BOYS’ UNDER 16
FINAL 2006
Boswells beat Madeley Newcastle (Staffs) 25:19
18:25 17:25 25:23 16:14
English Institute of Sport, Sheffield
Sunday 23rd April 2006
As this match was starting,
Felix Limo had just finished the London Marathon in 2 hours 6 minutes and 39
seconds, just 6½ minutes longer than it took the Boswells School in Chelmsford
to overcome their Staffordshire opponents. Thus the performances rate as a feat
of endurance as well as skill and those of us privileged to see the match are
in awe of young men of 15 and 16 who could sustain their efforts for so long at
a standard we would not have expected from our under 18s only a few years ago.
At 11:11 in the final set total silence fell on the sizable crowd; nobody
needed urging on yet Boswells’ captain, Nathan French seemed to have an extra
reserve tank, held his nerve and steered his side home by the tiniest of
margins.
If Nathan finished Madeley off, it had been his
setter, Lewis Huntington who had supplied the passes from which Boswells’
attackers finally achieved success. His selection as Most Valuable Player was
an inspired one for he rarely caught the eye amidst the wealth of talent
expressing itself around him yet was surely the key to their winning the cup.
Matthew Mills had been the first to impress as his first set attacks helped to
set up a 10:5 first set lead on which Tim Reynolds and Nigel were to build and
the three were to continue to do well, aided frequently by Luke Harris and
Andrew Saward. Andrew also served particularly well, I thought, although the
only player on either side to enjoy a long service spell was Madeley’s Sam
Allen who saw his side from 9:16 to 17:16 as they fought back in the fourth
set.
Madeley’s attackers were no less
impressive. Wearing No.10, like Matthew
Mills, Danny Glover inspired his side’s come back in the second set scoring
over a quarter of its points. While he continued to be the biggest thorn in the
side, Tom Gething and Dave Lawton attacked well as did Luke Davenport. I sensed
that Madeley had the stronger blocks and particularly noted the efforts of Sam,
Dave and Tom. In front of them Sam Cutler set well and chose his options
intelligently, had he not ended on the losing side … who knows?
And behind them, the liberos. No setter can be
at his most effective unless the quality of passes from defence is good and
today’s liberos deserve special mention. Boswells’ Matthew Terry and Madeley’s
Tom Robinson were both excellent: observant, mobile, accurate; no more could
have been asked of them nor much more given. They set the tone of the match
and, by defending with such determination, ensured it did not finish in one
hour, thirty-three minutes.
Yet in the end, it was the coaches who became
the most visible, calling four time outs in four rallies in the closing stages
as they tried to restore some energy into tired legs. Nigel French’s swinging
hits were the result as he smashed down the line at fourteen all, hitting a
defender hard before he had time to react to gain match point then repeating
the shot which desperate dives could not keep off the floor. The job was done.
Boswells:
Starting six: Nathan French
(captain), Luke Harris, Lewis Huntington, Matthew Mills, Tim Reynolds and
Andrew Saward.
Libero: Matthew Terry
Other players:
Jordan Amner, Adam Brown, James Fay, Matthew Ware and Andrew Weaver.
Coach: Darren Lewis.
Madeley Newcastle:
Starting six: Sam Allen
(captain). Rob Cutler, Luke Davenport, Tom Gething, Danny Glover and Dave
Lawton.
Libero: Tom Robinson.
Other players:
Phil Bloor, Alex Francis, Richard Marks, Neil Tapp and Sam Thomas.
Coach: Will Roberts.
Acknowledgements:
EVA web site and results service.