Sandal 15 Vs. Moortown 0
Clecksley 0 Vs. Sandal 40
Sandal 10 Vs. Old Brods. 10 (Recorded 10 - 15)
Scunthorpe 5 Vs. Sandal 25
Old Rish. 5 Vs. Sandal 20

… And so to a new season after what felt like a lifetime over the long, hot summer for the boys, even after an early August return to training (non-contact), and after training twice a week for most of September, the boys were finally ready for their first competitive fixture of what is going to be a brilliant final season of mini rugby.

To the Old Brods. Festival, where at the same time last year, the squad were trialled hard and put them in the right mind set for the upcoming season… this year was to prove its own challenges.

As the above results, Sandal were to start the festival against a physically large squad from Moortown in their opening game, unlike previous encounters the Sandal boys marked their opposition's key players well, giving them no ground to gain pace with their destructive running, whereas Sandal set the base for their festival campaign with pure grit, determination and self belief that they could win, and after a long game of only one half the boys came away with 3 tries to no reply from Moortown.

After the momentary celebration for their first win, the boys were gathered in and urged to remain focused… harder fixtures were to come and the next game had to be in their minds after each game.

A quick pitch change and both a new, young, inexperienced referee and a scratch team from both Barnsley and Cleckheaton (Clecksley) to assure all players were involved and in the true spirit of the game! The Hawks gave them the respect they deserved, but would not let up their own determination to win the tournament and after some lovely, free flowing, supportive play, Sandal came away with a convincing win, recorded as 8 tries, but what felt like more.

For the 3rd fixture there would be no change in pitch or official this time, the tournament hosts awaited the Hawks and after a heated fixture from last year’s tournament, the boys would need to bring their A-game. From the kick off the ball went to the Brods’ Goliath, who managed to head down the right wing for Sandal to concede their first try of the day and for the hosts to take an early lead. This was a huge wake up call for the team, who then battled with their bigger opposition, grinding their way back up the hill in both attack and defence, until in the final moment of the 1st half a fantastic interception in open play and a huge half pitch run whilst being tracked by the aforementioned stampeding goliath, Sandal managed to tie the first half at a try a piece. During the half time team talk it was clear that the boys had the belief in their selves and all their team mates, substituting 2 key players in order to assure the squad all had equal play. The second half started the same as the majority of the first half, with the Hawks digging in, clearing out from rucks and mauls, maintaining possession and giving the opposition no quarter in defence, and then from nowhere the Hawks managed to produce another jinking run past several players to get behind the defensive line and run through to take the lead in the game. The game had now turned, but the hosts were not finished, drilling back up the hill as Sandal had done in the first half and with the clock counting down, Brods managed to equal the score at the last moment of the game.

After the battering festival host game, as other teams, Sandal were given some time to recuperate, then returning to their original pitch and the third referee of the day. A smaller, but no less competitive Scunny side awaited the Hawks, and had proved a difficult opponent in seasons passed. Sandal maintained their tournament strategy, kept the focus and played some expansive rugby, scoring tries through brilliant support play and passing the ball out wide into open space, again beating another tough opposition with 5 tries to 1.

To the final game where Old Rishworthians awaited on the same pitch the Hawks had started their festival campaign and the boys had to win to claim the tournament undefeated. The game proved to be tiring for both sides after a long day, but Sandal maintained the pressure from earlier games, again playing similar, expansive rugby that they had played all day. Playing down the hill, Sandal took the lead and made good of their incline advantage. The second half had the hill against the Hawks and Old Rish had a resurgence, now using the incline themselves to push an advantage over the Hawks, but maintaining their discipline, Sandal managed to hold onto their first half lead, only conceding a late last minute try.

The boys have set the bar really high for themselves this season with the way they conducted themselves throughout the tournament on Sunday and every single one of them has something to be proud of, but also we all have things to work on as the opposition is only going to get harder.

To encourage each player to excel beyond their own boundaries… player of the day goes to Kobyn who lead all day as he always does, by example, a brilliant interception in the hardest game of the tournament and a well-deserved accolade, a special mention to Will as well who has joined over the summer and has fitted straight in with the team and was intrinsic with each result, but as always there were many notable examples from the squad, I am really proud and blessed to be involved with such a talented bunch of young men.

On to next week where we travel to Wetherby to play against the hosts and Otley, both teams being ready for the challenge.

Thanks for reading,

Richard

1 2 3 HAWKS!!!