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Shannon
U/12s clean sweep at Ealing Festival of Rugby 2007
Shannon Under 12 Squad - Winners of
Ealing RFC’s Festival of Mini Rugby
Back Row (left to
right) Peter Brewitt,
John Fitzgerald, Mark Cusack, Thomas Walsh, Keith Clifford, Jack
O’Halloran, Jake Healy, Noel Malone, Sean Ryan, Kevin Dunne, Stephen
Martin, Michael Casey, Evan Despard, Kyle Larkin, William Leonard,
Vinny Leonard, Harold Brown
Middle Row (left to right) Glenn Morrow, Padraig
De Brun, Daithi Collins, Cualann Ryan, Jack Mullane, Frank Bradshaw
Ryan, Dylan O’Sullivan, Ryan O’Sullivan Glynn, Darren Buckley, Peter
Garland, Frank Harnett, Eoin Hurley, Stephen Fitzgerald, Cathal
Madarasz, Conor Humphreys, Conor O’Briain
Front
Row (left to right) Dermot Hurley, Shane
Fenton, Cormac Scanlon, Owen Fitzgerald, James Shorten, Jake Elliott,
Eoin Brewitt, Stephen Downes, Michael McGann, Kelvin Brown, Gordon
Browne, Eoghan Ryan, Sean Moriarty, John Bowman, Ruadhri O’Conaill,
Niall O’Connor, Cian Quinlan, Jim Shorten
Well the Shannon U/12s managed
what Ireland couldn’t , a substantial crowd at the airport to applaud
their achievement. For me the story starts May 2003 when after a
successful tour by Ealing RFC underage to Shannon RFC the previous
month, Pat Downey asked me if we would take the club U/12s to the
Ealing Festival of Rugby the following October, little did I know what
we were starting when we agreed to bring the first group to Ealing. 4
years later 104 Players, Coaches, a Referee and Parents made up the
fourth group of U/12s to take the trip to London. 3 teams were to
compete one in the “A” competition and two in the “B” competition.
Friday 12 October saw the group depart Shannon on two aircraft and the
teams were allowed settle and do a little sightseeing upon arrival at
our base in the Ramada at Ealing Common. That evening all were invited
to a Barbeque in Trailfinders Sportsgrounds from which we
returned to our base early to allow the players a good nights rest. It
was interesting to note the prohibition on fizzy drinks imposed by the
coaching staff until the tournament was over. Saturday started with
training on Ealing Common and the afternoon was left to the parents to
visit the city as they saw fit. The evening the group congregated to
watch England defeat France in another surprise from RWC07 and the
players were sent to bed immediately afterwards to prepare for the big
day. Sunday was an early start and a departure to Trailfinders set for
08:45.
Shannon “B” gave the first inkling of what was to come with a victory
in their first match and during the second half of that match I stood
between two pitches, watching it and the first half of the Shannon “A”
playing their first match. As the day wore on it became obvious that in
one of the “B” competition groups Shannon “B” were going to top their
group but in the “A” competition Shannon “A” were having a serious
challenge from Ealing “A” and in the second “B” group Shannon “C” were
also being pushed to the limit by Ealing “B”. In the “A” competition
the Shannon lads watched with a lot of interest the Rislip RFC and
Ealing “A” game as it could go a long way to deciding their fate,
Ealing won 4-0 and it meant that Shannon “A” had to defeat Grasshoppers
RFC by two tries, that they did but in fairness to Grasshoppers they
put in a fine display even though they were out at that stage.
In the second “B” group Shannon “C” and Ealing “B” couldn’t be
separated by points or tries scored and they had drawn 0-0 in their
game. It was decided to so a playoff and believe it or not that was
also a draw, as was the extra time and the 5 minutes sudden death
couldn’t produce a score. It came down to a toss of a coin and Shannon
“C” won a place in the final against none other than Shannon “B”. The
Shannon coaches with the festival organisers decided not to hold the
final as Shannon had both teams in it, they decided that Shannon had
won the “A” and “B” competitions and that was enough.
So at the prize giving Shannon were on a high, the coaches lifted the
fizzy drink prohibition and everyone enjoyed the evening (except for
the Munster/Osprey result on S4C). A Shannon wall plaque and numerous
gifts were exchanged. We returned to the Ramada for a dinner where some
gifts were presented to the coaches from the players and parents
committee. The coaches pointed success to the excellent parents
committee that raised funds and organised the trip.
Monday had was a free morning and most took to the city for some final
sightseeing and shopping, the return welcome in Shannon Airport was
fantastic for the players and I am sure they all felt a million dollars
and they deserved it.
The relationship build between the underage groups in Ealing RFC and
Shannon RFC is fantastic and the bonds are getting stronger year by
year. I am justifiably proud of this tour tradition that I had a
small part to play in back in 2003 and I hope that the group that
leaves next year have as much fun and success as this year, it will
also mark that every underage team from U/12 to U/18 will have
participated in this magnificent tournament.
Diarmuid O’Briain
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