The legions of Old Grammarians Mini teams arrived in Datchworth on a beautiful Sunday morning. With over 35 children turning up it was a great show of strength for the newly established Youth section.

Split across 2 pitches and with 2 squads in each age group the Old Grammarians performed gallantly against a more experienced Datchworth squad.

The Datchworth Under 7s showed us the standards we need to aspire to next season in a number of 7-a-side matches. While one squad were busy playing the other squad joined in some fun training sessions with the coaches and the Datchworth players as well.

The Under 9s pushed Datchworth far closer on the other pitch and were unlucky to just lose out in their matches. Some great try scoring from Alex, Tom and Jimmy and a famous "half try" on the half-way line from Livvy showed that the future is bright for the Old Grammarians.

Thanks to all the players for coming along and representing our club so well and also to the grown-ups who brought them.

OGRFC coaches

Old Grammarians/Enfield Ignatians 5 – 29 Harlow

On a very wet and windy Sunday morning our under 16’s played their second game of the season with Enfield Ignatians against a very well drilled Harlow side.

With the home side doing well in the scrum and producing some good clean ball the backs made good ground only for the ball to be spilled in a tackle, Harlow gather up and made a strong break up field. Some strong tackling by Sid on the wing and good cover tackling by both our centres George and Louis and the scrum half, Harlow manage to keep the ball alive. With a last ditch tackle by the full back Gavin, Harlow pop up the ball and drove over for the first score. Unconverted. 0-5

From the restart our forwards put on pressure and forced Harlow to spill the ball. From the resulting scrum, our backs had good ball to work with. A good run from the fly half Harrison and quick pop up from the tackle to Andy the second row led to a drive to the try line. Harlow’s defence held out and managed to steal the ball and clear their lines. The kick was long up field which the winger chased down only to be confronted with the oncoming Harlow backs. Caught in procession, Harlow’s strength won the ball, this lead to a quick break and a second try, converted 0-12

Again from the restart our forwards put the Harlow pack under pressure with some good work from Tom the hooker and Christian the prop. The home started to pile on the pressure with great runs from both Tom and Christian carrying the ball up field. Harlow were finding the going tough with the back row putting the Harlow’s backs under pressure.

From a quick penalty in the middle of the field and about 25mts out Harrison produced a blistering run with a cheeky dummy and side step to find space and head for the try line, with George and Louis in support, he went for his try, duly awarded. Unconverted 5-12 .

From the restart Harlow drove the ball up field with our forwards making tackles and slowing Harlow down. In one of these drives Andy took a knock to his nose, a nasty little cut meant he had to leave the field. Harlow frustrated by the home sides resistance lost discipline with one of their players hitting the scrum half in the face. Off for 10 minuets.

The second half saw a few replacements made by the home side so every one got a game.

( mostly under 15 players whose game was called off) From the Harlow kick off the ball was gathered and passed out to the backs. The new fly half made a lovely run, which took play into the Harlow half. Scrum awarded from the pile up. A good scrumage put Harlow on the back foot but they still managed to retain the ball. A good pass from the scrum half sent the backs on their way. After several passages of play Harlow scored 5-19. Converted.

The play became a bit untidy due to the changes and conditions. The home side put on pressure with some good work from both the forwards and the backs, a good run out of the 22 saw the home side break into Harlow’s half only to be stopped by some good tackling from their fall back.

A couple of chip kicks from Harrison and Tom (now playing outside centre) and chase downs almost produced some scoring opportunities, but lack of support meant they went begging.

From open play Harlow worked a good blind side attack, keeping the ball alive and moving forward. In on of this attacks Tom dislocated his shoulder and had to leave the field. The curse of the Grammarians strikes again.   

Harlow came back scoring 2 very well worked try’s to make the final score 5-29 (both unconverted) There would have been at least 1 more score but for last ditch try saving tackles from both Sid and George.

Old Grammarians U16’s  0        Finchley     29

The Under 16’s played their first match of this season on Sunday against Finchley, up against a vastly more experienced Finchley side.  Despite this, the U16’s had a good performance, on their first outing, and the score line does not reflect the fantastic effort they put in.  From this they can all take heart in that they can only go on from strength to strength.

Unfortunately there was one injury to one of our U16’s in the form of a dislocated knee similar to that of Andy Bargh’s in the 1^st XV - good wishes go out to them both for a speedy recovery.

Thank you also to all the members of the senior club and supporters that came along to cheer the team on, support is always appreciated and is a great moral booster to any team.

The OG’s Mini and Youth Team are still growing in size each week with over 50 Mini and Youth players now attending.  A thank you goes to all the Youth Coaches and Officers for all their hard work in establishing this new section of the OGs.  If you know of any child/youth between 6 and 18 who would be interested in coming along or if you are interested getting involved or becoming a coach, please contact Jeff Bolt on Tel : 07519 825 566 or

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