We rocked up early…
We were drawn into Pool 2 (a clever seeding system) for the first phase. There were three pools - 12 teams in all. Pools 1 and 2 were made up of mixed and "A" squads. Everyone available from the squad was invited and we showed up with a squad of 15. We faced Crowborough first. A really tight game with Hussell fighting his way over the try line in the final minute for the games only try. Unfortunately, there was a pile-up and Hussell was unable to play on for the day due to bruising.

We rocked up hard…
We then faced Hove A where the boys showed their defensive mettle, holding the opposition to a 0-0 draw. The game was tough and hard with driving attacks being the order of the day on narrower than normal pitches. The vast majority of play was in the centre third of the pitch and the draw was a fair result.

We rocked on through…
The final match in our pool was against Pulborough. A fine win 2-0 with a trademark try by Horsfall, Whitear chipping the ball through for Horsfall to connect with. A nice bounce ensured a clean take and grounding. A fiery try from Goldmann sealed the win. On several occasions, we got close to the bonus point from 3 tries, but it wasn’t to be.

This saw Petersfield Under 12 through to the top pool as Pool 2 winners along with 2nd place from Pool 2 and 1st and 2nd from Pool 1. That meant that Petersfield, Haywards Heath, Crowborough, and Uckfield were playing for the Cup.

We played the game...
We were drawn against Crowborough again for the first match. Again, this proved to be a tough affair, with neither side able to make a score.

We won the game...
The second match, against Haywards Heath allowed the team to play some dominating rugby, making our defence seem impenetrable. An awesome team try for the first and Horsfall spinning and twisting through for a well-earned second try of the match.

We owned the game...
In the final match of the day, we dominated Uckfield early on with Davey scoring within the first couple of minutes. Play then switched around and Uckfield pounded our defence, twice getting over the line, only to be denied by being held up by the strength of the defence. Uckfield did manage to break through to score a leveller in the final play of the game.

This left an interesting situation where Crowborough and Petersfield finished the Pool in joint first place with 8 points each and the same number of tries for and the same against. The organisers decided that the fairest way to decide the outcome would be to select three players from the squad to take kicks on goal. This was an interesting choice given that kicking for goal is not part of the Under 12 game, but both sides agreed.

Jackson and Brockwell duly converted their kicks with the opposition failing to score, leaving Petersfield the tournament winners. A fair result, especially as Petersfield had won the pitch battles against Crowborough with 1 win and 1 draw.

At last, we saw the return of the skills and teamwork that have deserted Petersfield Under 12s of late. This was a demonstration of how it should be done. Undefeated and with only one try conceded in the whole event.

Well done fellas!