Glorious sunny and hot day saw a a depleted number of teams in the Under 12s group. We started with 6 teams and the first game for Vs was against Guildfordians. This started in emphatic style for Vandals with a score by Adam Varney early on. A second try came from Rhys Marshall before an unfortunate injury to a Guildfordians player delayed the match. The game restarted and James Gulliver drove over after sprinting from our own 15 metre line to score. The end of the game with a win by 15 - 0 to Vandals.
A straight turnaround saw us matched against Old Emmanuel. A completely different Vandals side turned up for this - very hesitant and indecisive, which allowed Old Es to dominate the game. Several soft tries were given away and the match was running away from us. The team galvanised themselves and began a fightback with tries from James Gulliver (2), and Joe Terry making the final score more respectible at 35 - 15.
Guildfordians decided to withdraw and a hasty planning session ended with an agreement to resort to a league sytem with 5 teams.
Our next game was against a reduced Mitcham side and we agreed to reduce our numbers accordingly. A much more focussed approach saw V's go into an early lead which was stretched regularly with tries from James Gulliver, Rory Burtenshaw, Adam Varney, Harry Weatherall, Joe Terry and Elliot Lewis. The game ending with a win for Vandals 30 - 0.
Next game was against Esher and was a more closely fought affair with scores coming after much hard work and finding an appropriate pass to release the runner into space, Scores from James Gulliver (2), Adam Varney and Harry Weatherall saw Vandals win 20 - 10.
Last game of the pool was against the combined Farnborough/Guildfordians side. Strong and determined running with great use of the ball saw Vandals win by tries from Elliot Lewis, James Gulliver (2) and Joe Terry. The final score was 20 - 5.
This meant that Vandals had finished in second place behind Old Emmanuel, the worthy winners. Third placed was Esher with fourth being taken by Farnborough/Guildfordians.
Today gave us the opportunity to introduce a couple of new players into the side in controlled situation as they have had minimal safety and tackling experience. They worked very well and everyone seemed to have enjoyed a great day's rugby. Thanks also go to the terrific support of our parents in all the matches today, with all games played in a great sporting fashion.