempts to get back and defend, Aylesford were that much in support and recycled the ball to take it over to score their own try. No more tries were scored and the game ended at three one to Darts. A significant improvement on their previous performance and also their score against Aylesford the previous week.

That was the end of the rugby for the day as far as the boys were concerned. Their return of played 3, won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1 was not enough to see them progress to the final. However, their ability to put in strong performances against good sides was a positive that coaches and parents aside were agreed upon, and the boys were made fully aware of this.

The squad for the day was: Aaron W, Aiden K, Callum C, Daniel S, George D, Jack D, Jack L, Joseph P, Kieran C, Louie P, Malachy C, Max J and Owain P.

Squad
Aaron V, Brandon B, Christopher R, Daniel B, Dempsey C, Edward P, Finley H, Finley W, James P, Jimmy S, Joshua D, Kane M, Matthew C, Patrick M, Shan P, William S.
In contrast to the Arctic Tundra near Croydon last week a little bit of sun was present for the Kent Tournament down in Medway. The boys from both the A and Development teams turned up bright and breezy to warm up together and give a nice squad feel to the day. Being together also gave the coaches and parents the opportunity to create and put together the lesser spotted “Double Gazebo”. When completed it was a truly a magnificent site that should be in the running for some sort of architecture award at the end of the year!
The day’s action was soon upon us with Darts playing the first of the group games against Ashford. Previous games against them had always been tough and it was hoped that the Dart’s boys had not had their confidence dented by last week’s results. Thankfully it was clear from the first minute that a lack of self-belief was not going to be an issue.
The team came out with an extremely high intensity level. The tackling was quick and solid and gave the opposition little time to settle into any type of attacking pattern. The tall, strong Ashford players where brought to the ground with good solid, technique and strength. Joshua D, Finlay W and Edward P getting in some superb early challenges. When Darts got hold of the ball they passed well. Patrick M playing with a cool, calm head.Every time a Darts player went into contact his team mates where immediately behind him to support and retain the ball. Daniel B, Shan P and Edward P showed some superb rucking technique. The passing was accurate and the runners were sharp and direct. A significant transformation from the previous week. The boys were unlucky to fall just short of the scoring line on a number of occasions with Jimmy S and Dempsey C both coming close. It was a great all round first half performance and Darts where unlucky to only be drawing at the break.
The team came out for the second half and picked up where they had left off. Midway through the half the breakthrough came. The ball was well run in the middle of the pitch and Finlay H was able to attack the space his team mates had created. With five yards he was able to use his speed and strength to throw himself over the line to give him and his team mates a deserved lead.
The boys defended well but with seconds to go Ashford were able to find some space on their left hand side. As he approached and went over the try line Matthew C was able to get himself under the ball and eventually force an attacking foot out of play. A huge thanks to the volunteer touch judge (Jamie Cadden) who got his arm up quick enough to prevent an 50% increase in blood pressure levels from both coaches and supporters. There was not even enough time to take the line out and the final whistle went to give the boys a deserved victory.
The second game against Thanet was soon upon us and thankfully the boys earlier seen commitment did not start to dwindle. Dartfordians were able to get their hand on the ball quickly and made the more positive early plays. James P and Brandon B were putting their rugby brains to good use. The boys work in the scrum was very tidy and ensured that Darts saw plenty of the ball. However as the end of the first half approached the winger was able to break the Darts defence line. Dempsey C, showing a turn of pace that Billy Whizz (one for the parents there!) would have been proud of, got himself across the pitch to make a superb try preventing tackle to halt the opponents progress. The sight of some of the teams more “robust” players soon arriving to put both the player and ball into touch was a very welcome sight.
The tempo of the second half was not as high as the first. The game became a succession of scrums and line outs that thankfully the Darts boys were able to win more than their fair share of. It looked like the game would end in a scoreless stale mate until Darts where able to make a break on the left hand side that created a maul about five yards short of the line. The team stood strong and slowly you could see the boys planning to roll the maul left. All of a sudden the break was made and a mass of bodies fell over the line. What was thankfully clear to the referee was a small hand on top of a rugby ball that had been grounded. A superb “training ground” try converted by Dempsey C.
The game was not finished as Thanet were given the chance to restart. However a good long kick was superbly taken by Aaron V who absolutely leathered the ball over the right hand touchline to end the game. Such was the power in Aaron’s kick it was estimated that the ball finally stopped rolling at about 6.15 that evening when it dropped into the Medway river.
Boosted by their good form in the first two games the team went into their final game knowing that a victory would put them into first place in a tough group. However their next opponents, Edenbridge, had also won both their games to give us a first/second place play off. It was clear from the first few minutes of play that, as expected, both teams were evenly matched and were equaling each other in all aspects of play. However as the half drew to a close Edenbridge were finding a bit more attacking space then Dart’s boys and unfortunately were able to score near the end of the first half. The boys started the second half brightly and retained possession. Once again the team did all the fundamentals well but were not able to create many try scoring chances against what was a well organised defensive group. With seconds remaining on the clock an Edenbridge player kicked from left to right and unfortunately for the Dartfordian’s team bounced straight into an attackers hand a mere five yards from the line. Despite a valiant effort from William S to prevent it, another try was scored. This was the final action of the game and the boys finished their group games with an unlucky 2-0 defeat.
The second place finish and entry into the xxxx competition was an improvement on last year's third place finish for the team. However this also meant a tough semi-final opponent in Cranbrook who the team had to lost to in the previous week at Beccehamians. The boys all took a positive attitude in to the match and were determined to put last week’s game behind them.
Dartfordian’s started in a very similar style to the first game of the day. Very high tempo with some outstanding ball retention and passing. The first five minutes of the game were dominated by the Darts forwards. However any gaps that the team created were soon closed by a sturdy opposition defence and the first half of the game ended scoreless. The boys were unable to to dominate the second half and conceded an early try. Total effort was put into the rest of the match but the Darts boys were unable to find an equaliser. The relived cheer that came from the Cranbrook coaches and supporters said much for the good performances our boys had produced.
It was unfortunate that the day ended in a defeat as there were a great number of positives to take from the day. Every single boy put in a huge amount of slog and effort into every game. All boys demonstrated how well they have developed as players during the season and more importantly they showed at all times how they have bonded and grown as a group who are always ready to support their team mates. The performances seen during these games in addition to another superb tournament from the Development team show the Dartfordians U11s are putting together a competitive, talented and united squad of players.