After the second mouthful of gravel, I decided to setup the camera and get out of the way of the lads who were all in party mood (good luck to the coaches).

The warmup and the team photograph went well, except that the captain Max ‘the mouth’ Taylor convinced was the same height as Jack? Ben soon sorted them out into two lines of over excited young lads, all chewing at the bit to get started. With Shona doing a slow Mo run towards me, for the first aid kit, which my son had left in the changing room!

The match started well with Zane scoring in the first minutes of the game. This set the tone of the match with several well worked tries to follow with solid opposition being provided from Ashfield.

Throughout the game the Panthers players match maintained their focus, with players being rotated on and off allowing everyone a good run out for the last game of the season.

After the match, the team talk, and blowing off steam in the changing rooms, rugby did what it does best in the bar afterwards. The lads had a few Cokes, games, and everyone went home happy after a great game. The only thing that scares these lads are wasps, so after taking tackle after tackle putting their bodies on the line a very small insect had them running ?. Great lads and a great season. I wonder where this squad will go in the next year.

Thoughts from the trenches:

Andy:
Could not be prouder of the boys today, in what proved to be one of the trickiest games of the season. The boys played the game in the right spirt. They did not get too despondent with it, they held their own, they kept their discipline, and for that I’m as proud as punch, as are all of the coaches. They are always things to work on, but it was the last game of the season. I told the lads to go out and enjoy themselves, they have had a decent run out and have their just desserts. Looking forward to next season, I’ve said this before and I will say it again we have a special group of players, and we are building something special.

Ben:
Tough run out today for the boys, but a really mature approach shown across the board. Some big performances from some of our newer recruits, a real commitment shown across the board. We've come a long way this season which is down to the dedication and effort put in by both the lads and parents, so a big thank you from me personally to all involved.

Dave:
A really, really strong performance for the end of the season. The lads held themselves well. There was a little bit of provocation, but everybody kept their heads and tempers. The score line spoke for itself, they could have scored more if they wanted to. Just a really good performance and I am looking forward to next season.

Matt:
Good and strong end to the season. We probably only played to 70% of our capacity today but still had a good run out in challenging conditions. We went out there and enjoyed ourselves, the ball got distributed really nicely, the moment it got out to our backs, space was there, and the tries were there. Testament to our guys, they focussed on playing rugby, and pulled together as a squad to produce the kind of rugby we want to play. We showed today, win, or lose, we are there for the rugby, the sportsmanship and all of the life skills that rugby gives you. There is so much more depth to the game than that. Winning is important, of course it is, but more importantly we worked as a team and enjoyed ourselves out on the pitch. A nice finish to the season.

Thanks to Ashfield for a great end of season match and tea’s.

Thanks to Andy, Ben, Matt, and Dave for all the hard work they put in every week.

Our next game is next season.

D.A. Cooke (Roving Match Reporter, U13(s) proof-reading Rachel Cooke any comments please email: Rugby@dacfox.com.