U8 players Alex, Aidan, Dominic, Gareth, Max, Matthew, Oscar, Fintan, Freddie, Hayden, Raul, Irah, Tom, Jasper and Toby

This group of games were played on Finchley home turf and it really felt good to be back here - viva Finchley’s muddy pitches. The BOE pitches may have seemed palatial but you cannot replace having such a great spirited group of lads like our U8’s. It was my turn to do kitchen duties and having not realised it clashed with a home game I spent a good few minutes of trying to work out how to get out of it finally I buckled down and just got on with it. A morning slicing bread rolls for the bacon and hot dogs was to be my duties and alongside me Gareth’s mum who had the honour of frying the bacon to go in them. I think she fried more bacon rashers on Sunday than she had in her whole life before that morning. So I would like to say a big thank you to the café staff and all the parents that give up their time each week to make sure there is the tea, coffee and food for us and the boys. So hats off to you from the U8’s team and parents. Well we were not there for my Masterchef moment rather for the rugby games and as I was not available to take notes Irah’s dad Antony Spanswick-Smith keep notes on the games and scores for me.

Match 1 Finchley v Hammersmith & Fulham
Fintan, Alex, Dominic, Max, Oscar, Raul, Aidan and Toby
The first game for Finchley started well with a full run down the pitch and a try from Oscar again getting Finchley on the move. An early try in a game always helps team moral and motivates other team mates to follow that example. From the restart there was a turnover ball due to a forward pass and Dominic took full advantage to score and then just before half time due to yet another Hammersmith mistake Alex scored a try after a knocked on ball in Finchley’s favour. During the second half Hammersmith were confidently passing and tagging but Finchley would not let them break out with some solid tagging of their own. Fintan scored the first try of the second half after an offside mistake with good flowing run that we have come to expect from him. Another long run by Max gave Finchley a try and finally at the end of the game Alex also scored his second try giving Finchley the win.
Tries scored Oscar, Dominic, 2 for Alex and 2 for Fintan
game 6-3 to Finchley

Match 2 Finchley v Chingford
Tom, Hayden, Irah, Gareth, Jasper, Matthew and Freddie
The second game was to be with Chingford and Tom’s team. At the start a mistake by Chingford with a knock on gave Gareth his first try of the day and things were looking good. With some great team passing Hayden scored his first try and the second in the game and things were looking very good. With a full pitch run Jasper got onto the score sheet. Chingford would not go down without a fight though and excellent defensive work from them would lead to a few tries going their way. However, from another restart Gareth punished them with a great try this lad was showing some fine running skills. After the half time Finchley came out full of beans and Gareth scored his third having had good support and excellent passing from the team. Then with another good spell of passing Matthew was to score and finally from a restart Hayden hammered home victory with a long run and a close try. Again Finchley showed they are very good at both tagging accurately and also breaking through the opposition’s defensive line a winning combination.
Tries scored Jasper, Matthew and 3 for Gareth and 2 for Hayden
game 7-4 to Finchley

Match 3 Finchley v Hammersmith & Fulham
Fintan, Alex, Dominic, Max, Oscar, Raul, and Toby
In the third game of the day Finchley played the second Hammersmith team and a tougher team they turned out to be. However, Finchley put up fantastic performance and kept us all proud. An early try from Max and then a second from a Hammersmith knock on was scored by Alex took the game into the half time mark. Into the second half Finchley showed more good passing and support allowing Alex to score his second try of the game. After a really good run Max was also to score his second of the game and then finally after another solid run Raul scored the last Finchley try of this game. As I have stated this Hammersmith team was a tough nut to crack and even after such a spirited effort by our Finchley boy’s and more full on tagging from Dominic the game was fated to end with a win to Hammersmith - but by one try only.
Tries scored Raul, 2 for Alex and 2 for Max
game 5-6 to Hammersmith & Fulham

Match 4 Finchley v Chingford
Tom, Hayden, Irah, Gareth, Jasper, Matthew and Freddie
In the fourth and last game of the day for Finchley -due to an error in Chingford’s calculations of who they had played during the morning Tom’s team played Chingford’s team again. In this second match between the two teams it was to go all Finchley’s way. It started off really well with an early try from Peter and then very quickly another try for Peter. Finchley had now got the measure of this team and how to beat them in every play of the game. Although it seemed to be going up one way and then down the other only one team was scoring and that was Finchley. Irah took Finchley into the half time with another example of how easy it was to punish the other team’s mistakes with a try from a forward pass by Chingford. Into the second half again it was going all Finchley’s way with another early fine try by Irah followed by a good run and try Gareth his fourth try of the morning. The final try of the game and the morning went to Freddie and with Chingford only managing one try to their name the game was solidly Finchley’s.
Tries scored Gareth, Freddie and 2 for Peter and 2 for Irah
game 6-1 to Finchley

After another fantastic morning of rugby and with 3 games out of 4 won by it was well and truly Finchley’s day. All the hard work being put in by the coaches and effort by our boy’s seems too really to be paying off. With a full complement at the next tag festival I can see Finchley doing very well indeed, bring it on. With Christmas fast approaching according to my small pocket sized red book we have one more training session on the 11th before the Christmas party on the 18th of December. It is usual for different age groups to be responsible for bring various food to the Christmas party so keep an eye on the e-mail asking for stuff before the party date.