Scarborough Rugby Festival - All Things Bright and "bjeautiful"!

From “shaking da booty” to lots off action from the beautiful game (well, I think rugby is more beautiful) it was a fab weekend

On Saturday, we had 5 matches. Games were short – 3.5 mins for each half so there was a lot of pressure to score fast and defend well.
We started off against Ripon who proved tough opposition but we won 1-0. Next game was against Northern Vipers who we beat 4-0.
The third game was against Market Rasen Reds who were a side we were well matched against but who seemed to be very slippery and managed to wriggle through our defence to beat us 1-0. Game 4 was against the home team Scarborough who we also scored 4 tries against. The final game of the day for the now flagging boys was against West Park Leeds. The boys still gave their all and won this game 3-0.

So a great end to the day with only 1 try conceded against tough opposition. The boys managed to pick themselves up after their defeat by Market Rasen and go on to win their last 2 games of the day resoundingly.

Back to Primrose Valley for a BBQ and the derby! The boys went swimming and then had some R&R, dressing up in their fluorescent clothes and applying plenty of hair dye to each other (which does eventually wash out!). Then on to the bars for a wee dram or two!

Sunday dawned bright and sunny – the parents were not in such sparkling form!

Only 4 matches on Sunday to decide pool winners and to see who would go on to play winners of Pool B in the final. There was no clear leader at this stage although Market Rasen had the edge as they had only drawn 1 game and lost none.

First game against Bromsgrove and we won 1-0. We also beat Ilkley Dinosaurs 1-0 in a game that proved tougher than we expected. We had a great game against Doncaster winning 3-0.

However, to stand any chance of winning the pool we had to win our final match, as did the opposition, Northern Cobras, so this was going to be a toughie. The game lived up to expectations with a hard fought game. Northern Cobras had the attacking edge in the second half. But our boys were outstanding – their defence at the line was incredible and parents were nearly exploding with the tension. They did a great job in defending but it was not enough as the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Although this meant that we would not be pool winners and so not get through to the final the parents were all so impressed by the grit and determination that the team showed that we were jubilant as they came off the pitch.

The Under 10's played great rugby against tough opposition. The ball was passed out along the line, all the boys gave their all for each game. There were some great runs and tries scored. At crunch times their defence was outstanding and they came off the pitch like heroes in battle. Only one try conceded the whole tournament! That speaks volumes!

They gave their all at playtime too - running around for hours after 2 days of rugby, playing a real-life version of Call of Duty shooting each other. They swam for hours - Mark was chief swimmer and parts of him are so wrinkled from being in the water so long, it may take a while till they come back to full-size! He did drink copious quantities of beer to try to rehydrate those parts that Suzanne could not reach!

Other parents also put their hearts into the spirit of rugby touring - most can remember the weekend.
The City /United derby was watched in the “party caravan” ( Jen and Claire’s) and fortunately didn't come to blows.

The Bright Spice Girls had an outing led by Captain Dickinson and supported by able seawomen. Dads managed to keep the bar propped up while a few of us danced to a few sea shantys.

Many tales were told over coffee on the last morning and after a game of beach rugby (no - not topless!) the crew headed off with tired and happy hearts!
Many thanks to our coaches and Suzanne for such a great weekend for us all.