Hampton Rovers 3.10-28 to St Peters 5.13-43
Captains / Orlando & Jay
A windswept Castlefield Reserve greeted out U12 Div 2 team for our last home game of the season. All the players arrived in beanies to help raise money and awareness for the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation which was wonderful to see. Even though the opposition were below us on the ladder, we were wary of the fact that they had recent wins against quality opposition and we expected them to come at us from the first bounce. Kicking with the strong wind they did just that, kicking two goals in as many minutes and putting our back six under enormous pressure. As the siren sounded for the first quarter, we were down 22 to zip and needed to take a breath. The message at quarter time was simple, get the ball to our forwards and keep it in our fifty.
Having the wind in the second and we were confident that we could bounce back. Though as sometimes happens in football, the ball just doesn’t find its way through the big sticks and we scored five points for the quarter. Coming in for the half-time break our team seemed a bit flat as we went into the clubrooms. In contrast the opposition team were up and about as they came off the ground and there was plenty of work to be done. After a bit of soul searching in the rooms, we were back up and about and ready to take on the second half.
Kicking against the strong wind and knowing full well the opposition were on, would be enough to put doubt in most teams but not this MIGHTY Rovers U12’s team. In one of the most amazing quarters of football for the year, we actually held them to one goal and kicked two ourselves to put us down by only a couple of goals heading into the last. Every player in our team dug deep and played an incredible quarter of football to put us right back in it.
We had the wind in the last but just couldn’t convert. We fought out the quarter bravely and maybe we had spent all our energies in the third but after they kicked one against the wind it was all over.
We shook hands with the opposition and held our heads high. These are the games that can define teams and individuals and we will grow stronger and hungrier for it. We pride ourselves on never giving up and it has now become our trademark.
All eighteen players were worthy of being awarded the RCD award, with the beanie being presented to Mitch Nolan.
In our post match we spoke briefly about the game and how we can learn from it and grow as a team. Fittingly, the words we would describe our own second half of football would be awesome, determined and committed which are the same words that are used to describe a wonderful young man in Robert Connor Dawes who sadly passed away in 2013 from brain cancer. His legacy will live on through the Foundation honoured in his name which continues to raise money to find a cure for this disease. Let’s make sure we continue to support the RCD Foundation to find a cure.
Chris
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