U8's Bask in the Sun at Ilkeston

Along with the vast number of players and supporters the weather came out to celebrate the event, even getting into the high teens.

A quick trip to the club house to register as photographer No 16, which also happens to match the number of follicles I have left.

The Panther’s supporters lay siege to a corner of the pitch, the gazebo with folding chairs coming out and the odd blanket thrown in for comfort.

The usual discussion about pitch allocation followed, with the three Panther’s squads setting off to do battle. Garve politely pointing out that supporters of the Chesterfield Reds might not be able to see the team play from their position.

Chesterfield Reds:
Garvin: I thought the team gelled well with all the lads contributing to the cause. At the end, it was nice to hear from the Ilkeston coaches that they thought we were the most organised team particularly in defence.

First match: Daniel helped as Leo was a bit late. One of the outstanding moments of the game was a solid running pass from Ollie to Daniel and then the try from it, unfortunately the passing was not very forthcoming.

Second match: The play started to come together passing and tagging. Garve was praising Felix for driving an opposition player off the pitch which lead to a try from Ollie, Felix turned to Garve replying “never touched him” I think someone was feeling guilty.

Third Match: Good level of play, support is starting to show.

Forth Match: Some good individual runs, passing and support all improved.

Chesterfield Black:
Andy: Won all 4 matches. I've now labelled them "Chesterfield All Blacks " ha ha! Excellent team effort throughout the tournament. Especially in the first match where the players were outstanding, in their use of space, passing and attacking. I as their coach on the day left the festival feeling very proud. I'm sure the parents were as well. They were all a credit to Chesterfield Panthers rugby club.

First Match: Running, passing, and support this game had it all.

Second Match: Again, the team played well from the first minute.

Third Match: The Charlie factor!

Forth Match: Support very good passing on the move.

Chesterfield White: The team had a mixed bag of results on the day, but the heart and energy showed by the whole team was great to see. Oliver P showed some impressive line speed and scored a good number of tries, when he had worked out where the touchline was, Ella and Archie were very vocal in setting up the defence, Emilio, Kris, Daniel and Isaac weighed in with some nice support play and some important tries between them. The Mosborough coach was particularly impressed by both Chesterfield Teams in Group B and said that he thought they were a credit to their coaches! Altogether, a really enjoyable day, and (as far as I know) no-one got sunburnt.

First Match: Good rugby but several plays lost because of the ball going out of play.

Second Match: Issues with the ball going out of play fixed, Ethan playing very well.

Third Match: It’s the only match I wanted no one to lose

Forth Match: Passing on the move great defence and Ethan playing through with a hurt leg.

A great day was had by all and many thanks to Ilkeston making this possible, with their great snacks, coffee and tea which kept the players and supporters going.

The teams played their hearts outs. With the clocks having moved forward the long day began to show by game 3 and 4, but the Panthers played on still winning matches.

Once more none of this would be possible if not for the hard work of the training squad, Ben, Andy, Dave, Garvin, and Richard.

Yours Cookie “16” (Roving Match Reporter, U8s) + proof-reading By Rachel