Eagles Under 18's Results
Eagles finish 3rd in Nottingham:
Eagles Juniors took part in the 5th BYAFA Tournament in Nottingham on Saturday 9th June in what was a highly competitive and enjoyable tournament. They finished in 3rd place overall and the two tournament points gained virtually guarantee us a place in the National Finals on July 14th. Eight teams took part in the Junior competition and the Eagles were drawn in a tough Group B along with tournament favourites Woodham Warriors 3, Chorley Buccaneers A and Woodham 5.
Our first game against Chorley A ended in a 19-7 victory, with Charlie Craggs opening the scoring on the Eagles first drive. Chorley hit back to take the lead but Eagles, led by Quarterback Danny Watson, went ahead again with a Tom Yardley TD with Holly Cooke adding the extra point. Chorley never threatened again, with the Eagles defence dominating. Tom Yardley returned an interception for his second TD and then grabbed another interception to get the tournament off to a flying start.
Our next opposition came from Woodham 5 who were put away comfortably 33-6. Tom Yardley began where he left off opening the scoring. Rookie Alexander Moore making his Eagles debut added the extra point with a confident catch in the end zone to put Leicester 7-0 ahead. Fellow debutant Ben Daws made a fine interception to set up the Eagles next scoring drive, completed with Charlie Craggs grabbing a Danny Watson pass for another Eagles touchdown. Tom Yardley scored again to make the halftime score 19-0. Charlie Craggs opened the second half scoring with Nathan Stephenson adding the extra point. Woodham finally and deservedly got on the score sheet and Tom Yardley completed an outstanding performance with two further touchdowns to make the final score Eagles 33 Woodham Pink 6.
The third and decisive group game was against the team at the top of the National standings Woodham 3. Despite going down to an early Woodham score Eagles hit back with a Charlie Craggs TD and Jake Cooke conversion to take a 7-6 lead. Woodham showed their class with a devastating passing attack scoring two TDs to take a 20-7 lead. A fighting second half performance saw scoring shared and the game end in our first defeat of the day 27-13.
With a 2-1 record, we finished as Group B runners-up and qualified for the 3rd place playoff game against Group A runners-up Chorley B. Our best performance of the day ended in a 27-12 victory. Jake Cooke gave another outstanding performance grabbing two interceptions, two touchdowns and an extra point. Charlie Craggs was equally effective with two first half TDs to set up the Eagles victory. Alexander Moore claimed his second extra point catch of the day and made a fine impression in his first game for the club. Fellow Rookie Ben Daws made some excellent tackles throughout the day on defence and both can be proud of their debuts.
Woodham 3 went on to win the tournament final 45-0 which shows that Leicester were in much the tougher group. However, Coaches Andrew Gambrill and Gemma Eaton were satisfied with the third place finish and the two tournament points which almost certainly guarantee a play off place.
The Eagles Junior squad which took part was: Danny Watson, Charlie Craggs, Jake Cooke, Holly Cooke, Tom Yardley, Nathan Stephenson, Alexander Moore and Ben Daws.