24 11 19 - Lanark / Paisley Home

Lanark & Paisley Home - 24/11/19

With a squad of 16 players, the young Bulls lined up against both Paisley and Lanark at home. Evan & Dominic returned to the squad after missing out the previous week and Ryan & Findlay returned after making their debuts against East Kilbride. After the warmup, the teams were split into a P1/2 side and the P3 team was reinforced with a few of the more experienced P2s.

The coaches were out in numbers this week, with myself/Dougie and Craig taking the younger team. An excellent show from the kids during the match meant the session ended with a couple of fun games. Bulldogs, which is becoming a firm favourite of the kids, was Hamilton’s chosen game before the morning ended with chain-tig. It was pleasing to see both the Hamilton and Lanark youngsters having so much fun together.

With regards to the match, the following performances were more than worthy of a mention:
- Noah played extremely well and was always looking for space. Attacking the space, combined with his direct/forward running resulted in an absolutely excellent score.
- Ruaridh Campbell stepped up massively in this game and produced his most confident performance to date. His continual support play and forward running resulted in a well-deserved score.
- Greig continued his solid defensive displays and it was really pleasing to see him carry the ball in two hands when going forward. It’s something the coaches have been working on and Greig displayed great ability to put his training into practice.
- Ryan continued his 100% scoring record and showed great focus to spot the space and attack into it. Another performance defying his lack of experience.
- Matthew lit up like a sunbeam when during a determined run, a space presented itself in the Lanark defence. He done well to spot the gap and dive over the line for his try.
- Jack played really well and formed a formidable part of the team. He played a big role in some of the scores and can be proud of his days’ work.
- Giulio continued his fine form on Sunday with another good match. Always keen to get on the ball and no fear of tackling, he is progressing nicely. His determination/work rate is excellent and it is hard to believe it’s only his first season.
- Dominic recovered from last week’s illness to make an impact on the game. Improving week on week, his determined run down the park almost resulted in an excellent try. Extremely unlucky not to score.
- Findlay had another good game in only his second match. A few excellent runs and no fear in the tackle, I’m sure it won’t be long until he’s the top try scorer in the Moore household.

- In the older match, it was a mixed couple of games. Against Lanark, some of the running play resulted in some really good scores. This was in contrast to the Paisley game, where some good defensive structure from the visitors presented a different challenge to crossing the white line. While all the players (Charlotte, Noah, Evan, Iona, Lewis, Ruaridh and Rueben) can all be pleased with their performances, there is still some work to be done. The individual skills and defence was at its usual high standard, however in future training/games we will be working on bringing options and others into attack. Hopefully this will result in a more polished team performance and everyone playing a more balanced role in the ‘team game’.

This weekend we have a welcome chance to work on a few things at training. Attacking space has been the theme for the last few weeks and this will be progressed into picking the best option to attack the space. The balance between providing support to a tackled teammate and not overcrowding them has always been a tough topic to present to the kids – so the coaches will have to earn their hotdogs this week.

A couple of notable things for the parents/coaches/kids to finish off this week:
- The website has info for the all-important Santa letters that you might want to bring to training or the Xmas party. The post-box will be available until 4th December.
- The Xmas party is also on the Facebook page (I think). Please check there for info – also, if the kids/parents have Xmas jumpers, please wear them so I don’t look like the only one having a mid-life crisis!
- Lastly, having looked through the photos, its pleasing to see the amount of time the ball carrier has two hands on the ball. Although this sounds pretty simple/basic, it’s quite hard for the kids not to be tempted to put it under their arms.

David