New Milton Tournament

ERRFC vs New Milton 6-6
An exciting first game saw end to end play as Ellingham got used to the fast pace of the game and the larger pitch. Individual attacking play stood out and Ellingham were able to make breaks and run for the corners on multiple occasions. The more experienced players led the way with Ben Stewart and Harry Avoth scoring some good tries. Defence was not quite so strong, and a number of missed tags let New Milton through. A good start to the tournament, but we knew we could do better.

ERRFC vs Bournemouth 4-4
This game was more of a cagey affair and saw a few mistakes by both teams. Excellent running from Taylor Nash led to 2 trys. The defence was starting to improve gradually with a few more tags being made, in particular Zach Morrish and Imogen Camp seemed to be all over the pitch stopping the opposition.

ERRFC vs Eastleigh 8-4
This was the game where Ellingham really started to play well as a whole team and the defence improved considerably. All the players seemed to step it up a notch. Twice during this game Ellingham forced Eastleigh to 7 tackles and a turnover, and while it was a great team effort all round Harry Naden, Chalie Headlam and Ewan McLean particularly stood out. Attacking place also improved during this game with some great support runs and an excellent turnover by Jamie Tunnicliff where he dived on a loose ball, jumped up and then ran 2/3 the length of the pitch to score a try.

ERRFC vs Havant 6-4
Ellingham took their good form from the previous game and continued in this game. More excellent running and supporting led to some good tries. Defense was strong again, with Ellingham able to force another 7 tag turnover, this time with James Wilding leading the way with some excellent tagging, with great support from the rest of the team. Another excellent turn over in this game, this time from Charlie Haywood led to a great try in the corner.

These results meant that Ellingham & Ringwood U8s were top of their group and would face Winchester RFC U8's in the 1st place playoff.

ERRFC vs Winchester 5-6
Winchester proved to be the biggest challenge for the team. They were very well drilled and the best defensive team Ellingham had faced, maintaining a flat line across the pitch. This meant it was very difficult for Ellingham to score in the corners which they had been doing all day. The match was very evenly contested with both teams scoring some good tries, and with Ellingham's width cut down they had to adjust and found a way to score some very good tries through the middle. Ultimately Winchester's excellent defence proved to be the deciding factor and they won the game by 1 score.

A fantastic day for all the players, they performed very well and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Thanks to all the Mums, Dads and Grandparents who came along to support, the children really appreciated it.