u12's Match Reports 2006 - 2007

High Wycombe 0 - 29 Milton Keynes

The Gathering Storm

It began well, but finished on a very worrying note. Thunderstorms were promised. But although it's a long way to High Wycombe, Milton Keynes U12s revelled in the space they had as they took on the hosts on a proper sized pitch on Sunday in their first game of the season.

New rules for this age group meant that teams would play 13 a side, with 6 man scrums and 5 in the line outs, details which were kindly explained to the Referee by Coach Morris before the games commenced.

First up for the Warriors were the Green and White hoops of High Wycombe. MK had played this team at under-7's game which still rankles with some of the older supporters who still remember it.

Oliver Anderson, in his new role as Fly half started the game with a long kick downfield which was knocked on by a HW player. Mk won the scrum and the ball was passed through the backs to centre Glyn Lewis who was held up just short of the line, from the ruck the ball was fed to Robert Friend who staying on his feet under three-tackle pressure and propelled over in the corner by a powerful forward push. Ffred Bollom's difficult conversion attempt from the left touchline sailed just wide of the upright.

The HW kick off was caught by Will Holliday and a series of rucks and passing movements from the Warriors saw Bollom, receiving at speed from Oliver Anderson, made an unstoppable shoulder-down charge through the centre to score under the posts. He converted his own try. MK were dominating the game, looking for the pass and confident in the off-load.

With rain threatening and a Welsh Cambridge Blue running the line, MK were threatened to run riot.

One or two players were guilty of using the hand-off and were penalised when in try-making positions, but the tackles were good, and the back line looked interested and hungry. A great cross-field move between captain Kieran Duffin, Bollom and Elliot Ryan was just foiled, but the ensuing injury to Mad Dog Marchbank was to prove more consequential in the long run.

They also showed their defensive toughness with some good tackling from Lewis, Ashley Morris and Anderson.

Zachary Ezenagu was stopped just short of the High Wycombe line just before the half-time whistle sounded.

With some interval personnel changes Morris caught the kick and fed the ball to lock Zach Ezenagu who sprinted three quarters of the length of the pitch to score a fine try. The Ezenagu express was not stopping at any stations today! Bollom's kick from the touchline was narrowly wide right.

Everything was going well, but there was some consternation that the ease with which MK were finding things the Gallacticos would revert to "fill my boots" play.

Morris took the ensuing kick off and a couple of good runs by him, along with some fine rucking, took the ball to the HW 5 yard line before being knocked on. Wycombe won the scrum, but fine tackles from Anderson and Kieran Duffin kept them penned back and they eventually conceded a penalty. A deft Duffin pass and Morris went in for the try and cleverly made Bollom's conversion easier by turning towards the posts after crossing the line.

Glyn Lewis was everywhere, revelling in the amount of possession, tackling, running, but perhaps on occasions holding on to the ball that bit too long. Wycombe's forwards were holding their own, but a scrum against the head 15 yards out saw Aaron Dennis stopped just short of the line. He popped the ball to Anderson in support who sealed the victory with a powerful surge for the line. Again Bollom missed a difficult conversion.

This was an encouraging start to the new season. The backs looked for the pass where before they may have tried to keep the ball. The tackling was hard as always and the change in personnel in key positions seems to have worked well.

If there were faults in this solid victory they were that MK, failing to set up a platform, were driven out of the rucks too often, and penalised hand-offs lost them try-scoring positions.

Maidenhead 21 - 0 Milton Keynes

The MK crowd were thrilled with the fine start to the season, but suspected that this game could prove to be much tougher.

And so it proved to be. Maidenhead were doing the basics right, just as MK had done in the first game, but this attention to detail seemed to phase Milton Keynes.

Maidenhead dominated the game and were much quicker with their passing, tackling and rucking. A couple of early passing moves were only stopped by the alertness of Lewis who managed to intercept twice.

There had been personnel changes and the balance of the team had altered, but there was little excuse for the overlap that allowed Maidenhead to take the lead in the corner after seven minutes. An excellent kick converted the try.

MK kicked off and Dennis charged downfield to make a great tackle. MK won a scrum and tried to pass the ball, but the Maidenhead backs, who, when lining up flat, looked more like line backers as they adopted a 3-point stance, were very quick to get into the MK line and stifle the play.

MK seemed to be losing the plot as Maidenhead, driving over in the loose, passing well, running straight, and offloading in the tackle (September's coaching manual) dominated the first half.

By now the refereeing had begun to raise a few eyebrows with some wayward decisions, but it was Maidenhead's forward dominance, denying MK almost any ball, that set up their second try, then down the line, then back inside. Good shove, good hands, good lines, and a good conversion, but some poor tacking from the warriors who were beginning to lose their cohesion.

MK returned to a more recognisable shape in the second half, but the forwards again were shoved off the ball in both the set-piece and the loose. Even on their own put-in the lack of Marchbank at hooker compounded the lack of possession. A try-saving corner tackle by Bollom and a great, but unsupported break by Morris gave MK hope. However MK failed to make significant inroads and were often forced into kicking downfield to relieve the pressure. Maidenhead won a penalty on half way for hands in the loose and steadily moved the ball downfield, passing and rucking, before going in for their 3rd try.

MK tried to get something out of the game, but were let down by some poor passing. There were good runs from Bollom and Morris, but the Maidenhead defence stood firm to complete a convincing victory.

So, an early wake up call for the Warriors as Maidenhead showed them how to pass, tackle and ruck at pace and with discipline. They are a well drilled team with no particularly large or outstanding players, but each player knew what he had to do and did it well.

It was clear in this game that individuals were not doing individuals' jobs. More discipline in performing the positional role would be required if these games are to be won in the future.

Maidenhead AB 14 - 5 Milton Keynes

The test would perhaps be in the game against Maidenhead AB. This team contained many of those who had exposed MK in the previous game. The refereeing again came under scrutiny when Maidenhead played the first few minutes of the game with an extra player.

The Warriors made a promising start, stripping the ball and finding more room to pass, but it all went wrong when they had posession turned over from a promising blindside run and Maidenhead strolled in for the opening try.

From the restart Maidenhead knocked on and for once the MK scrum delivered possession and the ball went down the line from Friend at scrum half to Ezenagu and then Duffin hared in to score in the corner. The conversion came back off the post.

The game was fairly evenly contested, though a little scrappy as a series of rucks and scrums, with some determined runs from Elliott Ryan and Billy Cook moved the ball from one end of the field to the other, but without any end result.

Despite the fight back MK were just not gelling. Under the cosh, they conceded a penalty for handling in the loose, and the fact that a light, small fly half could run straight through their defensive line showed that things were not well.

Personnel changes again, and in this half Will Holliday and Billy Cook made huge efforts to push the team forward, but the lack of a convincing structural platform in the rucks took its toll in terms of a lack of possession. Lineout followed lineout in this period, the cross-field play seeing little penetration by either side.

Towards the end the teams exchanged penalties and both sides had the chance to score, but fine tackling kept them out. Solid breaks by Ezenagu and Bollom came to nothing. MK were having their best phase of the game at the end, but no breakthrough came.

To put the tin hat on it, another piece of wayward refereeing saw MK confused to the end. Awarded a penalty near the Maidenhead line Anderson took a quick tap and crashed over the line, at which point the Maidenhead Coach told the referee that his side had not been ready. Instead of a flea in the Coach's ear the referee merely blew his whistle for full-time. No retake, no last play, no waiting for the ball to go dead. Without referees there would be no game, but with refereeing like this there is no proper game either.

The game had ended with the thunder, lightning and torrential rain that had been promised all day.

So, first games of the season and much to ponder. One win, two losses. For those of us with a Shakesperean bent, and we are of course many, was this day Lear, the Tempest, or merely Much Ado About Nothing? The Peterborough Festival on Sunday next may provide the answer.

A disppointing end to the day, but it may have been a game too far as MK seemed a little tired after three games on the trot. There was no disgrace in losing to Maidenhead, who are more advanced in their execution of the basics than the Warriors.

In post match interviews with the players determination was strong. For the four-time winners of that competition it will be once more unto the breach dear friends once more - or close the maul up with our English dead. !!

Biggleswade 5 - 5 Milton Keynes

Plates, Plates and more Plates

Milton Keynes under 12s arrived at Peterborough on Sunday to learn that playmaker Ashley Morris had broken his collarbone falling off his bike on Saturday afternoon. With Ben Lill happily ensconced in Scotland and Aaron Dennis on his way to South Africa it was a much changed side from last season that was going for its fourth consecutive Shield victory at the Peterborough Festival.

MK were drawn in Pool 2 along with the Hosts, Biggleswade and old friends, Oundle. Confidence was high, but could they extend the remarkable sequence?

First up on a sunny, but typically chilly fen morning was Biggleswade, with the referee busily counting the numbers on each side. Thirteen. He got that right at least.

Milton Keynes kicked off through Fly half Oliver Anderson. Nerves were apparent and it went long. From the resultant scrum The Biggs shoved the MK pack backwards and then 45 degrees, indicating they meant business.

An infringement saw Biggies awarded a penalty, but a fine tackle from Will Holliday ended the move. Biggleswade moved the ball downfield showing some skill in ruck and scrum. When possession came, Ffred Bollom was penalised for a hand-off and from the penalty the Biggs went over for a try.

The restart went straight into touch and Biggleswade opted for the scrum. This was the start of a series of scrums which saw Biggies repelled by fine tackling from Billy Cook, Zach Ezenagu, Kieran Duffin and Elliot Ryan.

From a line out near the MK line Kieran Duffin just managed to stop a Bigg grounding the ball and Robert Friend was hanging on to any and every Bigg limb he could locate. Shortly afterwards it took a huge reliving kick by Oliver Anderson all the way to the Biggies 5 yard line where Ezenagu was on hand to make the tackle, but MK didn't have time to turn the screw as the Referee blew for half time. Though MK were finally threatening their opponents half at half time, this was not the start they had wanted.

The half time entertainment was provided by the referee announcing that a Bigg player had been bitten in the scrum and if he caught anyone biting they would "spend the rest of the day watching from the sidelines with their parents". However, with all players wearing gumshields, the word from the trenches is that the wound was self inflicted no doubt the Biggy prop was too embarrassed to admit this. Maybe he had missed elevenses and, delerious from hunger, had bitten down on the first bit of flesh he encountered.

Biggleswade kicked to start the second half, Holliday caught the ball, but was soon smothered. Ffred Bollom kicked downfield, but the ball was brought back by Biggleswade. From a maul close to the MK line, they moved the ball out wide, but the passing was too slow and too predictable and Ryan picked his moment to move in and intercept. He set off like a gazelle to equalise for MK. "Awesome, but unexpected" was his father's verdict.

Biggleswade now pressured the MK line, a series of scrums were giving the ref much cause for concern. Several of them reeled past the 45 degree mark and resulted, incorrectly, in the ball being turned over. Then he got upset about the front row coming up too soon, eventually he decided to move to uncontested scrums. This was to MK's benefit, as they had been struggling to cope with Biggies biggies, and they started to put together some good moves. But it was all too late as the Referee blew for Full Time with the scores tied at 5-5. MK may consider themselves lucky to have got the draw as they were second best for most of the game, but it was reward for their fine defence and refusal to buckle under pressure.

Peterborough 5 - 0 Milton Keynes

Next up were the hosts themselves, a team MK had beaten regularly in the past, but their performance in their first Pool game suggested they would be no pushovers this time.

Anderson kicked off and MK went after the hosts from the off. They rucked superbly and took every opportunity to move the ball through the backs. There were fine runs from Anderson and Ben Ledingham, Ezenagu was peerless in the Lineout and any Peterborough attacks were snuffed out by some fine tackling from Holliday, Duffin and Glyn Lewis.

A series of penalties for offside walked the Peterborough team close to the MK try line. These Festival games, short on space and time, are often decided by one mistake, and it came from MK as Peterborough won a scrum, broke on the blind side, and went over, the MK winger being drawn in instead of holding his line.

MK started the second half determined to salvage the game and move the ball, but Peterborough were good at slowing it down. Bollom made two strong runs from fullback and Zachary Ezenagu, beginning to enjoy his No. 8 role, made a powerful run down the touchline before being forced out of play, 5 yards out. The resultant lineout was won by Cook who drove over for the score...or so we thought... and the Warriors and the MK Team Manager leapt for Joy. By the time the Referee arrived on the scene, Cook was still lying on the ball. The referee was unsighted and maintained that Cook was not in control of the ball as he went over. Then he gave a penalty against MK for lip - whether that of a player or the Team Manager (who had a perfect view, kept silent, but clearly disagreed) was unclear.

MK continued to pressurize, but when Bollom was carried off with an ankle injury which ended his tournament the last play was called and MK just could not get a score. Their performance in this game was a distinct improvement on the last.

Oundle 10 - 10 Milton Keynes

The final Pool game saw the Warriors face old adversaries Oundle. MK have been something of a Nemesis for Oundle in this Tournament and I'm sure Oundle would love to have beaten MK in what for them was a last trip to this tournament, too. A win was essential to progress to the Shield stage. Suddenly MK came alive.

Anderson's kick off was returned by Oundle into MK territitory but Cook made the tackle, Duffin stripped the ball and passed to Ezenagu who set off on a dazzling run deep into Oundle territory. From the ensuing ruck Lewis received, passed to Duffin, and he put Ryan over in the corner - a lovely textbook try. This was more like it, but clearly Oundle wanted it too.

A fine start for Mk but it soon went sour. The kick off went deep into MK territory and Ryan tried to play a loose ball from behind his own line. He managed to get the ball to Anderson, but he too elected to pass in a dangerous position and Oundle pounced scored the easiest of tries.

Both sides were up for this one. Fast flowing rugby showed how much both sides wanted it. MK, for the first time this season, were rucking like they knew how and why, often with the explicit help of the half-backs, but still effectively, and the phases were coming. They couldn't make their advantage count though due to some good defence and a couple of knock-ons. Then - a collapsed scrum and Big Ben Leddingham and Mad Dog Marchbank went down badly. It didn't look good but MK regrouped and Will Holliday and Cooke took control of the next scrum and the half time whistle went.

Oundle started the second half the better team as they dominated a series of mauls, eventually breaking from one to score.

MK went looking for the quick riposte as the backs fed the ball out to the wing but were held up on the tryline. Then, MK were awarded a penalty and Anderson passed to a now marauding Ezenagu who went in from 3 yards out.

Play was fast and loose, both sides really going for it. Ezenagu was held up just short yet again. This game had reawakened the players' and spectators' passion, but the full time draw meant that neither Oundle or MK would progress to the Shield. It was the Plate for both of them.

Oundle - Plate Final 0 - 10 Milton Keynes

And so to the Final game, fittingly it was against Oundle, who had seen off Ampthill 10 - 5 in their semi-final. The Warriors had the luxury of a bye straight into the Final, but would the rest have given them any advantage?

MK had improved steadily throughout the festival. Ezenagu was now firing on all cylinders, Lewis and Cook and Daniel Hunter were tackling everybody and Louis Rutter was pushing strongly through the centre.

Captain Duffin won the arm wrestle to decide kick off and Anderson launched the ball downfield. MK won a scrum and moved the ball out to Lewis, who was bundled into touch. MK pressured Oundle into kicking to clear their lines, but the ball was sliced and went higher than it did long and was caught by John Mad Dog Marchbank who raced gleefully over the line for only his second ever try in a long and distinguished career. His previous in a friendly at the same ground.

Another penetrating run from Ezenagu after the restart saw him high-tackled and Oundle just kept MK out. Oundle defence was solid, but they were struggling against the black tide , passing from left to right, forwards rucking and driving. Ryan again darted through the Oundle defence, but could not develop it further. Lots of positives as the half-time whistle went.

More powerful running by Ezenagu began the second half. He seems more able at No. 8 to exploit his lethal speed on the ball though he must learn to run his own line and pass more often. Oundle were pinged for a high tackle on Anderson and Ezenagu almost made the line. He almost made it again after a high one on Rutter, and after yet another run Ben Leddingham picked up only to lose the ball a yard short.

It was all MK now, just what the fans had come to see. Marchbank ran at them again as MK searched for the decicisive score. Anderson ran and tried to exploit the overlap, but the pass was marginally forward. How could they seal the victory? Fittingly, it was the front 7 as the forwards won one against the head and Duffin picked up and with still plenty to do, dived over for the try. A typical Duffin effort and the final act of a thrilling Final.

Not the Shield this year then but the Plate. The what if-o-matic goes off the scale in these festivals. If they'd played in all games as they did in this last one then who knows? They could well have gone all the way. In these short games on small pitches and 13 a side it is often a moment of brilliance or madness that decides things. On Sunday the former came in the later games, and perhaps the latter in the earlier ones. There is plenty to build on as many players become more confident in their new positions. It was a day of plates - ALL MK sides, under 7s, under 10s, under 11s and under 12s all came home with them. For the under 12s on their last visit to this Festival this had been four Shields and one Plate in the last six years - something for Coach Morris ( and the ever-presents Bollom and Duffin) to be proud of as he led them to four of them.

Milton Keynes 0 - 10 Old Northamptonians

ON's provided the referee who apparently "doesn't normally do it", a fact which soon became apparent.

ON's kicked off and immediately showed their intentions as they opened with plenty of flowing rugby, the ball moving sweetly down their line on a number of occasions. Previous encounters between these two had only been at tournament level and ON's had looked a classy side.

Most of the first half was played in MK territory. MK were trying to play down the middle, fly half Oliver Anderson regularly ignoring his centres and going for the gain line. This kept the MK momentum going, but was reliant on the MK forwards getting to the breakdown quickly, and early on they seemed more capable of this than at any time so far this season.

However the game wasn't allowed to flow as the referee constantly stopped play for minor infringements. Though the crowd were often left wondering whether he was awarding a scrum, a penalty or stopping a bus. Indeed, one correspondant was reminded of Robert the Robot from that old classic "Lost in Space" ... "Danger Will Robinson"

ON's gradually began to take control of the game and pressurise the MK line, they were held at bay by some fine tackling throughout the team, particularly Elliott Ryan, Glyn lewis, Ollie Anderson and Kieran Duffin.

Alice would have felt at home with some of the refereeing decisions that followed. A penalty awarded, taken quickly and after running less than 10m and no tackles attempted another 10m awarded. And so it went on, he indicated an MK penalty near their own line, did not whistle, then indicated an ONs scrum, still no whistle, and then an ONs penalty when the whistle finally sounded - all within seven seconds. What the players made of it is anybody's guess, but clearly MK were confused, and ONs went over for the try as spectators tried to figure out whether the whistle had reflected intentions or whether arms were merely out of control. No conversion was taken.

The kick off led to yet another penalty, this time for MK, just 10yards from the ON's line, the ball was handed to Zach Ezenagu and he tried to force his way over but was kept out by some fine tackling from ON's. More pressure from ON's was so nearly thwarted by a couple of attempted Glyn Lewis interceptions. ON's continued to press through some fine passing play, but great defensive work from MK kept them out. The Referee signalled half time by hailing a taxi.

Though MK were still playing the tight game the ONs forwards were beginning to establish control. When crucial contact was required ONs were increasingly winning the ball and this allowed them to show their good hands. Half backs Anderson and Kieran Duffin more and more began to mix it with the forwards in attempt to make the gain line or get some possession. Crucial tackles were made by Lewis, Robert Friend and Louis Rutter but ONs were in the ascendancy, founded on doing the basics right, going through the phases and increasingly closing down any creativity MK could muster.

ON's continued to dominate the loose starving MK of the ball. Though when the backs did get the ball they often chose the wrong option resulting in the ball being turned over. MK defended stoutly, with good tackling from Anderson, Will Holliday and Lewis, but ON’s superiority eventually told and they went in for a second try through a defence that was just not there because the MK forwards had not arrived in sufficient numbers.

The referee continued to bamboozle players and spectators alike, but no amount of MK effort, and there was plenty, could break through the solid ON's defence. The Referee ended the game by calling a waiter.

Milton Keynes 5 - 10 Old Northamptonians

Despite the vagaries of the refereeing in the previous game it was a deserved win by ONs. The MK forwards had started well, but ONs had asserted themselves and it was going to be interesting to see how this battle would play out in the more flowing rematch, a contest to be refereed by the much revered official Mr Stuart Morris.

Captain Duffin won the arm wrestle and MK kicked off. ON's tried to break out but MK put them under pressure and they were forced to kick. Robert Friend returned the ball deep into ON's territory but the ball was lost in a ruck and ON's took control, moving the ball downfield in several phases, only kept from breaking free by fine tackling from John Marchbank, Ezenagu and Lewis.

ONs again going through the phases well and MK happier playing the more constipated game. ONs were again proving sharper at the breakdowns. The game was fierce and a few accusations of flying handbags caused referee Morris to call all the players together, congratulate them on the spectacle they were providing, but caution them to cut out any inclination to rough stuff.

As the game developed ONs were increasingly showing a propensity to over-linger at breakdowns in All Black style, but they nearly went into the lead when their big number 8 contrived to drop the ball over the MK line. From the scrum, Anderson kicked downfield, but again the ON's came back at them. A fine tackle from Louis Rutter briefly stalled them, but they eventually went over.

From the restart Anderson kicked deep and the ball was tipped backwards over the tryline by an ON's player rather than letting it run out, one of the ON's backs acrobatically kept the ball in play, but it was loose and Ryan, who had hared down the wing in anticipation, pounced on it for they try.

From the kick off MK ran at ON's through Anderson and Billy Cook, but ON's showed great defence of their own and turned it in to attack. A fine tackle from Jake Philips saved a try. but ON's drove over the line, critically the ball was touched down by Zachary Ezenagu and the Referee signalled half time.

Ezenagu caught the restart kick and tore into ONs territory. This was shortly followed by a strong runs from Jake Philips s and for a time MK looked like they wanted it more. Rutter made yards hanging on to the ball as the MK maul progressed but the ball was lost as soon as it came out. There followed an excellent period of play as ONs played the phases beautifully, going from left to right, recycling from each tackle, and trying to find the space out wide, but each time the MK drift defence outsmarted them until the ball was finally forced into touch.

However, from a penalty near the line a big ON forced his way over the line only to drop the ball in the act of scoring. Fortunately for him the try was given.

The game continued in a similar vein with ON's dominating and MK trying everything to keep them out. An interception from Ryan, a clearing kick from Duffin, a fine tackle from Friend.

An ONs scrum was collapsed and there followed a fascinating period of collective stud cleaning instigated by referee Morris, mindful of the dangers of collapsing scrums. Ffred Bollom came back on after a suspected dislocated rib sustained in the first game had seemingly relocated itself, and immediately earned his post-match sausage roll, forcing the ball out of an ON's hand as the hand's owner only had to fall over to score. That was the last play of the match.

A very interesting morning's rugby then, often scintillating and always compelling. The pattern of previous encounters repeated with ON's dominating and MK defending with great passion. The Warriors still haven't mastered the art of ruck and maul as well as many of the teams they have faced this season and this has been a big factor in most of their games. Their passing has improved, their tackling has always been committed, but until the forwards can win good ball for the backs they will struggle to beat the better teams.

Buckingham 5 - 0 Milton Keynes

On an unseasonably sunny and warm morning on Sunday Milton Keynes under 12s made the pleasant drive through the pleasant Buckinghamshire countryside to the pleasant town of Buckingham and a triple header between the Warriors, Buckingham and Ampthill.

With Team Manager Bruce Anderson and his son, outside-half Oliver, unaccountably absent. Coach Morris moved hooker Mad Dog Marchbank to scrum-half with Kieran Duffin moving from 9 to 10. The games were played on one of the three-quarters size training pitches which meant that the teams would have plenty of room for manoeuvre.

The previous two encounters between these two ended in draws so it promised to be a close game. Mk kicked off and Buckingham looked to pass, but a knock on meant a scrum. It was immediately apparent that Buckingham had a huge size/weight advantage and this was to prove a major factor. They dominated from the start in ruck and scrum and forced MK back toward their own line, despite attempts to break free from Ffred Bollom and Glyn Lewis. Under pressure, full-back Bollom kicked downfield, but the ball came back immediately. Bollom managed to bundle, JPR style, the resulting powerful Buckingham rolling maul into a last gasp touch near the MK line. Immediately afterwards he was cautioned for shoulder charging a Buckingham winger heavily into touch and minutes later narrowly avoided a yellow card for a half-developed spear tackle.

It looked pretty much that danders were up, which was just as well as Buckingham were attacking dangerously and some serious, if occasionally frantic, defence was required. The Bucks pack was enjoying plenty of possession and they were pushing forward down the centre and making the ball available for their backs out wide.

Poor tackling from the Warriors kept them under pressure and twice Buckingham were held up over the line before they finally went in for the try after a neat bit of work from their scrum half. The lack of a crossbar on either set of posts meant there would be no conversions today so the score remained Buckingham 5-0 Milton Keynes.

John Marchbank was doing his utmost to stem the tide as time and again he made crucial tackles, but the Buckingham forwards marched on relentlessly. MK could get little meaningful possession and when they did get the ball it was usually in their own half and often squandered with poor passing and ultimately necessitating a clearing kick from Duffin or Bollom.

The second half began with some positional changes in the MK pack which immediately seemed to galvanise them. Buckingham's first drive was magnificently repelled by the MK forwards, who seemed to have found some extra aggression. Now they were winning the scrums and lineouts and giving their backs some good possession. Mad Dog Marchbank was revelling in his scrum half role, barking at his own and harrying and worrying the Bucks' scrum.

The hard tackles were still being made by the likes of Duffin, Glyn Lewis, Billy Cook, Robert Friend and Louis Rutter, but it was the forwards who looked revived, rucking and mauling to create space for both Duffin and Lewis to be stopped just short of the Buckingham line. On one occasion they turned the Bucks' scrum not 90 but 180 degrees, resulting in the somewhat ludicrous situation where the MK hooker actually hooked to the Buckingham scrum half. It should of course have been re-set, but it wasn't.

A Duffin kick was chased by Zach Ezenagu deep into Buckingham territory where he made a great tackle. From a scrum, Marchbank picked up a loose ball and drove for the line, but he was held up. MK tried to pass their way over but winger Robert Friend was forced into touch. Buckingham kicked downfield but MK came back at them through good runs from Ezenagu and Ben Ledingham. Buckingham tried to break out but fine tackles from Bollom, Louis Rutter and a great double tackle from Lewis kept them penned back. MK were looking increasingly dangerous, but just couldn't cross the line, partly due to some good defence from Buckingham and some poor choices/execution in the backs, who should perhaps have passed rather than try to run themselves.

MK's poor start lost them the game, but their second half performance was a distinct improvement on the first offering much encouragement. . To borrow soccer parlance, "It was a game of two halves".which was the theme of the day, continued when, leading 20-0 at half time, Ampthill changed their whole team and went on to lose 25-20 in a thrilling game against Buckingham.

Ampthill 10 - 15 Milton Keynes

Ampthills starting team were not happy that their backups had lost and were determined to take it out on someone, step forward MK Warriors.

Duffin won the arm wrestle to kick off in the second match. Ampthill had powerful forwards, but also nimble and good handling backs. They soon had MK under pressure despite some good tackling from Duffin, who relieved the pressure by kicking downfield for Ezenagu to chase. He was first to the ball, but was forced into touch just short of the line.

MK were winning their fair share of scrums and the line out was providing some surprisingly quick ball for Marchbank, the tackling was solid and the game was very watchable. Then from a maul near the MK line the ball popped out and into an Ampthill hand and over they went for the lead.

From the Kick off Ampthill tried to move the ball again, but good tackles from Bollom, Lewis and Mann kept them out. More competitive rugby followed, the MK forwards challenging vigorously and the backs tackling tigerishly and probing for gaps. It was seriously hard work. Ampthill were dominant though and put together a series of drives which culminated in an Ampthill scrum near the MK line. MK won it, but the relieving kick was half charged down and Ampthill were credited with a much disputed try, with two MK players flat out and a third, Ezenagu, looking for all the world to have touched the ball down over his own line first. In sharp contrast to Twickenham a few hours later, this referee believed that if you can't see it you can still give it. Half time followed shortly after.

Ampthill again made wholesale changes at half time. Mk made the most of the weakened opposition and the backs, at last, had some decent possession. They used it well and, after some good ripping from Ezenagu, passed their way downfield. From a ruck Bollom, who was standing off, picked up, neatly sidestepped one tackle and ran through two more to open the MK account.

Ampthill tried to re-establish their dominance, but MK now had their tails up and good tackles from Duffin, Bollom, Lewis and Billy Cook kept them out. Marchbank again showed great awareness at scrum half by pouncing on a loose ball and making good yards passed to an already speeding Ezenagu who ran half the length of the pitch which ended when he passed forward. He made up for it, though, by stripping an Ampthill player soon after.

Good runs from Marchbank, Lewis and Phillips, coupled with some good passing moved MK back in to the opposition half. From a ruck Ezenagu picked up and passed to Duffin who characteristically outpaced the defence to equalise the score.

From the kick off, Duffin again made good yards. Bollom came off with an elbowed nose, but everybody now wanted to contribute, none more than Jonathon Gould, tackling hard and joining in clearing out the rucks with renewed vigour.

There was little time left as, from another ruck, Ezenagu made a powerful run down the left, was stopped on the Ampthill line, but managed to twist in the tackle and touch down for a last second match-winning try. Was it a double movement? Perhaps, but if so it merely cancelled out the earlier disputed Ampthill effort. The final whistle went.

Had Ampthill not reshuffled it may have been a different outcome, but the warriors should be pleased with the way the came back into the game. There will be some aches and pains on Monday morning as both Buckingham and Ampthill were big, physical teams but the Warriors, despite several injuries, never gave up and were never intimidated.

Lessons learned? At least three. Winning rucks opens up gaps in defences. Quick ball from line outs can phase the half-backs, and this could be worked on. And reconfiguring players and positions can have interesting outcomes. More riveting entertainment in two weeks time against two tough team - Nuneaton and Bicester.

Milton Keynes 7 - 28 Bicester

On a cold and frosty morning with the sun shining and mud sticking Milton Keynes entertained Bicester and Nuneaton, teams that have in the past given excellent account of themselves.

Bicester had a large squad in both senses of the word whereas MK were missing both props amongst others, managing to field only 14 fit players. Several with very limited experience. This necessitated some rearrangement in the scrum, with outside-half Oliver Anderson and Billy Cook propping down with Dan Hunter at hooker.

MK kicked off through Kieran Duffin, Zach Ezenagu raced downfield to make a tackle and strip the ball, but Mk were caught going into the ruck from the side and a penalty was awarded.

It was immediately clear that possession was to be a problem, but to their credit the MK front row were getting the ball even as the pack itself was being shoved back. It was ball, but not controlled ball. Midway through the first half Bicester were awarded a penalty in the MK half for intervention on the wrong side, and with an overlap it was a relatively easy task for the winger to go over in the corner, and the try was converted.

Bicester were winning their scrums with aplomb and MK were just about hanging on to theirs, but possession was a problem. From one such scrum the ball ended up with Full Back Robert friend, he was caught, robbed of the ball and Bicester sprinted down the blind side for their second try, which was duly converted.

From the restart Kieran Duffin kicked left and Glyn Lewis followed up with a crunching tackle on the receiver. From the ruck ex fullback Ffred Bollom, playing second row, remembered some back play and outpaced his colleagues to pick up and went over in the corner. Zachary Ezenagu converted. It looked maybe that now the game was on.

Sadly, it was false hope. Bicester's big forwards began to impose themselves and MK were on the back foot for the rest of the half. Only poor handling, frantic defence and relief kicking by Friend, Duffin and Bollom keeping Bicester out. The referee was missing a number of late releases by Bicester on the ground, but eventually MK were shoved out of a scrum and a big second row forward ran through several MK players to score and end the first half.

MK showed a bit more passion in the second half, some of it misdirected as Bollom and a Bicester player were spoken to by the referee for a handbags incident, but it was a scrappy affair dominated by penalties for minor infractions and scrums for knock ons.

Size was begining to tell. Captain Duffin called for more effort to make the gain line and offload in the tackle rather than just swinging the ball down the line, and the MK locks were standing off too much in the rucks. If they could have got the ball then they may have driven forward, but this All Black style of rucking, intentional or not, was not working.

Bicester generally dominated but MK stepped up their defence and there was a fine show of aggressive tackling from Louis Rutter, with some good work from Ezenagu, Anderson and Duffin. Eventually Bicester's advantage in the scrums told. The ball squirted out near the line unfortunately to novice Hare whose indecision was pounced on by a Bicester player for another try.

To their credit, the boys did not stop trying. Pressure forced Bicester to concede a series of penalties, but it came to nothing. A quick line-out palm from Bollom to Mad Dog Marchbank, to Duffin and a long kick chased all the way by Ezenagu but he was foiled just short of the line - and that was it.

Milton Keynes 0 - 35 Nuneaton B

Nuneaton next, and the crowd was amused to see that the Nuns had so admired the MK shirts last season that they'd copied their sleeves - red vests but black and white hooped sleeves. A problem for the referee with hands in the loose? Possibly, if he'd been looking. The Nuns had seen off Bicester B in the intervening match, rays of sunshine being provided by the uncluttered refereeing of Coach Morris who realised the game was about the players and not the referee, and had run the game sympathetically, openly, quickly, and as far as the whistle was concerned, pretty silently.

Mk started well, getting the ball out to makeshift winger Hare, who was bundled into touch. MK won the lineout and again passed, but a handoff (spotted by Nuns and referee duly obliging) ended the move.

There is something about this side that irks officials. Oliver Anderson penalised after try saving tackles for failing to move away when three big player on top of him.

Bolloms last ditch try saving tackle resulted in him leaving the field and playing no further part. MK were still defending resolutely, in particular John Marchbank and Will Holliday...but eventually the Nuns dived in for a try after a 5yard scrum. The kick was good

Still defending defiantly Glyn Lewis was windpiped doing what he does so well, tackling like his life depends on it and rucking when he probably shouldn't. The half ended after he left the pitch.

With only 12 fit players, two of them very inexperienced, MK succumbed to the inevitable, the Nuns scoring four more converted tries, albeit one from a blatant knock on, another from a scrum where three Nuns were in front of the MK scrum half, and another which would have been disallowed for the scorer screaming as he went over by another referee (at Peterborough). But, the Nuns were powerful and well deserved their win.

What can we take from this? Good big ones are beating good little ones as the season progresses, and MK are finding it difficult to compete for the ball at this level. But the team is game, and with Morris expected back next month there is light at the end of the tunnel. Run straighter boys and the gaps will come.

And a big thank you as well to all who made and sold cakes for the tour fund - especially Molly Lewis.

Tring 7 - 7 Milton Keynes

A cold, very cold, breezy, but sunny Sunday morning saw MK Warriors make the shirt trip across country to take on Tring. Tring's large squad enabled them to field two teams, or was it 3?... Their Coach made mention of a C team and MK had 3 games in quick succession. Or rather 2.5 or it may have been 5 half games. No-one is quite sure.

The Warriors took on Trings A team and played downhill on a heavily sloping pitch. These two teams have produced some close fought and entertaining games over the past 2 or 3 years and today was no exception. MK kicked off and Tring immediately went on the attack. They showed good passing movements and got quick ball from the rucks but MK's defence was good, with Jake Phillips to the fore, and eventually good runs from Ffred Bollom and Ollie Anderson took MK deep into Tring territory where, from a ruck, the ball ended up with Ashley Morris, back after a long layoff, and he went over for the try. Bollom's kick was good and MK led 7-0.

Back came Tring, but MK were so quick to get in amongst them that Tring's passing moves saw them losing yards. Chief tormentor was Morris, who showed that he had not lost his ability to sniff out and snuff out any trouble. Now MK started to take the upper hand, perhaps they were inspired by Morris' return, or perhaps they were just trying to keep warm, but the Warriors were working hard and playing their best rugby of the season. A relieving kick from Tring was caught and run back by Morris, he was caught, but the ball found his way to Zach Ezenagu, who managed to cross the line, but dropped the ball whilst doing so. Praise should go to the Tring defenders who forced the fumble, but perhaps Ezenagu should have made sure of the score.

From the scrum Tring moved the ball downfield, but fine tackling from Ollie Anderson and Glyn Lewis forced them back. Again Tring pressed and MK were forced to kick to relieve the pressure. Lewis was tackling anything that came near him, Louis Rutter produced a great relieving kick and was tackling well too, but Tring were producing the better rugby. Awarded a penalty on half way, the Tring scrum half took it quickly and raced down the sideline. The Linesman briefly raised his flag, presumably for a foot in touch, but he may just have a nervous twitch, anyway, he soon put it down and play continued. Tring were trying to get over the line, but more good MK tackling, particularly from Lewis kept them at bay.

Tring went over, but were held up. From the resulting scrum they went over again, with MK bodies under the ball. This time the refereee gave the try, The kick was good and the Referee blew for the end of the half, which also turned out to be the end of the game.

Tring B 0 - 26 Milton Keynes

After a brief respite Tring sent out their B team to take on the Warriors. Again MK were downhill and the slope was to prove a major factor in the rest of the days's proceedings.. Tring kicked off but the ball only got as far as Will Holliday, who wasn't expecting it and it appeared as if a thousand thoughts went through his mind before he caught the ball safely and drove forward. He offloaded to Kieran Duffin who cut through the Tring defence and layed off a lovely pass for the galloping Bollom to charge on to and run unimpeded to the tryline. Morris converted to make the score 7-0 to the Warriors.

Tring kicked off. MK were passing well and won a penalty on half way. The ball was handed to Ezenagu and he ran through a poor Tring defence to score. He also converted to make it 14-0.

Holliday again caught the poor kickoff and drove forward, MK moved the ball through the backs to Ezenagu, he could have strolled in for the score, but unselfishly tossed the ball to Morris and he touched down. Elliott Ryan's kick was wide right and the score stood at 19-0 to the Warriors.

Tring kicked off again and started to exert some pressure. But a kick from Duffin got a good MK bounce and Tring were forced to take the ball over their own line for a 5 metre scrum. MK won the scrum and Morris drove for the line he was swallowed up by the Tring forwards but kept on fighting and eventually he managed to pop out with the ball and dive over for his 3rd try of the game. A great effort. Ezenagu converted and the half ended with MK leading 26-0.

This time there was a second half to the game, but it was a scrappier affair as MK battled the slope, the wind and fatigue, and Tring were unable to put together any decent attacks. The Warriors did manage some fine passing moves but most of the half was played on the sidelines as a succession of lineouts were awarded. The MK defence stood firm, with Ben Ledingham working hard, and Tring never really looked like scoring. The game ended with no further scoring.

Tring 26 - 0 Milton Keynes

Again, the gap between games was short and now MK were taking on the A team again, though we were informed that the Tring Coaches had tinkered with the team and were playing players in different positions. However, it was still the A team and this time they had the slope to help them. This was to prove crucial and an obviously tired Warriors team struggled from the off.

MK kicked off and Tring passed their way in for the score. The conversion was good and it was 7-0 to Tring. MK kicked off and again Tring˛s passing was good, this time they were making forward progress as MK˛s tired defenders were not as able to disrupt them as they had been when fresh. MK defended the line well but eventually Tring went over in the corner. The conversion was good and they led 14-0.

It was soon 21-0 as Tring marched downfield straight from the kickoff and 26-0 as poor tackling let them in again at the end of the half.

Tring brought on their B side for the second half. This, coupled with the advantage of the slope, raised hopes of a dramatic comeback. Indeed, MK started the half well passing the ball from one side of the pitch to the other a good run from Ledingham more passing, but Tring managed to get them into touch each time. Tring won a lineout ball but it was stolen and passed to Anderson who went over, but the try was disallowed for handing off.

Mk couldn't pass their way over so they tried a couple of cute kicks. First, Duffin kicked for Morris to chase. He got to the ball just short of the line and put the ball over, but the referee ruled it a double movement. Then Duffin tried the same again, this time he got to the ball before Morris, but the referee ruled that a Tring player had grounded the ball first. That was the final act of the game and players and spectators retreated to the warmth of the clubhouse.

So honours even and one wonders how things would have turned out on a flat pitch, probably much the same. This was MK's best performance of the season and they continue to improve in key areas. They were definitely lifted by the return of Morris who's passion, skill and commitment has been sorely missed. It helped, too, to have a full squad available, though that squad is getting smaller by the week.

Boys Brigade Old Boys 0 - 20 Milton Keynes

On a sunny and unseasonably mild Saturday morning, Milton Keynes Under 12's travelled to Franklin's Gardens to take part in the Northampton Saints Tournament. There were 12 teams split into 3 groups of 4, with the Winners and best Runner-up qualifying for the Semi-finals. Milton Keynes would face Boys Brigade Old Boys, Rushden & Higham and Northampton Old Scouts in Pool 1. The games were played over two halves of six minutes on a fairly small pitch. Milton Keynes had just 13 players which meant a busy day for all concerned.

First up for MK were BBOB. These teams had met last season and MK recorded a comfortable win but Coaches Morris and Marchbank made sure that there was no complacency and from the off MK took the game to BBOB. The Old Boys attacked but fine tackling, in particular from Ollie Anderson kept them at bay and good work from the forwards took the ball deep into BBOB territory and Zach Ezenagu stripped the ball and went over for the try. There were no conversions in this Tournament so the score remained at 5-0 to MK.

BBOB kicked off and an MK knock on meant a scrum on the 5 metre line. BBOB won the scrum but knocked on. From the resultant scrum the ball was fed to Anderson and he powered his way down the pitch, he was caught and looked to pass, but instead he broke free of some lacklustre tackles and went all the way in for the try, a great solo effort.

From the kickoff Morris weaved his way downfield before being forced into touch. MK were awarded a penalty and, as usual, the ball was handed to Ezenagu to sprint cross field for the corner, he was caught and a ruck formed, a great clearout from Morris freed the ball for John Marchbank to pick up and score a rare try.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with MK dominating. Morris caught the kick off and ran downfield but was forced into touch. Ezenagu tipped the lineout ball superbly and the backs passed and ran down to the tryline ball the ball was held up. BBOB were awarded two penalties and kicked their way out of trouble, but MK came back at them. Good runs from Marchbank and Morris, plus some good Rucking and driving from the Forwards, took the ball to the BBOB line where Ben Ledingham picked up and dove over for the score.

BBOB tried to salvage something from the game and came at MK. A series of scrums ensued, there were good runs from Morris and Billy Cook but at the death a break by the BBOB backs took them close to a score and it was only a great double tackle from Kieran Duffin and Ezenagu that kept them out.

Rushden & Higham 5 - 15 Milton Keynes

Next up were Rushden & Higham, who had lost close a encounter with Old Scouts by the only try.

The coaches applied a tactical switch for the remaining games with Anderson moving to inside centre and Friend moving to fly half.

MK continued their good start and attacked Rushden from the off. Duffin kicked off and MK penned their opponents back near their own line. Will Holliday won a Rushden lineout, tipping the ball to Cook who drove forward, but Rushden defended well. A Rushden scrum was won against the head and the ball fed to Robert Friend who went over for the try.

Rushden restarted. Good runs from Louis Rutter, Duffin, Friend and Morris took the ball to within 2 yards. Rushden were awarded a scrum, which they won but they were forced to carry the ball over their own line. MK won the 5 metre scrum and the ball was fed out to Anderson who went over for the score.

The second half began with Holliday catching the Rushden restart and being bundled into touch. Rushden attacked but a magnificent tackle from Rutter, down at his opponents shins, stopped them in their tracks.

Rushden were awarded a penalty and MK momentarily lost concentration, allowing the rushden player to waltz through some poor tackling to score. So, game on, but MK weren't about to let this one slip and some good work by the forwards took the ball downfield where they were awarded a penalty. The ball was passed down the line to Anderson who dummied and went in for the decisive try.

Rushden kicked off and the Referee blew for time.

The key to this win was the hard work of the forwards who scrummaged magnificently and never stopped working, take a bow Ben Ledingham, John Marchbank, Billy Cook, Will Holliday, Zach Ezenagu and Jonathan Gould.

Northampton Old Scouts 0 - 5 Milton Keynes

The final Pool game was against Old Scouts, who had won their previous two games but had not scored as many tries as MK. So a draw would have sufficed, but MK wanted the win. It would be made more difficult by the departure of Gould for a previous engagement, leaving MK to play with just 12 good men and true.

Old Scouts had the early pressure and dominated the scrums as MK decided to go without a number 8. Duffin kicked to clear his lines and Mk started to move downfield. The disadvantage in the scrum proved to be of benefit as Old Scouts were penalised for wheeling. Ezenagu took the ball and ran diagonally across field. Marchbank ran straight and was high tackled. Again Ezenagu was handed the ball and he got close, but was downed, from the ruck, Morris picked up and went over in the corner. The referee immediately signalled half time and had a little word with the captains about talking back and hand-offs.

The second half saw Old Scouts finally realise they had a man advantage and they began to dominate. MK had switched to 6 men in the scrum, but this gave the OS backs more space and MK had to work hard to keep them out. Eventually MK began to turn the tide and good runs from Duffin, Ezenagu and Friend, coupled with some good lineout work from Holliday, saw MK move downfield and the game ended with them in the ascendancy.

Old Northamptonians 10 - 0 Milton Keynes

ON's are tough at any time, let alone when they have a man advantage, so this was always going to be a hard game for MK.

Holliday caught the kickoff and passed to Cook, he drove forward but the ball was lost in the ruck and ON's drove for the line, a great steal from Ezenagu, something which is becoming a speciality of his, relieved the pressure as he ran downfield and was bundled into touch.

ON's won the lineout and passed the ball from one side of the pitch to the other. MK's defence, a man short, meant an overlap and ON's went in easily.

MK kicked off and ON's again passed their way downfield, great defence kept them out, there were good tackles from Anderson and Ezenagu, but it was a real team effort.

The Referee then decided to penalise both sides for handing off and there were a series of penalties, I counted six, in quick succession. ON's were in the ascendancy but Danny Dyer and Cook produced good tackles to hold them back. ON's did cross the line as the half ended but they were held up

The referee started the second half with 3 more penalties for handoffs and one for not being back 7 yards. With all these penalties there was no flow to the game, which probably benefited MK, but didn't make for much of a spectacle. ON's were on top when the teams were allowed to play and they eventually put together a series of plays which took them over for a try.

Not content with having a man extra, ON's continually rolled substitutes on and off. Shrewd tactically, but not very sporting at this age group.

The game ended soon after and it was a deserved victory for the technically superior ON's. But full credit to Milton Keynes, every player had played every minute of every game and in two of those games they were outnumbered. It was a marvellous performance and every member of that team has a lot to be proud of.

Northampton Old Scouts 0 - 7 Milton Keynes

Given the recent wind and rain deluges Milton Keynes u12s were happy that the Nene had not flooded Rushmere Road and that their games against Old Scouts and Long Buckby on Sunday could go ahead on a chilly, but sunny morning. Indeed the pitches were in good nick and the coffee and bacon butties ready and waiting.

These two met recently at the Saints tournament and 12 man MK just edged a close encounter. Under the auspices of Old Scouts corporate Referee, a familiar face to many of the MK entourage, Captain Kieran Duffin won the toss and elected to kick off up the slope. This time MK had a full squad, but only just. The crowd hoped for a telling encounter.

Scouts tried to pass the ball but it was dropped and Ffred Bollom pounced on it, but could make no progress. MK won the resulting scrum at the third attempt after the first two wheeled and then collapsed. The ball was fed to Ashley Morris who was tackled high and MK were awarded a penalty, first Duffin and then Billy Cook tried to run the ball in, but they were forced into touch, Scouts won the lineout and kicked downfield.

The Scouts smaller scrum was holding its own where for once MK might have enjoyed some superiority, and when rucks formed MK did not capitalise on their height and weight. Scrums were beeing wheeled, unusual at this age group, the guilty party being the Scouts tighthead who was guilty of lifting, though the Referee failed to spot it.

It was mainly mid-field stuff with both teams progress being interrupted by the whistle. The teams exchanged penalties an from one Zachary Ezenagu went on one of his horizontal runs and passed basketball-style to Glyn Lewis (one of the few players to have any idea of where Ezenagu was going) who was forced into touch just yards short. He then won the lineout and MK moved the ball through the backs to Ollie Anderson who made good yards, but was stopped short, a ruck formed and MK were penalised for going over the top. Old Scouts kicked to touch, MK again won the lineout and Ezenagu picked up in the loose in his own half and powered his way through the Scouts defence, overran the poorly marked dead ball line and was then adjudged to have scored as he came back to touch down. A good refereeing decision or the ref was simply too far away to see, but this and a well-deserved try which he converted himself to give MK the lead as half-time came.

Old Scouts kicked off the second half, Ezenagu caught the ball and tried to break through, but was caught. Scouts won a penalty and passed down the line, but a fine tackle from Morris, one of several he made during the game, stopped them in their tracks. MK showed that they could pass too, but they couldn't get past some good OS defending.

As the second half developed possession of any kind, let alone quick ball, eluded MK but poor pressure passing by Scouts led to breakdowns and this comfortably kept MK in the game. However the spectators became increasingly baffled by the refereeing. Bollom was penalised for off-side when he was the original player at the breakdown. For once he kept his mouth shut. Scouts seemed to be getting away with if not murder then certainly manslaughter. But they were increasingly pressurising MK.

A fine leap from Will Holliday, who had a good day in the lineout, won an Old Scouts lineout and MK kicked downfield to relieve the pressure. Scouts continued to pass well, but couldn't break through some great defending, with Louis Rutter, Morris, Bollom and Anderson to the fore. Scouts were camped in the MK half and were edging closer and closer to the line. A penalty near the MK line was forced into touch and from the ensuing lineout and melee Ezenagu picked up, one leg still in the melee, and tried to kick with the other. He missed. The ball hit the floor and a Scout fell on it just over the MK line. The conversion tied the game.

MK kicked off, the Scouts tried to pass but a knock on was picked up by Morris and he drove for the line, his forwards were with him and Cook took the ball on, but could not get over. A scrum was awarded, but should have been given a penalty for the second, but more serious offence of preventing MK possession after the knock on. Scouts won it and kicked to touch which signalled the end of the game.

Long Buckby 0 - 21 Milton Keynes

The intermission provided a pleasure for all spectators as MK Coach Morris was persuaded to take up the whistle for the Scouts - Long Buckby encounter. Little indeed was heard of the whistle as Scouts won a fluid encounter 14 - 0. It gave us all a chance to watch Long Buckby, a team the u12s had not met before.

Captain Duffin won the toss yet again (does he ever lose?) and elected to kick off. Glyn Lewis sped downfield and made the tackle before Long Buckby had the chance to make any ground. A series of scrums followed and Long Buckby moved the ball through the backs, but couldn't gain any ground against a terrier like MK defence. Ezenagu stripped the ball and raced downfield, he passed to Rutter who passed back to Ezenagu, but the ball was knocked on. John Marchbank drove downfield, Ezenagu drove downfield, but Long Buckby held firm.

Mk were awarded a penalty for a high tackle on Bollom, which was moved forward 7 metres because Long Buckby hadn't retreated. Marchbank was given the ball and he drove forward, but then passed to a Long Buckby player, it was a great pass, just to the wrong team, Bollom stole the ball back and drove forward ably assisted by Anderson, he was stopped just short and Ezenagu picked the ball out of the ruck, twisted and dove over for the try. The try was duly converted by Ezenagu.

Another strong burst by Bollom ended when Lewis was just forced into touch near the Buckby line. The relieving kick was caught on the full by Ashley Morris who made a great run before being penalised for a tremendous hand off. The RFU Continuum disallows hand offs until under 13s but the boys are allowed to use them at school. Joined up thinking required here. The ensuing Buckby penalty was then either charged down or hit Dan Hunter and pounced on by Bollom who made it to the line and attempted his patented backwards try, but this time was adjudged a double movement. From the well won scrum the ball went from scrum half Kieran Duffin to outside-half Robert Friend and then to centre Anderson who was not going to pass up the opportunity to score a try on the day of his sister Charlotte's birthday party, and he forced himself over. Ezenagu's trusty right boot did the rest.

Long Buckby started the second half. The game became a forward battle as a series of scrums and rucks ensued. The MK scrum began at last to show what it was capable of, shoving Buckby back hard on at least three occasions, but never quite managing to release the backs.

A break down the sideline from Duffin came to nought, but led to an altercation between Marchbank and his much larger opponent which led the Referee to have a chat with the protagonists about sportsmanship. The gane restarted with a scrum, Long Buckby won it and kicked downfield. Anderson ran the ball back at them and some good passing took the ball to within 5 metres. Another scrum was won by Long Buckby who, to their credit, tried to run the ball out of defence, but the ever alert Morris, who often flirts with offside, audaciously pounced on a loose pass with a fingertip interception and ran in for an easy try. Ezenagu again did the conversion honours.

Long Buckby restarted, Morris ran at them, the backs were passing from wing to wing, Holliday was dominant in the lineout, it was good to watch. A leg injury to Friend meant that MK had to play the last few minutes with only 12 men, but it seemed to make no difference. The MK 12 were too good for the Buckby 13, and they continued to press for another score. Long Buckby won a penalty deep in their own half. Again they elected to run it and a ruck developed. Cook peeled off and ran for the tryline, he got over, but was agonisingly held up and the maul went over the deadball line, cue the Referee to signal time.

A good morning's rugby. The first game should probably have been won as well. The midweek work in the gym seems to be telling now, especially the basketball as players are more regularly looking for support, showing awareness of space and popping up short quick passes which can increasingly wrong-foot the opposition. A good New Year for everyone may be beckoning.

Olney 0 - 20 Milton Keynes

U12's Shock Experimental Olney

With the Greenleys quagmire no nearer to being playable, a joint training session with Olney was organised. The Olney pitch was located several hundred yards from the Clubhouse in amongst some allotments but, despite resembling a Crown Green, was in superb condition, oh for decent drainage. The joint training session turned out to be separate training sessions followed by a couple of games.

Kieran Duffin won the toss and MK kicked off with the wind and the wind carried the ball over the dead ball line. The game restarted with a scrum, followed by a lineout. Zach Ezenagu tipped the ball, Billy Cook picked up and drove forward, MK moved the ball through the backs, from left to right and back again, no mean achievement on a blustery day, but they could not gain ground. Olney were awarded a penalty which they kicked into touch and the ball was soon back in the hands of the MK backs, ending up with Ashley Morris who burst through for the opening score.

There was more of the same to come with the backs passing well and the forwards dominating the scrums and rucks, one particular clearout from John Marchbank sent his opponent flying backwards and epitomised the spirit of the team as they fought for everything. Olney tried to respond but determined tackling, in particular from Robert Friend, Louis Rutter and Morris kept them at bay. The MK forwards won 3 on the trot against the head, only poor handling and poor judgement prevented them from going further ahead as the backs knocked on or chose to kick instead of pass. Tackles from Ffred Bollom and Rutter, who improves with every game, nullified Olney attacks, runs from Ollie Anderson and Morris took MK close but they couldn't quite get the score. Olney kicked downfield and then drove downfield. Ezenagu kicked and Elliott Ryan chased magnificently and caught his man. Olney passed their way back upfield but strong defence from Rutter(again!), Friend and Cook held them back. Olney were definitely finishing the half on top as their forwards began to hunt in packs and get their scrums organised. The Referee was enjoying it so much he forgot to check his watch and had to be reminded that it was half time.

Olney made wholesale changes at half time and this was to benefit MK. The first scrum of the half saw Olney pushed back several metres and the Referee asked them to try again. Runs from Friend, Marchbank and Bollom, coupled with good forward play, moved the ball into Olney's half. From a MK lineout, Marchbank found Ezenagu and he sprinted diagonally across field to score in the corner, here was one player who was definitely benefiting from the wide pitch.

MK knocked on the Kickoff but won the scrum and Friend kicked to touch. Marchbank tipped the lineout ball to Cook, who drove forward, Ezenagu collected the ball and drove again but lost the ball. MK again won against the head and moved the ball through the backs, Ryan had a good run but was caught and a maul formed near the Olney line, Morris appeared with the ball and went in for the try.

Olney kicked off deep and Ezenagu waited for the ball just in front of his own line. Apparently this wasn't far enough back for him so he tipped the ball over the line, picked it off and set off on one of his diagonals. The wide pitch meant that there was room for him out wide and he went over in the corner, a tremendous run. Olney kicked off and a missed catch allowed them to recover the ball, they drove forward but MK stole the ball and kicked downfield. A ruck formed and the ball was passed to Jake Phillips but he was bundled into touch. Will Holliday made a great catch in the lineout and the ball moved through the backs to Anderson who made a great run. He was tackled and Olney recovered the ball in the ruck. The teams exchanged possession as good runs from Ryan, Cook and Ben Ledingham moved MK forward but better rucking from Olney saw them regain possession. MK almost scored when good lineout play from Holliday(again!) and a fine passing move saw the ball to Phillips on the wing, he dived over the line but before he could touch down the ball was taken out of his hands by a quick thinking Olney player.

The teams must have been tiring as they both started to kick more often and neither tryline was seriously threatened. The game ended with Morris kicking to touch.

Olney 5 - 0 Milton Keynes

U12's Lose Shortened Game

Olney wanted another game, no doubt to restore lost pride and MK agreed. It was clear from the off that this was going to be a different game as Olney's first teamers, who had the benefit of a long rest, were dominant over an MK team who were tired after their exertions and had only had a short rest between games. Marchbank took the kick off and ran at Olney, MK were passing the ball well but not making any great progress. Runs from Cook and Anderson were negated by poor handling but Olney were guilty of simple errors too. Eventually, though, they managed to find their way through as a period of sustained pressure paid off with a try.

Marchbank was hauled off by Coach Mum for squaring up to two of the Olney forwards and MK finished the half with 12 men. Olney applied more pressure but simple errors and good MK defence kept them out until half time.

With Marchbank suitably chastised and restored to the fray, MK set about levelling the scores. Both sides were passing well but it was side to side rather than forward until a smart kick from Olney took the ball to the MK 1 metre line. Olney tried to pass their way over but the ball was stolen by Morris, fed to Cook and eventually Ezenagu kicked to relieve the pressure. Olney came back at MK and had the better of the rucks and mauls. Mk couldn't get enough decent possession to threaten Olney and the game ended with Olney on top and MK exhausted after their efforts.

Despite the cold and the wind Milton Keynes produced some of the best rugby of the season. The passing moves and forward play in the first game were a great improvement on what they were producing at the start of the season. They also showed their strength and stamina in their performance in the second game.

Datchworth 12 - 0 Milton Keynes

Never Mind The Ball, Get On With The Game

Little did Milton Keynes under 12s know as they looked for the A600 way to Hitchin that Tony Spreadbury's twin brother would be waiting for them at the King George V ground. The sun shone, the wind blew and brass monkeys hunted in vain for frozen assets. Watching the teams warm up, Datchworth looked the most impressive, both in stature and technique, Hitchin had some big players of their own and MK looked like they were going to provide one of their slow starts. Coach Morris tried to counter this by telling them they were in for "a good kicking", but it was a good tongue-lashing from the referee the formed the backdrop for the first game.

Kieran Duffin won the toss as usual and elected to kick. Datchworth received and drove forward, they attempted to pass, but a couple of fine tackles from Oliver Anderson soon put a stop to that. Milton Keynes were awarded a scrum, the backs moved the ball well, then the forwards took over and produced a great drive downfield. Datchworth recovered the ball and passed well until knocking on. They won the scrum and pressured the MK line until Duffin kicked downfield. Both teams were guilty of dropping the ball and neither could gain an advantage until just before half time when Datchworth put together a good series of passing moves coupled with unapposed rucking from their forwards and eventually went over for a try.

Poor heeling and rucking had put MK on the back foot seemingly all the time, scrum half Kieran Duffin narrowly avoiding a mouthful of his own pack's studs as Datchworth powerfully shoved the MK scrum down his throat as he manfully strove to pick up the occasional won ball.

The missed kick was the end of a disappointing half.

The second half brought more of the same - little cohesion or possession for MK. Datchworth went over again as MK lost a lineout near their own line and the D's forwards outnumbering MK crossed en masse.

MK tried to force their way back into the game. Their passing and rucking forced Datchworth into conceding a couple of penalties, but MK couldn't take advantage, their passing became scrappy, at one point the ball was thrown into no-man's-land. Even when the ball appeared to be about to come to them from a melee there were so many forwards standing off that the D's won ball they should not have been allowed.

The one saving grace was the committment in the tackle area. They never gave up and almost grabbed a consolation try. MK were awarded a penalty, the ball was tossed to Zach Ezenagu and he danced his way to the line, it should have been a certain try, but instead of diving for the line he tried to slam dunk the ball and was easily prevented from grounding the ball. Datchworth won the 5 metre scrum, but great work from John Marchbank won the ball back for MK. He drove for the line, but couldn't get through. Ezenagu tried again, but was stopped short. Datchworth recovered the ball and kicked to touch and the Referee signalled full time. Datchworth were much better in the rucks, mauls and lineouts and this provided the platform for their win.

Hitchin 7 - 14 Milton Keynes

U12's Hang On To Half Time Lead

A short break for refreshments and MK were back in action against Hitchin. New boy Terry Frayne was handed a debut at prop as coach Morris rang the changes.

Hitchin kicked off, Ezenagu caught the ball and ran and then kicked downfield. Hitchin drove back but were forced into touch, the lineout ball was fed straight to Frayne and he drove forward but was forced into touch. Hitchin won the lineout but were robbed of the ball and Ezenagu ran for the line, but he was forced into touch about 5 metres short. Hitchin tipped the lineout ball over their own line and MK were awarded a 5m scrum.

It was clear that they were not as strong as Datchworth. There was still little coherent MK play, but it was looking like one of those games, a Gallactico's delight, where an individual might stamp himself on the game, and sure enough Duffin picked up from the base of the scrum to take the blind side and drive over in the corner. Ezenagu converted.

The try seemed to inspire MK and they put together a fine series of passing plays through Oliver Anderson, Robert Friend, Glyn Lewis and Ezenagu hinted that MK might just start to string a few moves together, but the hint faded. Some good running from Marchbank and Morris took them deep into Hitchin territory. The forwards, too, were beginning to impose themselves and drove close to the line. From the resulting Hitchin scrum the home team contrived to allow Ezanagu a loose ball for the simplest of tries.

There was just time for runs from Anderson and Morris before the referee blew for Half time.

With a clear lead we were hoping that MK might now play some rugby, but worryingly it was virtually all Hitchin in the second half. The MK line was under constant pressure and it took some solid defending, with Will Holliday in the thick of it, to keep them out. But the Hitchin forwards were now on top and drove them to the line. Ezenagu kicked downfield, but Hitchin drove back towards the MK line. They were awarded a penalty 5m out, but the ball was knocked on. A series of rucks and mauls followed, but Hitchin couldn't penetrate the MK defence. MK were awarded a penalty and Frayne charged downfield before being stopped by a magnificent tackle. Terry was clearly stunned by this. A good lesson to prove "they all go down if you tackle around the legs". Hitchin recovered the ball and drove again, this time they found a gap and ran in for the try. The kick was good.

This looked a bit ominous, Hitchin were in control and another score looked likely. From the kickoff Hitchin threw the ball about, but Duffin produced a couple of fine tackles to stop their progress. One of the Hitchin forwards tried running the ball at Frayne, a big mistake, Frayne knocked him on his back akin to a sumo wrestler and had to be spoken to by the Referee as he hadn't attempted to tackle the player. The Hitchin player is probably grateful for that! Hitchin came again, they were awarded a penalty close to the MK line and almost took it in, but they dropped the ball over the line when it was easier to score. Ezenagu picked up and tried to kick, but missed the ball completely.

MK were awarded a scrum just 1m from their line. Hitchin won it and tried to pass their way in, another scrum and another passing move ended in touch. Ezenagu won the lineout and set off diagonally across field before launching a huge pass to Louis Rutter, he caught it but was forced into touch.

With time running out MK found just enough to push into the Hitchin half, a strong run from Holliday finished with Ezenagu giving to Ffred Bollom who powered through, laid the ball back to Duffin who was deemed to have been held up over the Hitchin line. But MK had held on for the win, remarkably finishing the strongest.

Not one of their better days, MK looked a little off the pace. Your welsh correspondants father always used to say "never mind the ball, get on with the game". The implication was always that his forwards had already acquired the ball and moved it to the backs. It is hard to play rugby without the ball and there will be very little ball if the forwards continue to stand off from rucks en masse. Today there were too many centres playing for Milton Keynes. So, back to basics again. How the coaches must yearn to teach some rugby.

Long Buckby 0 - 25 Milton Keynes

U12's Perform Brightly Inspite Of The Weather

MK had been expecting to play in the Alliance Festival at Old Scouts but it was called off during the week due to waterlogged pitches. So Fixtures Secretary Ann Duffin had a busy week trying to fix the Minis up with a game and at various times during the week the U12's were playing at Olney(playing elsewhere), at the Hinckley Festival(postponed), at Daventry(not enough players) and finally at Long Buckby.

The rain wasn't falling mainly on the plain, but on shivering spectators as the teams lined up for the first encounter on a pitch with a considerable slope. MK were playing with the gradient for the first half and early moves showed a willingness to throw the ball around, and with the MK scrum at last holding its own and gaining good possession the boys seemed happy to try moves they had been practising in the gym for weeks.

Buckby looked to pass but MK had them penned back and they were forced to kick to relieve the pressure. Buckby won a scrum deep in their own half and tried to pass, but a great tackle from John Marchbank brought it to an end.

A good move through Ashley Morris, Robert Friend and Ffred Bollom resulted in an MK scrum, and when the ball went loose Oliver Anderson picked up and went over for the simplest of tries.

A confidence-boosting beginning this. Receiving the restart kick fullback Louis Rutter made a powerful straight run through the Long Buckby ranks and stirred the heart. Anderson, revelling in his forward role, charged in, picked up and made hard yards before passing to Bollom who passed to Morris and he powered his way over to increase the lead.

From the restart MK put together a tremendous passing series, moving the ball from one side of the field to the other through six pairs of hands ended with a marginal knock on. The boys were putting what they'd learned in training into practice. A great MK shove at a scrum led to more passing and the ball was moved to the Buckby 1 yard line where from the resulting maul Duffin passed to a galloping Morris who doesn't miss from that range.

Long Buckby were clearly stung by the way were taking full advantage of the slope and began to fight back well. Sustained pressure and some scrappy MK play saw them struggle to get out of their own half. Good work from Rutter, Daniel Hunter and Will Holliday was negated by poor handling. LB won a penalty just short of the MK line, they drove over the line but Billy Cook managed to get under the ball and hold it up. MK won the scrum and Kieran Duffin kicked downfield, Glyn Lewis chased and made the tackle, Mk won the ruck and moved the ball out to winger Danny Dyas, who danced down the sidelines before being forced into touch. Morris won the lineout and the ball was passed to Ffred Bollom on the other wing, he was stopped short but a great clear out in the ruck from Ben Ledingham allowed Duffin to pick up and dive over for the score.

There was still more to come in the first half as Glyn Lewis intercepted a Buckby pass and was just stopped short, but Morris, supporting well, picked up to score the fifth.

MK were now playing up the slope and at first Buckby looked like they were going to take full advantage. For five minutes both sides set about each other as if there was no tomorrow - really good rugby in what was becoming worsening weather. Both drove hard and tried to go through the phases and defended stoutly trying to prevent any chink in their armour. Anderson and Morris in the powerhouse and Will Holiday at no. 8 were competing for everything. MK continued to look to pass whenever they could and wingers Dyas and Jonathan Gould were given chances to run that they would not have had just a short while ago. There was good lineout work from Cook and Holliday, an interception from John Mann and some trademark sniping runs from Morris and Duffin, but silly errors and some solid defence from Long Buckby prevented MK from scoring.

Long Buckby passed, often with a whiff of panic, but lacked penetration. Danny Dyer was penalised for a hand-off that only the referee saw. Then the ball went down the MK line - Marchbank to Friend to Morris to Duffin and to Dyer who was forced into touch, and then from the line-out back the other way. But MK could not break the Buckby line. It was good to watch, but neither side could break the other. MK defence was resolute with Lewis in the thick of it making several crucial tackles, but the game ended with no second half score. The only sadness was seeing Eliot Ryan leave the field with a neck injury after a high tackle. But he is OK.

Long Buckby 5 - 30 Milton Keynes

U12's Recover From Lack Lustre Start

The players were moved to a smaller, flatter pitch built for the round ball game. Coaches Morris and Marchbank could not have been more pleased with the MK performance, but joy for the spectators soon became unconfined when the former took out his Taiwanese whistle and it became clear that he was to referee the re-match.

Long Buckby were obviously keen to get revenge as they took the game to MK right from the off. Buckby had the advantage of a lesser slope this time and experienced fans were unsurprised when all the early marginal decisions went their way. A series of scrums, rucks, hospital passes and penalties kept the ball deep in MK territory. They went over once and were held up by Bollom, but they kept up the pressure and eventually got their reward as the went in for a pushover try.

Long Buckby were joyous, but all they had done was succeeded in waking the beast as MK moved up a gear. The Warriors got their passing game going again and found their feet in the scrums to drive the ball downfield. And then something happened which even now is still the subject of an enquiry at the highest level - from a scrum the ball went down the line to Bollom on the wing, via Duffin, Friend and Lewis, and the winger scored - the first up-hill score of the day and the first by an MK winger since Ryan's in Peterborough in October last year.

The surprise was such that from the restart the Bucks kicked over the dead ball line, MK called the scrum back at half way, the pack shoved, and Duffin took, powered through three attempted tackles to score. The referee saw this as a suitable time to blow for the half.

The second half began with both teams passing the ball. MK had the ball stolen once but Bollom and Morris (twice) stole it back and the MK backs moved the ball downfield. It was good exciting end-to-end stuff in increasingly wet and muddy conditions. The MK scrum was becoming increasingly dominant and from a Buckby put in Marchbank hooked quickly against the head (it still happens in the junior game!) and again Duffin ran in for the try.

The Buckby kickoff didn't go 10 yards and MK again elected to take the scrum. The ball was fed to Robert Friend who made a strong run downfield, he passed to Bollom, who passed it back to Friend, back to Bollom and again to Friend (Now referred to as the Chuckle Brothers) and he went in for the score, though there was a suggestion that the ball may have been dropped over the line. A dazzling score none the less.

Buckby kicked off again, this time it was legal, Mk passed and ran downfield and LB were forced to kick, Rutter caught the ball and ran hard, making good ground, he was tackled and a maul formed, but Rutter broke out and ran again, he was caught just short. Anderson recycled to Friend, who passed to Holliday and then to Bollom for the fifth.

The Buckby restart was brought back by a strong run from Duffin and more good passing from the backs saw the ball once again passed from Holliday into the hands of winger Bollom and, once again, the result was a try. Very generous of Holliday who could well have gone over himself.

The game ended shortly after with two very tired, very muddy teams being applauded by a very wet crowd who had enjoyed the mornings entertainment. Long Buckby were not the strongest opposition in terms of skill or technique, but they never gave up and can be proud of their performance.

So what do we take from this? Passing has improved considerably, the boys played like a team and all round support was first rate. Perhaps the wet weather enforcing training rather than games has paid off will better technique. But underlying all this was that the pack was winning the ball and lots of it and the attitude seemed to be we can throw it around because if we lose it we'll get it back soonest - not a particularly familiar situation this season. Individuals have already been mentioned - Ben Leddingham, Billy Cook, Dan Hunter, Jon Gould and Jon Mann played their socks off to allow them to feature. Onward, then, with renewed optimism, to the Spring festivals.

Leighton Buzzard 0 - 42 Milton Keynes

U12's Stay Focused In Classy Performance

By the grace of fixture secretary Ann Duffin and in contrast to recent weeks MK U12s found themselves warming up for games against Leighton Buzzard and Hitchin in glorious balmy weather at the Buzzards' Wrights Meadow on Sunday. The pitch was in reasonable condition, considering it was the monsoon season, with patches resembing a ploughed field, but other stretches relatively dry and firm under foot. First up were the Buzzards themselves, historically a fixture to stir the heart and in recent years the handbags as well.

Within seconds of the post kick-off maul Oliver Anderson drove forward, made space, and flung the ball out to the left wing where Ffred Bollom made a good stretch to catch and go over in the corner. Robert Friend made the long trudge for the conversion. Stung by this early shock the Buzzards joined MK in throwing the ball around, both sides looking confident in their handling skills.

It was fast and furious as a break by Friend ended in a knock-on, and the early scrums indicated parity, Anderson and Ashley Morris continuing last week's stirling work in the second row. There followed a wonderful passage of play by MK with twelve passes finding a catcher before Elliot Ryan was stopped just short. The Buzzards won the scrum initially, but then lost possession as the ball bounced around messily until Zachary Ezenagu, hunting as always, gathered and dived over. Friend again converted.

From the restart MK continued to throw passes, a lovely move through Morris, Friend, Will Holliday and Bollom seeing the winger forced into touch. The Buzzards failed to take their line-out cleanly, Anderson and Holliday pounced, and Holliday, on his knees, was able to touch the ball down as it rolled in front of him - his first try for the club after years of hard work. Well done Will, and well deserved. Perhaps going down on your knees does work after all. Friend converted.

The second half saw MK increasingly dominating proceedings. But there followed a brief altercation between the referee and Coach Morris when spectators saw a Buzzard gratuitously elbow Ryan in the face and made their views known from the touchline, as did the Coach. The resulting five yard scrum went down, was reset, won by MK and scrum half Kieran Duffin fed Bollom on the blind side and he crashed over. Handbags as previously? No, the proverbial sucker punch instead. Friend, who knew where the posts were, converted.

From now on the Buzzards were visibly melting, MK's tackling was immense with Duffin in the vanguard, and Ezenagu, Mad Dog Marchbank and Friend made some fine runs. Ben Leddingham and Daniel Hunter bustled about with great purpose and considerable menace, and it was no surprise when Anderson went in to clear a ruck and Duffin took and scored in space. Friend, visibly exhausted by his previous ramblings, again added the extra two points.

MK continued to pass the ball around, looking now like they were genuinely expecting someone to take the pass, and talking to each other. The piece de resistance came when Bollom ran laterally, passed to Anderson who passed to Ezenagu and the centre somewhat surprisingly popped the ball to Morris to round things off. Friend disappeared over the brow of the hill to finished the job.

Hitchin 7 - 35 Milton Keynes

It's That Man Again

The second game, against Hitchin, began with Referee Morris's (yes, him again) trademark - the arm wrestle for kick off, and it is doubtful if Captain Duffin has ever had an easier victory even though the Hitchin captain declined to participate and instead invited forward one of his second rows.

Spirits were high, but when fullback Louis Rutter took a highish tackle, unspotted by the referee, there was no MK defence to stop the Hitchin blind side gatherer hare down the wing to give them a converted lead.

Were MK asleep or just unlucky here? Robert Friend provided the answer making a clever break from a penalty for a high tackle on Bollom and looping around to set Ezenagu free on the right to touch down. Friend gave directions and his kicking boots to the scorer who converted easily.

With minutes of the restart Hunter from a won maul popped the ball to a rampaging Anderson and down the line it went via Marchbank and Ezenagu to Bollom who finished it off, Ezenagu converting.

Hitchin were then awarded a penalty for another high tackle, which they ran, but made little ground. The ruck formed and MK shoved over. The ball came back to Ezenagu who picked up and ran over half the length of the field to score his third of the day, and again he converted easily.

Now with a clear lead MK began to turn it on. Marchbank made a power drive across field, went down and laid back to Anderson who again found Bollom who, almost falling over the line, offloaded to Ezenagu for his fourth, which again he converted.

Friend came off with a sore shoulder, Morris moved to fly half and Jon Gould came in to the second row. Helped by the somewhat idiosyncratic refereeing of Ref Morris, Hitchin pulled themselves together and tried to go through the phases, again and again winning ball at ruck and maul, but always coming up against the brick wall that was the MK defence. Time and again Hitchin tried to move forward, but they could not break the line, and despite their strong touchline support one always had the impression that one mistake and the MK runners would slice through.

Marchbank was spoken to by the referee for a spot of minimalist argy-bargy, and more wrestling mauls and little Hitchin penetration saw the game somewhat becalmed in mid-field until Hitchin did break through only to be stalled not far from the MK line. Then up stepped Danny Dyer with the run of the day, some 35 yards straight down the middle. Would he get there? Not quite, and out of the melee came - you've guessed it - hunter, gatherer and scorer Ezenagu for his fifth of the day. Did he miss the conversion? Of course not.

So another encouraging morning's rugby. Less Gallactico and much, much more of at team. Fewer wrestling mauls, some excellent passing and genuine offloading, with everyone contributing. Let us hope they are as good to their mothers next Sunday as they were on the pitch today, and better still at Tring in two weeks time. With Billy Cook, Glyn Lewis and Jon Mann expected to return the options are only growing.

Fullerians 5 - 0 Milton Keynes

A Disappointing Day At Cow Lane

A quick glance at the programme showed that MK were in a tough group and the day would be a good test of their progress in recent weeks. Bedford Blues had been replaced by Harpenden B but we knew that games against Tring, Bicester and Chinnor would be hard fought, the other group members were Fullerians who this team had last played, and beaten, at this Festival 2 years ago. All the games were played on the one pitch and it was clear that the fairly substantial slope would play a big part in proceedings

Fullerians had one player who stood a good 6 inches taller and a foot wider than everyone else!. If he could use that advantage MK would have problems. MK kicked off and Fullers knocked on , but this was missed by the referee who was to have a big influence on the final result of the game. No matter, MK immediately pressured the Fullers tryline, but Fullers kicked to touch. Mk then won a scrum against the head and it looked like they were in the mood for victory.

Playing downhill in the first half Fullerians showed some neat handling skills and became the dominant first-half force, with their big forwards breaking a number of MK tackles that were not low enough to bring them down, with the notable exception of those of Glyn Lewis.

Fullers won a line out near the MK line and the ball went through their backs until the breakdown. MK won it and Kieran Duffin made the relieving kick, only for it to be charged down, and MK needed all their resources to hold up the Fullers. From the resulting scrum and maul Fullers drove over the MK line only for the referee to blow for a five yard scrum. As the players got up from the floor a Fuller appeared to touch the ball down and he changed his mind and awarded a try. Much consternation in the ranks. The conversion was badly missed.

MK came back in to it in the second half, there were good runs from Louis Rutter and John Marchbank. There were a number of midfield wrestling matches as both sides tried to rip the ball free. But the slope began to work in MK's favour. Ffred Bollom made a powerful break but went down unable to keep the momentum. Oliver Anderson won a line-out and looked about to produce something but the ball went loose.

Fullerians were not completely subdued. The Fullerian giant took a tap penalty to himself (Illegal!) and looked to trundle over the MK line. Lewis flew at his legs like an Exocet missile and brought him down much to his surprise.

MK pressure continued to build and it seemed just a matter of time as Zachary Ezenagu made one of his characteristic diagonal breaks from left to right but was stopped just short. The referee gave MK a penalty at this point (guilt?) but Ashley Morris was stopped just inches from the line and then penalised for not rolling away with three pairs of Fullerian knees leaning on him. The penalty went into touch and the whistle blew. For all their second half effort the inability to score playing downhill was to cost MK dearly.

Bicester 26 - 0 Milton Keynes

Bicester Beef Too Prime For MK

This looked to be the toughest match of the group, and so it proved. They had brushed MK aside in the early part of the season and it was with some trepidation that supporters waited to see if the strides taken in recent weeks could be realised.

Alas, the kickoff was knocked on. Scrum lost. Maul went backwards. Try. Painfully simple and demoralising blow for the team.

Robert Friend kicked the restart and Ashley Morris made a wonderful run to collect (good thinking here by the pair of them) but he was isolated and little came of it. The Bicester pack began shoving MK round the park, turning scrums the necessary forty-five degrees to win the put in. They looked in complete control as MK, even with the slope, were left to feed on scraps which could not be developed. Bicester went over in the left hand corner as MK looked too collectively exhausted to tackle effectively, and this time it was converted.

The second half began with more Bicester pressure, MK tried to pass their way out of trouble on their own line, a wayward pass was pounced upon by Bicester but the ball was held up. Bicester won the scrum and drove over but were held up again. Eventually MK were awarded a penalty and Ezenagu kicked to touch. Back came Bicester with some good passing and strong running. Solid MK defence held them, with Lewis and Kieran Duffin making great tackles but they couldnšt stem the tide. The third try came from a terrific dummy, showing this side was not all muscle.

MK were finding it very difficult to create anything, and occasional hospital passes lost the possession they were working so hard to win. The mauling, rucking and scrummaging machine that was the Bicester pack provided space for a nice move first down the left and then back to the centre to score. A comfortable and deserved win for the Oxfordshire side.

Chinnor 14 - 7 Milton Keynes

MK Fail To Capitalise On Early Lead

So, not the best of starts but all was not lost and there was still hope of a place in the semi-final. Next on the list were Chinnor who had looked good but beatable in their previous games. They had a very potent weapon in their elusive winger.

MK had the slope and kicked off. The catcher was flattened by Ezenagu and Chinnor lost control of the ball. Bollom surged through sensing the panic and his reward came as the ball bobbled in his favour and he fell over the line to score, Ezenagu converting.

MK were looking now as if they really wanted it. Ezenagu, Anderson and Will Holliday surged forward, always threatening, and Duffin made a clever kick forward which he narrowly failed to gather with the line beckoning. The game was a closely fought affair as the teams traded kicks, passed and ran without making too much ground. MK forwards were winning the scrums but Chinnoršs were better in the rucks. The half ended with MK pressuring the Chinnor line. One aged/experienced spectator commented that Chinnor would make use of the slope and score two tries in the second half and how prophetic those words were.

Although they had spent a lot of the first half defending, Chinnor had looked accomplished enough and now they nearly scored as the ball moved down their line but MK somehow forced them into touch. When the ball went down the line to the dangerous left wing he did what he had been doing all day and ran in a good try.

The rest of the half was a ding-dong affair, with MK determined to regain the initiative and Chinnor always benefiting from the slope. Chinnor were now winning the scrums as well as the rucks and MKšs backs were again starved of possession. In the end it was a scrum won against the head by Chinnor that decided it, and the ball was touched down by their scrum half.

The game ended with Chinnor on the attack down the sideline, the moved stopped by Duffinšs fine tackle.

Tring 14 - 0 Milton Keynes

Deflated and Depleted, But Not Downcast

For the fourth game it was up the hill again, now in quite a biting wind, against old friends Tring who had once again organised an excellent festival. MK kicked off and Tring ran back at them, taking the ball close to the line but Duffin stripped the ball and MK looked to pass their way out of trouble, but a wayward pass so the ball went into touch. Tring won the lineout, drove forward, passed out to the backs and went in for the try. Once again MK had let in a soft early try and were having to play catch up rugby.

MK restarted, a couple of penalties for crossing and a high tackle pushed Tring back towards their goalline but they broke free and passed their way downfield. Now playing with only twelve men owing to injuries and no little confusion MK tackled well but couldn't stop a well drilled team and Tring got their second just before half time

Even with the slope the MK twelve could not make the breakthrough their game needed. Forward progress was made but the Tring line remained solid. It was really do or die for MK at this point. They were denied a quick penalty because one of their players was down on the ground injured, another of Ezenagušs powerful runs came to nothing, and a clever chip forward was eventually fielded and punted into touch. Determination was not lacking but the MK twelve could not find a way through and in the end the score remained the same at the final whistle.

Harpenden B 0 - 0 Milton Keynes

Harpenden Forfeit Denies MK Chance Of Consolation Win

MKšs final game was due to be against Harpenden B but Harpenden had long gone. Having been trounced in all their games they had left long ago. Hardly surprising. It was a tough group for 'A' teams.

All in all it was a bad day with few bright spots, a day when the players seemed lethargic, perhaps they missed that extra hours sleep more than others. We didn't really get a chance to see their improved passing game at its best as opportunities to show it were few and far between and quite often the backs reverted to their old ways and chose to keep the ball rather than pass it. The forwards were outmuscled for most of the day but they are probably one of the smallest packs around and if the opposition are well drilled they will always struggle.

So following four consecutive away wins over the past three weeks the boys have endured four consecutive defeats, albeit two very narrow ones. There is work to be done, structures and systems perhaps need time and effort to be developed. The age of the Gallacticos is over. Some time before Banbury and beyond to develop a more structured game, but in truth we still rely too heavily on individual excellence rather than basic ball winning and passing.

Milton Keynes 31 - 0 Buckingham

Bounce-back-ability

After the disappointments of the Tring Festival, Milton Keynes under 12s bounced back in fine style on Sunday with excellent wins over Buckingham and Stockwood Park. First up were Buckingham whose forwards had given MK a hard time in the Bonfire Night fixture last year. The last encounter with Stockwood, last season, is still talked about in hushed tones by some of the older supporters.

The day had dawned fine and sunny but the chill wind which had dried out the pitch was going to play a part in the proceedings, and with only 12 players turning out things looked a little uncertain for the Warriors. Once again it was an opportunity to see how the Warriors had improved, but would it be grasped? Buckingham had 13, but Stockwood were short. Bucks graciously decided to play a man down against MK and both MK and Bucks would donate players to the Stockwood cause.

In the absense of coach Morris standin referee Duffin adopted his (Morris's) traditional arm wrestle to decide the kickoff. Skipper Duffin had never lost, but had to settle for a draw in this tendon snapping encounter. The Buckingham skip correctly guessed which hand held the daisy and elected to kick off.

Bollom received from the kickoff and ran the ball at Buckingham, but the ball was lost in the maul. It soon became clear that although still bigger than MK the Buckingham forwards were not having it all their own way, and the territorial battle was being won by the home side. Buckingham passed through their backs but the ball was dropped and Zach Ezenagu pounced. He headed for the line and was about to touch down when the referee stopped play for an injury to a Buckingham player. It was a good call by the ref but the player was not seriously injured and jumped to his feet as the whistle blew looking rather pleased with himself.

MK were awarded the scrum about 5 metres from the line but a strong surge from the Buckingham pack won them the ball and a series of passing moves and some strong runs from their forwards took the ball into MK territory before a loose pass went straight into touch.

A great burst from a penalty awarded for a high tackle on Robert Friend from Oliver Anderson made yards but came to little through poor recycling. MK were making chances in the Buckingham half but some sloppy handling was letting them down. MK were trying to get their passing game going but the strong wind was playing havoc and their passes were not going to hand and on one occasion a scoring opportunity was lost as the Referee was unable to get out of the way of a quick pass from the base of a scrum. The Buckingham forwards were dominating the smaller MK pack but Buckingham were unable to make their possession count as MK's backs were solid in defence.

MK finally broke the deadlock when a Buckingham kick was returned fiercely by Bollom and taken on by Oliver Anderson who fed the ball to Ezenagu to score. His conversion attempt was missed as a combination of the strong headwind and the charging Buckingham pack put him off.

The restart sailed over the dead ball line and MK opted for a scrum on half way. Again the backs looked to pass and got the ball out to Bollom but he was tackled high and a penalty was awarded. The ball was fed to Glyn Lewis and he ran right to left, Ezenagu then ran left to right but neither made any forward progress. The Buckingham backs continued to waste the opportunities presented to them by their forwards as they consistently dropped the ball or knocked it on, it was from one of these errors that Mk scored their second as Anderson scooped up the loose ball and fed it to Robert Friend who went in for the score. Bollom's conversion was good

The restart was tipped by John Mann and bobbled around dangerously until Ezenagu volleyed it downfield. The referee awarded a penalty to Buckingham and they drove close to the MK line but conceded a penalty, which Ezenagu kicked legally into touch. The half ended soon after with no further score.

When Buckingham tried to force their way into the MK half they were either hitting the Warriors wall or else being flattened by Glyn Lewis whose tackling puts many to shame. This time a big Buck forward failed to spot the express train that left him face down on the rock hard pitch. And when they tried the wing Bollom intercepted and hared away, darting back in to avoid the full back and increase the lead, Ezenagu converting.

The MK backs had finally figured out that short passes were better than long ones in this wind. Louis Rutter gathered a loose ball and a lovely flowing move saw the ball in the hands of Bollom who went in for his trademark "ball over the back of the head" try first seen at Nottingham 2004. Ezenagu converted

The kick off was caught by Billy Cook and he passed to Anderson who was caught, MK won the ruck and passed but could not break through. A Lewis interception was adjudged marginally offside as Buckingham again tried to break what was becoming an MK stranglehold. The MK forwards were competing at all phases, winning the set pieces and giving as good as they got in the rucks and mauls, and providing more ball than the backs had seen for some weeks. The front row, Billy Cook, Mad Dog Marchbank and Dan Hunter were getting low and pushing hard, while behind them the Jons, Mann and Gould, were providing the powerhouse. It was working well. Buckingham tried to sneak down the blind side but a fine tackle from Cook ended the move and Anderson kicked downfield. With neither team able to break through some good defence they traded kicks, one of these was caught by Bollom and he surged forward. From the ruck MK moved the ball quickly and accurately through the backs from Lewis to Rutter to winger Bollom who touched down for the try of the game and his hat trick. His conversion crossed the crossbar but was then forced back by the wind, which had become devilishly chill by now.

MK were not going to let Buckingham pass in the remaining time, Ezenagu ripping the ball from Buckingham hands on more than one occasion and Anderson and Rutter forcing them back. And so it stayed. At the end of the game, the looks on the faces of the MK players was the complete opposite of last week. It may have been April 1st but there were no fools in the team today.

Milton Keynes 21 - 0 Stockwood Park

MK In Determined Mood

With Stockwood Park only fielding 8 players, four were recruited from the Buckingham squad to provide the next opposition, a somewhat hybrid Buckingham Park twelve, again with forwards (Stockwood) much bigger than the MK five.

MK won the first line out after forcing a Stockwood maul into touch and again we saw the determination of the forwards to give no ground. The Buckingham players were in the backs and they linked well but couldn't break through a strong MK defence, with Rutter and Lewis putting in fine tackles.The MK forwards continued their good work from the first game and the backs had the opportunity to pass but once again, a couple of knocks on stopped them from going all the way.

When the ball came out it went down the line for MK in a most pleasing fashion from Duffin to Friend to Rutter. They were looking to get the ball out to the wing again. But it was another little cameo that stole the first part of the first half. MK disrupted a Stockwood lineout, won the resultant scrum against the head, and Duffin did his crisp pick up and blind side burst to open the scoring. He does this so well. Ezenagu converted.

From the kick off the teams exchanged kicks with Ezenagu's the more telling as it sailed into touch 5 metres from the Stockwood line. Park won the lineout and drove forward but great work from Marchbank won the ball for MK. Stockwood won it back and kicked downfield, but the wind and an unfavourable bounce took the ball over the deadball line and MK were awarded the scrum from where the ball was kicked. From the scrum the ball moved swiftly through the backs, Duffin, Anderson, and Lewis to Bollom (lovely this) who went over in the corner for his fourth of the day and converted the try himself. Some rough and tumble followed with Ezenagu was penalised for, in the Referees words, "Overly obsessive dissent", perhaps a little harsh as all he did was push a player who had him around the neck, but nothing came of the penalty and the half ended with Ezenagu kicking to touch.

Stockwood started the second half, their kick was neatly stopped by Gould who fed the ball to Ezenagu, he set of on one of his trademark diagonal runs but was forced into touch. The lineout was not straight, MK won the scrum and tried to pass, but the ball was dropped and Lewis crucially kicked to touch. Then Anderson, again revelling outside the pack, made a storming run, passed to Bollom around whom the maul formed. It rolled a little and then the Stocks knocked on. From the scrum Duffin went for the line but was adjudged to have been held up. Your correspondent was of a different opinion, but no matter. The Milton Keynes forwards won the scrum and Duffin did what he does so well and sniped in from 5 metres for the score. Ezenagu converted. Then MK won another scrum against the head, the ball went loose and the referee, somewhat early, decided enough was enough.

All in all a much better performance from that at Tring. MK seemed ready to play right from the off and despite giving away a couple of stone in the scrums, the forwards eventually gelled as a unit and dominated their opponents. A remarkable achievement considering that it was a pretty makeshift pack. The front row consisting of 3 players who have played at hooker in the past and a prop in the second row. Well done Dan Hunter, John Marchbank, Billy Cook, Jonathan Gould and John Mann. The wingers have flair and pace and can close down the opposition's ability to make any progress down the outside lines. The half backs are quick and ingenious and made good decisions, while the centres made deep runs, passed the ball out and stopped anyone going for the inside lines. And Ezenagu, of course, has made the diagonals his own all season. The full back was immense. It really was good to watch. Five of the days eight tries were scored by wingers.

Happy Easter everyone.

Chipping Norton 0 - 25 Milton Keynes

Chippies Cannot Contain MK

On a beautiful morning MK u12s made their way through the lovely Oxfordshire countryside to the Banbury Festival, determined to make up for the disappointments of Tring. And what a make up it proved to be.

Their first game was against Chipping Norton, whom they had not played since they were under 8s. The Chips were quite a small side, and soon they were down. MK kicked off and the Chips were forced into touch. From the resulting long throw in to nowhere Zachary Ezenagu ripped the ball, made good space and passed to Ffred Bollom who danced round two players and passed back to Ezenagu who touched down.

Though small the Chips were quite nippy and MK had to keep their eyes open. After a spot of midfield wrestling MK were awarded a penalty. Mad Dog Marchbank drove forward but the ball went loose. The Chips were trying to set a move up when Glyn Lewis spotted a limp pass, intercepted and went over only to be told he had knocked on. A great MK shove at the scrum saw Ashley Morris take and drive and although held up he was able to slip the ball to Oliver Anderson for MK's second score. Anderson scored his second try minutes later after a lovely down the line move involving Bollom and Lewis to give MK a solid half time lead.

The second half saw MK consolidate their superiority. Anderson caught the restart and passed to Lewis who accelerated off, accompanied by Morris, who took the pass and made more yards of his own. At the scrum another powerful shove by the MK forwards allowed Morris to power over for the fourth.

Following a wonderful chip forward and chase by Lewis some clever thinking and blocking by Jonathan Gould forced a Chip knock on. Anderson was bundled into touch shortly afterwards and from the line out Ezenagu went up like a salmon to take, catch and force his way over for MK's fifth. There were to be no more tries but one little chip forward by Anderson saw Ezenagu tear through only to be denied the touch down by the dead ball line.

Buckingham 0 - 15 Milton Keynes

Buckingham Fall To MK Again

Next up were Buckingham whom MK had comfortably seen off two weeks earlier at Field Lane. But the Bucks had been short of a few players that day, owing to injuries and holidays, so the outcome this time was really up for grabs. The Bucks returned the MK start into touch with interest and from the lineout a delightful move saw Ezenagu take, pass to Morris, to Lewis, back to Morris and on to Danny Dyer who was just forced into touch.

Ezenagu was beginning to dominate the line out with some heroic jumping but after one was adjudged not straight MK took the scrum and the ball reached him only for him to attempt a one-handed touch down and lose the ball. Red faces all round. Then within a minute he atoned for this sin, taking the ball from Morris after a strong run by Dyer, and crashing over to give MK the lead.

Rugby is a simple game at heart, no better seen than in MK's second. Bollom was forced into touch. The Bucks throw in was long - too long for everyone except Anderson at centre who caught it, made space, passed to Lewis, and that was it.

MK were doing the basics right and amongst those basics is spoiling other team's lineouts. Apart from Ezenagu, Billy Cook, Dan Hunter, Will Holliday, Jon Mann and even Mad Dog were always up for something, though in the latter case up to something may be more truthful. Another kick and chase by Lewis saw the Bucks knock on and from the against-the-head scrum we were treated to Kieran Duffin's masterpiece - the pick up, the dart through, and the touch down. The game ended with Lewis punting the ball into touch.

Sutton Coldfield 5 - 10 Milton Keynes

MK Warriors Earn The Right To Their Name

The next game was against Sutton Coldfield. The Midlanders had drawn five apiece with Bicester in the first game of the morning, the same Bicester who had walloped MK by 26 points at Tring, so this was going to be interesting. From the MK kick off Sutton attacked and MK were called offside. Sutton kicked for touch, and from the resulting line out MK lost the ball in midfield and it was picked up by a running Sutton to go over in the corner.

MK were down for the first time. Was there anything in the tank? Ezenagu soon proved there were reserves, running across the field to help Bollom bundle a Sutton player into touch in goal just when another score looked certain. MK were still under pressure when Duffin fired a long relieving kick into the Sutton half, pursued it like lightning. A Sutton player had the ball, but somehow Duffers stole the ball off him in the tackle and broke away to equalise the scores. A bit of luck for MK and the SD's were furious.

The second half began as a torrid affair for MK with Sutton threatening much of the time. They were quick and powerful and it was only some stout defence that kept them out plus a couple of long relieving penalty kicks. Then a line out just in Sutton's half. Sutton knock on. MK win it and Duffin flings a finger tip pass out to Morris who for reasons best known to himself had moved to the blind side. He just about caught the ball and went over in the corner - a brilliantly conceived try. Though the Sutton coaches and parents protested to the Referee for missing a previous knock on he quite correctly held his ground.

The rest of the half was a bit of a blur apart from three blistering tackles from Anderson, one after the other from promising Sutton attacks, which convinced his team and the crowd that MK were not surrendering the hard fought for lead. This was a victory won through the momentum of the two previous ones, through stickability and focus, against a very good Sutton Coldfield side who fancied their chances of winning the trophy.

Bicester 0 - 0 Milton Keynes

MK Warriors Grind Out Vital Draw

The final Pool game was to be against Bicester who had seen off Buckingham and the Chips, but only drawn against Sutton, so a draw would be enough for MK to get into the Cup final. Even a defeat would see them into the Shield final because of their three previous wins. Was this the same MK team that had gone down heavily to Bicester at Tring? Not a bit of it. The scrum was holding its own and the backs looked really threatening. Anderson was stopped on the Bicester line and immediately Morris was called offside - a marginal decision even by Morris's standards. MK won the half territorially - just! It was hard fought indeed.

No quarter was being asked or given by either side as time wore on. Both defences were giving nothing. Bicester were held up on the MK line, both sides at times were grateful for long relieving kicks, and both made mistakes. But a draw it stayed, which meant a Cup final for MK and a Shield final for Bicester. Or so we thought.

Bicester 10 - 5 Milton Keynes

MK Warriors Bloodied, But Not Bowed

We have been impressed with Bicester already this season, not least for the size of their squad, which had turned out to be so big that their other side had reached the Cup final from the other Pool. Bicester, more Bicester indeed. Injuries had taken their toll on the MK side and there was a walking wounded atmosphere about the MK build up to the final.

Unfortunately this was immediately reinforced straight from the kick off when Elliot Ryan, in the course of catching the ball, was dangerously clotheslined by a Bicester forward. This most definitely deserved something more than a mere ticking off from the Referee but that was all it got. Bicester pressure near the MK line was kicked away by Bollom, and Ezenagu made a powerful break when Bicester were penalised for going in from the side, but it all ended in a knock on. On occasions like this sometimes all it takes is one mistake, but in fact it was to take three mistakes to decide this final.

The first mistake came from Bicester loosing control of the ball just inside their own half. Ezenagu pounced, made his regular diagonal run, and then straightened up to tear down the left touchline and score in the corner - a terrific effort.

Sadly the next mistake was to come from MK. No names, no packdrill, but some loose defence at a retreating scrum allowed them in down the left to equalise. The final mistake too came from MK, again down the left, as two missed tackles allowed a Bicester player to take the lead. Was there time for a come back? MK restarted and forced a line out on the Bicester 25 but Bicester won it and booted the ball into touch to claim the victory.

This had been a fantastic effort by the boys. By the time the final was to be played the weather had officially been declared scorching - well into the eighties. A squad of only sixteen, injuries, tiredness, soreness and dryness, bumps, bangs and pulls. Just time to regroup for Nuneaton, a week off and off to Southport for the tour. Was life ever this good?

Lutterworth 10 - 0 Milton Keynes

MK Gets Tough Start

Milton Keynes under 12s made the longjourney north to Nuneaton for the Nuns' 26th Mini's Festival looking for some competition ahead of the two day Southport Festival over the first May bank holiday. With a Tamworth and Daventry no show MK were moved from their pool to a three team pool with Lutterworth and Coalville.

The Lutts were first up on a nice morning but very small pitches. MK kicked off and the Lutts immediately knocked on. The resulting scrum was twice reset as the two packs weighed eachother up. The Lutts were big lads, but MK held their own in the early stages with enough mid-field wrestling to satisfy the W.W.F.. MK were probing forward. Ashley Morris passed to Ffred Bollom and on to Oliver Anderson who held on a little too long and was pinged. Lutterworth kicked deep into MK territory and coach Morris removed left wing Bollom from the fray for not running back quickly enough to support Louis Rutter at full back - this after 93 seconds of the game. Hard to fathom. The Lutts continued to press in the MK half, but knocked on to give MK some relief. But it did not last long as they won the scrum against the head, drove forward and went over for the lead. The referee was enjoying himself, giving MK a free kick as the Lutts pushed too early at the next scrum, Zachary Ezenagu being forced into touch after a powerful, but diagonal, run. Lutterworth's short loop lineout was bundled into touch, but then the big mistake - MK's long line out went to no-one but a Lutt centre who hared up the left. No MK cover, another try down.

In these typically short Festival games, 13 players, small pitches, the two try rule - two up, stay up - usually applies. And it did here too, though MK spent a lot of the second half in Lutterworth territory. The MK scrum was slow even when winning possession and it took MK too long to catch up with the "Lutterworth Loop" at the throw in. Possession was even but the Lutts had more angles and more speed to develop theirs.

Coalville 10 - 0 Milton Keynes

Coalville Too Strong For MK

A win was needed in the next game against Coalville to get a meaningful outcome from this foreshortened festival. Without the services of Jon Gould, Billy Cook and Ben Leddingham, MK's chances were further hampered at the beginning by a series of hospital passes by backs and forwards alike as they tried to make forward movement. Kieran Duffin managed to bundle a Coalville maul into touch just short of the MK line. Then from the won line-out Coalville set up a forward moving maul from which a big forward peeled to score.

Soon after the restart Robert Friend went blindside from a promising MK scrum and was hit hard, damaging his suspect knee and ending his festival participation. Despite a good run from Glyn Lewis and a nice down the line move through Ezenagu, the forgiven Bollom, and Anderson, Coalville were able to negate MK's attacking intentions.

In truth MK were being outstrengthed in classic Leicester style by two sides from Leicestershire. Nonetheless the second half was made memorable for your correspondent by one tackle made, nay performed, by Mad Dog Marchbank on a very large Coalville forward. The little hooker looked left and right as the Coal thundered towards him as if saying "Not me please Lord", went down almost on one knee, and as the large slab of Coal ran through him he hoiked himself up and flipped the Coal over his shoulder. Remarkable - worth the entrance price alone. The ball went loose and Lewis kicked the danger away. It was hard, dogged MK defence by John Mann and Elliot Ryan. Then Coalville won a scrum and the ball went to their centre at pace, a tackle was missed (he knows who he is), and Coalville increased their lead. More good tackling by Dan Hunter and Will Holliday kept Coalville out for the rest of the half, but even at the final whistle they were still going forward.

Leicester Forest East 0 - 25 Milton Keynes

MK Finish With Style

With these two defeats what beckoned was a fifth/sixth play off with another Leicestershire outfit, Leicester Forest East, smaller than the Lutts and the Coals, but still bigger than MK overall. But this game was to be an entirely different kettle of fish from the previous two. From the kick off Forest knocked on, but Ezenagu was stopped. Another scrum, a big concerted shove, and Duffin passed to Anderson who took the ball at speed and jinked past two defenders to score MK's first try of the day - lovely.

From the next scrum another powerful MK shove saw Duffin pass to Bollom who passed to a somewhat surprised Lewis to go over. This had taken less than three minutes of the half. A Forest line-out was disrupted by Dan Hunter and as the maul was about to form Ezenagu picked the ball up and touched down. It looked all too easy, but after the first two games why not?

Forest were penalised for hands in the loose and MK pushed forward only to get another penalty for a high tackle. Duffin passed to Ezenagu who ran through the defence to score again.

With little now to play for the MK backs swapped with forwards for the second half, and some players relished their new found surroundings. Will Holliday was at outside half and managed to play the entire second half without touching the ball - possibly because Mad Dog was at scrum half. But let that pass. Forest made progress into MK's half but before long the territory was MK's.

Bollom picked up and twisted out of tackles before loud shouts from the touchline of "Pass Ffred, offload it now" had more effect on the Forest players. They stood off waiting for the pass which, of course, never came and Bollom went over for the try. A lovely move from Danny Dyer, Rutter, Ezenagu and Morris was held up just short before the referee decided to call it a day.

Back to back festivals are tough, but MK needed the gametime after so many washed out sundays. Narrow pitches require strategies to punch holes in defences. Surprises are needed. Peeling from mauls, runners at pace causing diversions, the "Lutterworth Loop". Will we have these in time for Southport? Will we need them? Time will tell.

Hinckley 0 - 0 Milton Keynes

MK Make Traditional Slow Start

End of season, end of mini and midi rugby, end of small pitches, but the beginning of a tour. On a lovely, sunny morning Milton Keynes u12s found themselves on a 29 by 49 yard pitch at Southport RUFC up against Hinckley on Saturday - a side they had devoured by three tries to one two years ago at the same venue.

Hinckley had the benefit of coaching from one of the Tuilagi brothers, a quick look at the Leicester website suggests that it was probably elder brother Freddie, and also of having played one game already. Hinckley showed that they had picked up some of the robust, Samoan style of play as MK had a bruising encounter to start the day.

The Hinckley kick off was knocked on by MK. From the scrum, Hinckley looked to pass the ball but the move was ended by a fine tackle from Glyn Lewis. Hinckley tried to drive Mk back but the forwards held firm and MK were awarded the scrum. Robert friend kicked to touch, MK won the lineout and kicked again, John Mad Dog Marchbank raced downfield, recovered the ball and ran for the line. He was caught and a ruck formed in which a Hinckey hand earned MK a penalty. The ball was tossed to Zach Ezenagu and he got close but couldn't breach the Hinckley defence. Another MK penalty, this time for offside at the scrum, saw a repeat performance, but again Hinckley held firm, won the scrum and kicked to touch.

From apenalty Kieran Duffin, Ashley Morris and Glyn Lewis showed ambition, but came to nothing.

Where MK were being to simplistic in their option taking, Hinckley were the opposite over complicated running patterns and set pieces produced scant reward.

Hinckley won a penalty and darted down the blindside, but the ball carrier was expertly tackled into touch by winger Ffred Bollom. The MK lineout was spoiled and the ball bobbled loose, Hinckley were first to pounce and dived over but the ball was held up. Hinckley won the scrum and tried to pass there way in but great MK defence kept them out.

It was a bit loose and messy, and also a bit violent as the referee missed a number of incidents before blowing a shrill half time whistle and looking very pleased with himself. Interestingly this team had removed a player for violenr conduct in the previous game.

The half time talk by Coach Holliday was about support for the runner, too many players were left isolated with the ball. A fault by both the runner not running straight and the rest busy admiring the effort rather than offering support.

From the restart Hinckley sliced through the MK defence through a combination of poor tackling and indecision. From the scrum Friend cleared with a good kick and Hinckley knocked-on. More mid field wrestling followed. Hinckley passed and drove their way back towards the MK line but strong defence, with some fine tackling from Ashley Morris kept them at bay.

One Hinckley move made the mistake of trying to run through Oliver Anderson - not to be recommended. Will Holliday was then floored by two punches by a Hinckley player (more of this later). Welcome to Southport !! As Holliday was treated both sides were in huddles planning for the final push. Again Hinckley ran into Anderson - with the same outcome.

Mk tried to respond, with Morris going off on one of his strong runs. MK were awarded a penalty for hands in the loose and then given another ten metres for not retreating. A chance? Yes, but again the Ezenagu option was tried and again snuffed out. Duffin kicked and chased but it all came to a halt ten yards from the Hinckley line and that was that - opportunity lost.

Coach Morris congratulated the Warriors for not buckling under "unnecessary provocation"

Reading Abbey 5 - 0 Milton Keynes

MK Lose Out In Close Encounter

An ugly, hard, rather unpleasant start to the day was followed by a morale boosting, sensational victory in the arm wrestling to decide who should have the choice at the start of the second game against Reading Abbey - by Mrs Bollom. After a tense struggle she was awarded the victory on a technicality. She had kept her elbow on the ground throughout the contest - a technique learned over many years in the leafy quads of Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales School. Or perhaps in the smoky dives of Cardiff's Tiger Bay? Take your pick.

The MK kick off was returned to touch with interest. The MK lineout and scrum were holding their own against a bulkier side and it was looking as tight as in the first game when Anderson threw a difficult pass to Lewis who could not hold it, Reading won the resulting maul, and it rolled on down the left for a touchdown.

MK tried to get back into the game. Good work in the lineout from Billy Cook and a good run from Anderson took the game to Reading. But they responded well and forced MK backwards. Great defence and some controlled aggression from Ben Ledingham swung the game back to MK, but the backs kicked when they should have passed, luckily the ball was fumbled over his own line by a Reading player and MK had a scrum 5 metres out. The forwards shoved and Kieran Duffin popped the ball up to Morris who was at full speed and bound to score from that distance, but he knocked on and Reading were able to kick to touch, with the half time whistle following soon after.

Reading started the second half by trying to get their passing game going. But a good tackle from Holliday and a joint interception by Lewis and Elliott Ryan put a stop to it. From a scrum, Morris chipped through and Lewis chased, he made a great tackle on the Reading player and MK had the ball. They were awarded a penalty and Morris again chipped and chased but the ball was taken over his own line by a Reading player. The MK forwards once again were outperforming bigger opponents and won the scrum, Anderson weaved his way towards the line but was penalised for handing off. Reading kicked to touch but MK came back at them again. Good runs from Morris and Bollom kept the pressure on but reading held firm until the final whistle.

On another day MK may have won, but Abbey defended resolutely and MK lacked the nouse to create openings.

Westcombe Park 10 - 5 Milton Keynes

MK Stage Comeback, But It's Too Late

To decide the start for the next game Mad Dog Marchbank was entered for the corner flag javelin throwing competition. Although he achieved a shorter distance than his opponent he came much closer to spearing the referee judge, which would have been victory in itself.

Westcombe had looked good, but beatable, in their previous games and MK knew this was one they had to get points from to be in with a chance of silverware.

The first few minutes were evenly contested, Park probed the MK defence, tackles from Holliday and Lewis, stopped them, kicks from Bollom and Lewis pushed them back. but a totally spurious penalty against MK for not releasing saw Park run, drive and finally pass the ball over for a well worked try. Your correspondent was in a considerably better position than the referee, but that's how it goes sometimes. The Referee saw this as the ideal opportunity to end the half.

In the second half, MK came back at Westcombe, good work in the lineout from Holliday and a drive from Ledingham looked promising. An MK penalty after a great run by Lewis came to nought as indecision gripped the backs, having briefly given up on the Ezenagu option.

A Park kick was retrieved by their own a player and the pressure was back on MK. A scrum, four missed tackles and park were in for the score again. With Adjutant Anderson's Constant suggesting no side comes back from two down in festivals that looked to be that.

But there was still time for MK to put together their best passing movement of the day so far, moving the ball from Duffin to Bollom to Anderson and then to Morris who provided the sucker punch by bursting through the Park's last line. It had been a long time coming, it was good to watch, but it was too late to save a match MK could at least have drawn.

There was just time for the kick off before the Referee blew for time.

Olney Vikings 0 - 15 Milton Keynes

MK Show Ruthless Streak Against Local Rivals

Although MK had not been able to come to the aid of Holliday when he was punched in the first game, one enterprising young player, mindful perhaps of the Ninety Nine calls of the 1974 Lions, was able to inflict his own form of retribution. On spotting the offending Hinck in the ice cream queue during one of the intervals he neatly tapped the boy's ankle. The Hinck held on to the cone but his hand had been sufficiently jarred to ram the chocolate flake straight up his own right nostril. Ninety nine indeed. Willie John would have been proud of young Lewis.

The final game of the day was against Bucks rivals Olney Vikings who had not had too successful a start either. This one was about pride and bragging rights.

Kick off was decided by a race to the corner flag, Ezenagu won comfortably by sensibly choosing to run to the nearer flag.

A maul was formed from the kick off and the ball launched downfield by Olney, Louis Rutter made a superb catch and launched a counter attack passing to Lewis who made yards and passed to Ezenagu whose dander was by now well and truly up. Over he went for a great start, MK seeming to have found the form they'd been looking for all day. A great start and one that lifted the Warriors.

More enterprising play followed. Anderson caught the kick off and set off on a run, but was again pinged for a hand-off. The MK forwards were in dominant mood and were winning scrums against the head and disrupting Olney's lineouts. When the forwards are in this kind of mood it usually bodes well for the backs.

Lewis made a great break with Anderson, Billy Cook and Ezenagu. Danny Dyer made a great run and passed to Morris around whom the maul formed and Marchbank stripped the ball superbly and popped it to Ezenagu who went over for the second try.

And there was more to come. Olney had the ball in Mkšs half but wasted the opportunity by kicking over the line. From the scrum a great shove from the forwards gave Mk quick ball. Bollom made a powerful break and passed to Morris who set off on a mazy run being brought down just short but Friend had followed him all the way and was on hand to pick up and dive over for MK's 3rd. The Warriors were rampant and it was a shame that they had to break for half time.

The second half saw more of the same in terms of MK attacks but they were unable to increase their lead. Bollom passed to Ezenagu in space but the pass was deemed forward. A Duffin kick to the Vikings' was followed up by Morris who just failed to get there. Ezenagu again made yards at pace but was just stopped, a Lewis grubber was taken over his own line by a Viking and from the five metre scrum Morris did everything but score as he was held up. In short it could, and probably should, have been a lot more. The only bad sign was Bollom joining a maul and jarring his shoulder. For you Ffred ze tour is over.

At the end of the first day it was obvious that the dominant team in the group were Altrincham Kersal who had won all their 4 games by a combined 12 tries to 1. They boasted the two tallest players in the whole tournament and were playing them at centre. This gave them an obvious advantage as they were often a foot taller and 3 stones heavier than their opponents. But Kersal were a good team all round and probably deserved their top place.There was just 1 point covering the next 4 teams, with MK in 4th place so there was all to play for on day 2.

It had been a long hard day for the players so perhaps it should have come as no surprise that a number of drinks were consumed at the evening beach BBQ. What goes on tour stays on tour as they say. Many players and parents slept well that night.

Brentwood 15 - 0 Milton Keynes

MK Falter On The Second Day

The following day dawned cold and blustery, with Bollom doing a passable impression of Notre Dame's hunchback. First up were Brentwood with their famous fan Frank Bruno supporting his son (also Frank we learned). The boys were pleased to model the changed strip for next season. Red, with thin black stripes.

The kick off was decided by competion between big daft Frank and the M&J's own heavyweight Paul Duffin. Duffers had mislaid his glove, so what they had to do was drag themselves along the ground using just their arms. Bruno, conscious of protecting his nice white trainers, used his feet and won easily, no-one stepped forward to tell him he had cheated.

I don't know why, but there seemed to be more kicking in this competition than in any other this season and that's how the first minutes of this game unfolded. Eventually things settled down. Brentwood were a strong side with some bulk, but the MK forwards matched them, Billy Cook was giving Bruno jnr a couple of inches and a couple of stone but was pushing him back in the scrum.

Brentwood attacked, Lewis tackled his man into touch. MK won the lineout but a bad pass led to a touchback and MK were under pressure. Brentwood tried to drive over the line but MK defended solidly. Brentwood won a scrum but knocked on, they won a lineout but knocked on. There was some desperate but highly creditable defence on the MK line by Ben Leddingham and Jon Gould but eventually MK were able to relieve the pressure by kicking downfield. Lewis chased, made the tackle and stole the ball but Brentwood stole it back, moved downfield in a series of drives and forced their way over for the try. A try just before half time is often a cruel blow and it was unfortunate that MK couldn't hold out just a little longer.

MK restarted poorly with a kick that was ready made for a Brentwood attack and which just put themselves under pressure. Brentwood passed and drove to the MK line impressively. MK managed to hold the ball up and win the 5 metre scrum but couldn't get the ball clear. Brentwood won a lineout, passed down the line and a clever offload allowed the winger in for the score. Brentwood were strong, but poor tackling contributed to this one.

More frantic MK defence followed as the big Brents powered their way forward. Morris snatched the ball from Brentwood's grip but MK just could not get moving. Another diving tackle from Lewis saw him poleaxed on the floor (some say he was punched) but it took another player also to be flat on his face before the referee blew his whistle. For Lewis too ze tour was over.

Brentwood then made a sharp move to go in on the left touchline for their third, and from the restart Bruno junior made an unnecessary but probably not illegal charge on Friend, forearming him in the face. Opinions are divided on this one, but his father was ready to settle it man to man as the other parents ran for cover. Mercifully the referee decided enough was enough. Brentwood were to finish second in the group.

Kersal Crusaders 30 - 0 Milton Keynes

Size Matters

If we thought size had been a factor in games so far then worse was to come. Kersal Crusaders from Altrincham, whose u17s had narrowly lost the National RFU final to Dorking on Saturday by ten points to thirteen, had clearly been employing grow-bags rather than sleeping bags to overcome the deficiencies of the overnight accommodation. Five of their players were considerably larger than the referee, and two of these were deployed in the centre which implied that they could probably run as well.

Kersal won the piggy back race and kicked off.

MK were down to the last 13 men standing and Duffin was only on one leg. This was to be a backfoot battle. Morris caught the kick-off and the maul formed around him was shoved into touch. The Crusaders were solidly in MK territory for the entire half but some tactical nous and swift passing from Duffin to Morris for the clearance kick kept them at bay, and the rest of the side showed just how gutsy the team is. Crusaders were easy winners of the Pool and had put a lot of tries on a lot of teams. Ezenagu just about forced Crusaders into touch in goal and MK actually won the resulting scrum, which was testament to how well the pack had performed when in truth probably at least a stone a man down. Despite Morris's relieving kick Crusaders attacked again and seemed to have scored but were adjudged to have knocked on over the line. The power of Jon Mann and the bloody mindedness of everyone else had to be seen to be believed.

Another 5m scrum then, which MK won, but this time the pass to Morris was wayward and Kersal reacted quickly in the confusion to score. It was a shame for MK to concede late in the half, no other team had managed to keep Kersal scoreless for a whole half.

But the floodgates were open and the second half became a rout as the Kersal centres ran riot through a tired MK defence. The second try cam straight from the kick off as the Kersal Centre caught the ball and ran the length of the pitch to score. The 3rd followed when Kersal won a scrum against the head and the other big centre ran in.

MK had a chance to come back when Morris cleverly chipped into space and ran after the ball, but he was deliberately impeded, the foul unseen by the Referee and Kersal passed their way back downfield and in for the try.

The fifth came after a series of moves by Kersal were all forced into touch by MK but they eventually got the ball to one of the big centres and he waltzed in for the score.

The 6th try, which ended the game, came after a Kersal kick was touched back by Dan Hunter. Kersal won the scrum and went over.

Apart from the five tries which a tiring MK team shipped in the second half the abiding memories have to be of immense tackles from Anderson and Morris and Daniel Hunter racing back to catch a bouncing ball and carry it over his own line. It was hard going, injuries had taken their toll, and the boys deserve great credit for their bravery.

Most of the teams that the warriors play seem to have bigger players, but none of them have bigger hearts.

The end of an era then. Coaches Morris and Holliday had been there seven years ago when it all began on a glorious September morning back in 2000, as had been players Morris, Holliday, Duffin and Bollom, and they were there again, with Coach Tine Marchbank, to distribute the togae virum (club ties) on the Sunday evening. The boys have become men, or at least the minis have become juniors, and next season we have 15 a side and full size pitches to look forward to. Let us hope that we all live to see it.