BEES Top Trophy Win

The Bees U12’s arrived at Stacks Field Ilkley for the District Festival attended by 16 Clubs. Bees were in Group A and got off to a super start beating Skipton, with George W, Harry and Thomas DB all getting over the whitewash. Jake made some useful handling moves in midfield to keep the ball moving well. The victory was even more the sweeter after going behind two tries early in the game. Joshua who was Captain for the day, rallied the comeback and there was some great tackling from Charlie also.

Next up were the hosts, Ilkley, who turned on a virtuoso performance with us struggling to compete against a well organised side. The lads though didn’t give up and there was strong tackling from Fernando and useful handling by George F.
After dusting themselves down, there was a narrow defeat 3-2 in favour of Selby, however the team enjoyed a good passage of play and Bees were unlucky not to win. Charlie (The Flying Beesman) scored a brace of tries and was very much unstoppable with ball in hand and space to run in.

After a short break, Bees moved to Ilkley’s second team pitch to face Old Rishworthians and again, were unlucky losing out 5-3. Charlie managed another two tries and George W scored a nice try too. Bees very much had the upper hand despite Old Rish having a two player advantage for most of the game! Ollie made some good mazey runs also and Nathan battled hard in the rucks and mauls.
Our old foes Wharfedale were last up and despite the cold and wind, Bees put up a valiant fight narrowly losing out 6-4, with Charlie getting a hat-trick and Harry scoring a fine solo effort late on. The lads showed great commitment and worked till the final overdue whistle, rallied on by the parent’s vocal support cascading down from the Ilkley Clubhouse verandah.

The silver lining to the cloud at the end of the tournament was that Bees U12’s were awarded the Fair Play Trophy for respecting the RFU’s Core Values. This was richly deserved as the squad battled on hard despite not being blessed with the squad numbers some of our neighbours enjoy. A special mention should also go to Sean, Tim and all at Ilkley RFC for a very well organised tournament.

We now take all the positives as we travel to that rugby hotbed of England, namely Leicester, next Sunday at a festival organised by Tigers, after which we are all off to Welford Road to watch Leicester Tigers v Sale Sharks at Welford Road in the Aviva Premiership.
We are joined on this trip by our friends from Baildon RUFC who have helped us fill a 49 seater coach. It promises to be a great day, report to follow................

Thomas DB was Man Of The Tournament for constant high work rate and relentless tackling.

Well done boys - you should all be proud of yourself!