The Friendly Festival arrived, as usual, only four weeks into the new season. What was unusual this year was the number of new things the Knights had to learn before the festival. Four weeks to learn the rules of the ruck, the mysteries of the maul and scrummaging safely. A tall order for the coaches, as well as the children.

Coaches’ concerns about the short preparation time were compounded when the Friendly Festival was declared a “Silent Sunday” Festival.
NO coaching from the sidelines!

How would the children cope with the all new rules?
Could they play with no direction from their coaches?
Could the coaches maintain a silent vigil for a whole day?
Could watching parents refrain from adding their vocal advice?

We needn’t have worried. The children took care of themselves. They organised, encouraged, directed and congratulated each other throughout. The coaches visibly relaxed, the parents applauded enthusiastically and all the children played magnificently.

We entered two teams, both mixed ability as it turned out. Each team played six matches.

A big thank you to Jocasta (Isaac’s mum) and Richard (Sam Y’s) dad for volunteering to score and write the match reports. The latter came as something of a surprise to both of them! However, in true Knights’ tradition, they both stepped up to the challenge. Read on…

Match Report for Novo Knights Team 1 at the Friendly Festival, 3rd October 2015

Novo Knights Team 1 had a fantastic start to the season at today’s Friendly Festival held at Percy Park RFC in North Shields. Despite only a few weeks training after the long summer break, they demonstrated a good understanding of some newly acquired techniques e.g. rucks, mauls, scrums and that all important pencil placement.

Match 1 was against the host team – Percy Park. The Knights displayed brilliant passing skills and good support play for offloads. There was a lot of Novos’ possession which was reflected in a final try score of 5 for Novos (1 each for Ollie Finlay, Angus and Deacon (after magnificent stretching for the line) and 2 for James Moore) and 1 for Percy Park.

Next up were Morpeth who were also defeated by our brave Knights, despite us succumbing to a couple of minor injuries. Superb defence from the Novos team with some awesome tackles kept the Morpeth score to 1 try. James J and Charlie combined to take the legs away from Morpeth in one try saving effort. Ollie Fi and Ollie Fo wrapped up more defenders. Deacon, our rugby league convert, and Max H tackled tirelessly. There were 3 for Novos (1 each apiece for Ollie Finlay, Charlie & Sam). All resulted from great teamwork. Noah and Max on the wing selflessly passed inside to Charlie who skipped and jumped to the tryline. Issac ran with such force he tied in half the Morpeth team trying to slow him down. Issac then managed to offload out to Sam C, running and calling in support, and he was off down the wing to score.

Match 3 was a closely fought battle against Rockcliffe, reflected in the scoreline of Novos 4, Rockcliffe 3. Once again it was a great team display. The boys were communicating were using the silence to communicate between themselves. It was good to hear them encouraging each other. Daniel and Tom H anchored and blasted at the ruck. Tries were scored by Charlie (brilliant weaving!), James Moore, Max H & Max R.

After that it was Northern’s turn to play against our determined team. This was another excellent match with the Novos team practising good calling for the ball and support play, as well as fearsome tackling and timely offloading skills. The resulting score of Novos 4 (Charlie 1, Ollie Foster 2, Sam 1) and Northern 1 meant another excellent win for the Novo Knights.

The penultimate match against Tynedale was another closely contested battle with the Knights coming up against some heavy tackling from the Tynedale team. Ollie Fo, Angus and Ollie Fi tackled back in kind. The Knights emerged victorious with a 2 tries (Charlie & Deacon) to 1 win.

The Novo Knights Team 1’s final match against Alnwick was also a closely fought affair. Novos determination to remain undefeated paid off and some amazing tackles combined with an excellent steal from Charlie meant the final score was Novos 2 (Charlie & Ollie Finlay) Alnwick 1.

Overall, Novo Knights Team 1 demonstrated excellent teamwork. The try scorers have already been mentioned but there was fantastic support play from Daniel, Noah and Tom. Isaac seemed to be at the heart of almost every scrum and James J made some great passes. The whole team got stuck in right from the start and weren’t afraid to tackle the other team’s players. They also displayed perseverance, determination and stamina. Well done to them all – an excellent start to the season.

Jocasta

Match Report for Novos 2.

Novos 2 first match was against Morpeth. The Knights immediately knew they were in a battle against a Morpeth side that was as well drilled as ever. Harvey and Dylan showed great determination and attitude, organising the side and setting up the defensive lines. Their silent coaches smiled as they watched new leaders blossom on the pitch.

Morpeth tackled hard, secured the ball well and scored an early try. The Knights, who never die, continued to organise themselves well and their patience paid off. Tom W passed the ball out of defense to Tomas. Tomas, on a weekend off from the round ball game, then ran the length of the pitch to score.

The Knights then had to work hard defensively again. Fenton, Dylan and Seb put in lovely, low tackles. Tomas and Tom W were also effective in their tackles. When the Knights did win the ball back, there was always plenty of choice for distribution as Joe G, Ben, and Rhys got themselves into great support positions.

Morpeth continued to press and eventually scored two more tries. This seemed to spark the Knights into attack mode once more. Josh, James Mdy and Sam Y and George tried different combinations to pass and use their speed across field. Dylan and Harvey tried the more direct route. The touchline and determined defence kept them out. Time eventually got the better of the Knights, despite referee Mike’s infamous timekeeping. The game ended 3 – 1 to Morpeth.

The second game was against Rockcliff. The match started at a fast pace with James Mdy showing his usual pace. This time neither defenders nor the touchline would deny him.

At the restart, great organisation was shown by the whole team. The Novos’ defensive line spread across the pitch. It worked well, Rockcliff were pushed back and then, the resulting turnover, so Tomas take the ball and score jubilantly. The first of his two tries in the match

James Mdy, Josh and George resumed their supportive partnership James was ultimately the try scorer, but it was the communication and support which made the try.

The Knights then quickly organized themselves into defensive mode. George, Rhys and Ben stopping an advancing Rockcliff in their tracks with textbook, low tackles.

Then came a great display of teamwork involving five Knights. Fenton ran onto a pass from Dylan, evaded one tackler and then offloaded out of the second tackle to Harvey. Harvey charged at two more defenders then passed to Seb running a great support line. Seb left two defenders in his wake before being felled by a good low tackle just short of the try line. Commendably, there was support but the thrill of the chase saw the brave Knight pick up the ball from the ruck which had formed and dive over the line without passing. Our ever-vigilant referee Mike, disallowed the try, correctly so. Curse those rucking rules!

Rockcliff seized the moment and fought back with two tries of their own. However, the Knights were not done yet. Joe G bulldozed through Rockcliff and passed to Tom W. Several Rockcliff defenders swarmed around him, but somehow Tom just kept going to power through for his try.

Dylan, who had worked hard all match organizing in defence and encouraging in attack, finally took the limelight. Taking the ball on the halfway line, he set his eyes on the try line and sprinted towards it, scoring a great try.

Next up Percy Park, a side who can match the Knights for speed across the park. It mattered not, the Knights were working as a team. Percy Park started quickly, but were slowed up just before the try line by the combined efforts of Ben and Seb. Tom W spotted his chance, ripped the ball (no ruck this time) and ran up the other end to score a try.

Percy Park came straight back. A great cover tackle by Fenton saved a certain try. Fenton forced the player into touch. Josh received the ball from the resulting turnover and ran the length of the pitch to score the second try.

There was plenty of good running to admire on both sides. James Mdy snaked his way through for a try. Dylan and Harvey made determined runs, but were thwarted by having the ball ripped from them, legally. It didn’t take long for Ben S and Tomas to work out what was going on, they were soon ripping back.

The ball seemed to ping backwards and forwards, resulting in some scrummage practice for the boys. Percy Park kept running and scored two tries. The Knights responded with great enthusiasm, a collective team effort and tries for Josh and Tomas.

Before the fourth match against Carlisle, the crowd was treated to an impromptu Haka by Seb and Rhys. A delight to see.

Carlisle only had eight players, so no subs. It is a credit to them that the match was so closely fought – four games in with no subs, surely they must have been tired. If they were they didn’t show it. It was end-to-end stuff.

Great passing and support play set Sam Y off on a great run to the corner to score. He did well to out-run the pursuing Carlisle defence.

Ben S made an awesome run, the determination on his face seemed to intimidate most of the Carlisle team. He was unlucky to be taken down so close to the try line.

Joe G used his bulldozing powers effectively in defence. A combination of Joe and the touchline denied Carlisle.

Tom W ran his heart out and was rewarded with two tries. Carlisle came back with two of their own, but it was not enough to overtake the Knights. It was great to see all the players encouraging each other. The team spirit saw them through to the end.

Ponteland next. Another fine display of teamwork, support and communication. Joe G scored a try, while it was Seb’s turn to run like Usain Bolt scoring two tries.
Quick ball at the breakdown enabled the team to provide scoring opportunities for George (1) and James Mdy (2) and Josh (1).

The day was over-running, but there was still one match to go, this time against Northern. Tomas made a powerful run to score the first try. The second was a clever try from Dylan, spotting a gap in the defensive line, he ran forwards and over the whitewash for another try.

The whole team played well together. Support work and organization was impressive. All the games were played in a great spirit.

Richard

There was great teamwork from the sidelines too. This festival was something of a family affair for the Knights; a number of siblings having to attend, somewhat reluctantly. Huge thanks from grateful parents go to Lauren, Niamh and Beth for ably entertaining the younger ones.

It was a great Festival. All the children can be very proud of everything they have achieved at the festival and in training. Thanks for all the positive messages we have had from you. They are greatly appreciated. It seems that Silent Sunday was both successful and enjoyable.

Thank you to everyone for playing your part.

Mike, Rachel, and Andrew