Wooden Spoon Marauders end season at Bournemouth 7s 2021
Wooden Spoon Marauders Bournemouth 7s 28th – 29th August – match review from Coach, Keith Boatman
THE Wooden Spoon Marauders men’s and women’s teams arrived at the Bournemouth 7s tournament this year determined to do well.
This was the first two-day tournament that the teams had faced this season and with it brought the challenges of two days of demanding rugby union sevens. Both sides had notable absences having to omit a number of key players due to availability and late season injuries notably Adam Hakimian (shoulder) and Maddy V.J. (knee). Nevertheless the mood in the camp was positive and everyone believed they had an opportunity.
Saturday
The Saturday saw the women start well with 20-14 win over Heart and Balls, followed by a 31-7 win over Brians Lions followed by an exceptional 17-5 win over Scimitar Storm. The last game of the day was due against Hove but unfortunately the hard ground had left them unable to field a side, meaning the Marauders finished the day five and five and top of the group. Nevertheless the hard ground had claimed injuries and the squad was down to 9 players.
The men started Saturday playing all their games on pitch one with a competitive game against Gogerddan Raiders which they drew 19-19. They then moved on to play Glantaf Goats who they beat 14-10 but lost the final game against the Young Lives Cancer trust 7-0, placing them third in the group and into the Plate competition on the second day.
Sunday
Sunday saw the men start strongly with a good performance against Scimitar storm winning 31-7 and lead by Captain, Louis Flynn who put in a courageous performance having been injured the previous day. This placed them in the final on pitch one against our old arrivals Apache.
On the day, Apache proved to be the better side beating us 10-17. Nevertheless the men played well on the day, in particular with some fantastic running and tries from Austin Beckett their wing and deserved the applause from the large crowd.
The Women now moved to pitch one, the main pitch to enjoy playing in front of a large appreciative crowd. Captain, Louise Burgess, despite losing wing Lauren Torley with a serious shoulder (clavicle injury) had deliberately left a place open for Ellie Boatman to play on the second day playing short of numbers at times.
The first game of the day, the Semi-final of the cup, was against “The Cats” a strong side from Wales who had been playing really well on Saturday and featured a few of our current and ex-players. This was a hard-fought contest but the Cats could not cope with the Marauders ability to win the ball on the kickoff and find Louise Burgess with Ellie Boatman along-side her.
This meant a blistering combination of pace and skill that was un-defendable and resulted in three exceptional tries from Ellie Boatman on the wing. This threat then allowed others to step up to the mark and score resulting in a convincing 39-5 win.
The Women entered the final confident after such a good semi-final performance and felt ready to play a very good army side who they had played regularly but not lost to in the Super 7s Series.
The game kicked off with a very similar shape to the Cats game with quick ball reaching Ellie Boatman who sprinted around the cover to score, this was followed by a second try down the wing from Ellie before the Army countered with two very well worked team tries.
However, this then caused the Wooden Spoon Marauders to respond with the try of the tournament again by Ellie Boatman. Again, the Marauders found space in their own 22 with Louise Burgess delivering quick ball to Ellie Boatman who attacked the outside but this time stepped her (very fast) opposite number on the inside to score under the posts and see the Marauders run out winners 22-10.
The weekend was a wonderful weekend, only spoilt by the hard ground and a number of injuries, but in the environment of the Coronavirus pandemic, Bournemouth 7s did very well to organise such a big event for over 30,000 spectators.
In particular the players and coaches would like to thank their Sponsor Irwin Mitchell and Kit provider O’Neills sportswear for helping make this happen. Good exposure and lots of fun win win!
A great success! Thank you to all players coaches and support team involved.
If you would like to participate in the men’s or women’s 7s rugby squads, please email rugby@woodenspoon.org.uk.
If you would like to see how you can get your rugby club involved with fundraising activities please visit our fundraise for us page.
