World Record Breaking

SHEFFIELD HILLSBOROUGH HAWKS JUNIOR ARLFC

Under 16

The story can be read here

2006-2007

Yorkshire Combination League

 Tyers Hat Trick Slays Saracens

Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16s (32) 44 Slaithwaite Saracens (0) 18 .... 17th September 2006

A new season dawned upon Hillsborough Arena as The Hawks made their way onto the grass to once again start another season. The difference was that they were in a new league and knew they had to start uncovering a veil of mystery.

Today the Hawks met a team they had not played in the last few years, Slaithwaite Saracens. Hawks made their hopes for the season clear as they started strongly with Battye powering over for the first try in the sixth minute. Hawksworth followed this up in the 10th minute with a some-what unexpected try as he received the ball a few inches from the line and managed to keep his cool to score another unconverted try. The Hawks defence was magnificent with huge hits going in from many members of the team. Tyers eclipsed his total number of tries from last season as he barnstormed through the Slaithwaite defence to score three converted tries from the seventeenth minute to the twenty-seventh. Khoza finished of perhaps one of the best half Hawks have played in a long time as he rounded a number of defenders and touched down for his first of the campaign. This left the half-time score at 32-0.

Hawks started the second half as they finished the first as hit after hit went in from the Hawks as Slaithwaite were left stunned. The tides suddenly turned for a period of time as the Hawks were left defending five sets of penalties, the defence finally gave as Slaithwaite powered over for their first of the afternoon. In response Vivian crossed for a superb individual try dancing through the defenders, with Pygot following up with the conversion. Slaithwaite began to mount the pressure again as Hawks continued to give away penalties and once again they scored a controversial try with the ball seeming to have been knocked on. Once more did the Saracans score as they handled well and touched down straight under the posts. The Hawks recovered well from this dark spell as They worked their way up the pitch with some bustling drives from the forwards and good running from the backs, this all paid of as Battye placed the ball down for his second of the afternoon which he celebrated in style. Statham made his long awaited comeback from injury and made a valuable contribution with some hard hits and a number of runs. The match finished 44-18 to the Hawks with a win they fully deserved. Hopefully this will be a platform for the Hawks to build on as they start to look for a successful campaign.

Man of the Match : Ben Vivian

Hawks: Jackson; Kime; Khosa (T); Sheard; Bell; Pygot (6G); Swire; Pearce; Vivian (T);Hunter; Battye ( 2T); Hawksworth (T); Tyers (3T); Fox; Statham

REPORT BY DOMINIC HUNTER

Tigers tame Hawks

Their was an unorthodox start to Hawks first away game of the campaign when kick-off was delayed as the referee was an hour late. Both sides made their expectations clear in the first 5 minutes after hit after hit went in from both sides. Eventually after a tough 10 minutes Townville crossed for their first un-converted try. The defence from Hawks was superb with stand out tackling from Hawksworth, Battye, Tyers supported by the forward pack. Controversial refereeing reduced Hawks to 11 men, Battye was dismissed for swearing and Pygott sin-binned for reasons best known to the referee. A disallowed effort from Sheard was to prove crucial , Townville took advantage of this adding three more tries to lead 16 – 0 at the break.

Hawks were equal to Townsville in defence but not attack; once more huge hits went in from the Hawks defensive line with Tyers pulling of a superb hit on the Townville winger. Unfortunately the Hawks continued to fall foul of the referee seemed to be against them with more questionable decisions and two further disallowed tries. Hawks tired and this led to a rout of tries by Townsville leaving the score at 36-0. It was to the Hawks credit that they finished the stronger with Tyers adding an unconverted consolation and Townville hanging on in grim defence.

Man of the Match: Their were a number of contenders for man of the match, but Dan Hawksworth fully deserved his award as he played a superb game both in attack and defence. Tyers was not far behind him.

Hawks: Jackson; Fox; Sheard; Khosa ; Bell; Pygot; Swire; Hunter; Vivian ; Pearce; Battye ; Hawksworth ; Tyers (T); Ashton; Statham.

REPORT BY DOMINIC HUNTER

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Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks (16) 22 East Leeds (0) 16 ..........1st October 2006

Swire double downs Leeds

Match Gallery can be viewed by clicking here

 An opportunistic brace of tries by Hawks was enough to defeat a strong East Leeds side. 

Both sides made their intentions clear from the start as strong runs were met by hard defence by each side. Early on scrambling defence by Hunter caused the Leeds attacker to knock on and Sheard repeated this later on. Hawks needed an opportunity to take the lead as they slowly started to take control of the match, and when it arose it was grasped with both hands as Swire gathered the ball and managed to squeeze it over the line for his first of the season. Pygott did not hesitate to convert this as the ball passed through the posts to make the score 6 – 0. Leeds were kept to their line for the next 5 minutes as Battye, Hawksworth, Vivian and Jackson pounded the defence. Something had to give and disbelief turned to amazement as Vivian provided a perfect ball for Swire to claim his second of the day. Yet this time unconverted. Bowler made a stunning comeback from injury for the Hawks as he left a number of defenders in his wake as he barged through for his debut try, this being converted by Pygott to leave the half-time score at 16 – 0.

As the second half started Hawks knew that they had to continue the pressure they had asserted in the first half and defend twice as well. This seemed to be going to plan, but an extremely debatable decision saw Leeds being gifted their first converted try of the afternoon. Hillsborough did not take long to reply, but oh did they do it well. Battye was put into a gap whilst sidestepping a defender, managed to run half the pitch to score a magnificent try. A series of penalties seemed to start going against the Hawks as Leeds and the referee appeared to be against them. The defence could not hold out for much longer as Leeds crossed for another try under the sticks, this time converted. It was good to see Jackson back to his old self as he looked dangerous when-ever the ball was in his hand, and Vivian was making little darting runs through the defence leaving them rooted to the spot. Eventually a penalty went the other way as Leeds gave away this in a vital point in the field and Hillsborough could not wait to capitalize on this as Pygott added two more to his kicking tally as he put the game just out of reach for the Eagles. Some more dubious decisions were made as Leeds were awarded another try in the corner. This left the full time score at 22 – 16 to the Hawks. This was a huge confidence booster for the hawks as Leeds expected a walkover in fact they received quite the opposite and it was great to see the Hawks working as a team and not criticising each other when mistakes were made. WELL DONE HAWKS ON A GREAT WIN!

Man Of the Match: DAN HAWKSWORTH, but was closely followed behind by Vivian, Jackson, Bowler and Battye, as all provided an excellent performance on a great day.

REPORT BY DOMINIC HUNTER

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Away day blues: Hillsborough Hawks U16’s (10) 10 Siddal  (18) 44  ...8th October 2006

Hawks went to Siddal hoping to carry on from their excellent win against East Leeds last weekend and carry that momentum onto Siddal. Unfortunately this was not the case as Siddal raced to a 12 nil lead within the first 10 minutes. Hawks defence shaped up momentarily as Tyers and Hawksworth put in consistent big hits. This plus some unpredictable attack put the Hawks back in it with a try from Fox. Pygott followed up several minutes late with a try of his own which he converted. Poor tackling let Siddal score again to lead 18-10 at half-time.

 The second half was a totally different performance from the Hawks. Tackle after tackle was missed as Siddal weaved their way to scoring a number of unanswered tries to leave the full time score at 44-10. Sometimes in the second half Hawks looked to be with the momentum but could not use it or support players on the ball.

CHRIS BOWLER earned his man of the match award, as his head didn’t go down and continually tackled and ran many times. Hopefully next week Hawks can get back on track against Heworth.

Report by Dominic Hunter

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Pygott’s 52 Points Pile On The Misery

Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: (54) 102 Heworth U16’s: (0) 0 ... 15th October 2006

Gallery can be seen here

Hawks were on the prowl, as they knew they needed a win from today’s game against the leagues bottom side Heworth. They got what they wanted and more. Hawks made their intentions clear from the start with Jackson running the length of the pitch for a converted try. This was just the start of the afternoon for the hawks as Battye scored the first of his Hat trick of tries with a barnstorming run sliding over the try-line. Hits were raining in from the Hawks defence with the likes of Hunter, Statham, Pearce and Tyers banging in tackles. A large number of tries followed along with some great defence by the Hawks. With Bowler amongst others crossing the line, and with Pygott displaying faultless goal kicking the hooter provided relief for a beleaguered Heworth side facing a 54-0 deficit..

Hawks continued the pressure in the second half as Battye completed his hat trick and Bowler his brace. In amongst this when Heworth managed to have the ball huge hits were raining down on the attacking line. Swire (2), Sheard, Pierce , Vivian(2) and Pygott (4) completed the rout all converted by Pygott. Pygott amassed a 52 point individual points tally. Hawksworth’s unselfish running and constant line breaking earned him a man of the match nomination.

Man Of The Match : Daniel HAWKSWORTH earned his award, even though he didn’t score, he put in hard tackles and ran well and continually put people into gaps and set tries up, PYGOTT did brilliantly with his 52 points and the whole Hawks team deserves a mention, well done boys!!!!

Daniel Hawksworth

Fact file: Records tumbled at the Hillsborough Arena as Greg Pygott amassed 52 points with 4 tries and a 100% goalkicking display yielded 17 conversions. A decisive attacking display and near faultless defence meant Heworth were put to the rack as Hawks ran amok. Battye (3), Vivian (2), Bowler (2) Swire (2) Pierce (1), Jackson (1) Sheard (1) and Tyers completed the scoring .

Report by Dominic Hunter

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Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16s (22) 40 Elland U16s (12) 20  ....22nd October 2006

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It’s a measure of how high people’s expectations are for the Under 16’s when there is a general feeling of disappointment after a comfortable 40 – 20 victory over a team that has frequently beaten them in the past.
 

Thoughts of repeating the previous week’s 102 – 0 victory appeared to be in the team’s mind as they started the game with such an air of complacency that they found themselves 12 – 0 before they had barely touched the ball. Ben Vivian went over in the corner to steady the ship before Pygott scored a superb solo try dribbling the ball from the half way line before gathering and diving over. His kick brought the Hawks to within 2 points of Elland before a brace from Battye took the half time score to 22 – 12. The second half showed what the Hawks were capable of when they retained the ball and further scores followed from Jackson, Hawksworth and a hat-trick try from Battye. Pygott carried on his superb goal kicking display by landing 6 out of 7. A couple of soft consolation tries from Elland narrowed the winning margin but there was only ever going to be one winner with the Hawks soaring into the next round of the Yorkshire Cup.

Stand-in coach Andy Tyers’ Man of the Match nomination went to Chris Bowler for his damaging runs and crunching tackles.

Report : I.Swire

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Hillsborough Hawks U16’s (0) 0 Kings Cross U16's(18) 46 ..5th November

 Errors Prove Costly

The final score line flattered Hawks’ high flying visitors. Hawks entered this clash knowing that they would have to stand up to the challenge of the Premierships best and for the majority of the match they did just that. Hits were reigning in from the Hawks line with Tyers, Hawksworth and many other standing up to the challenge as Kings Cross were restricted to 6 –0 for the majority of the first half hour and The Hawks pressed enough to force desperate defence from Kings Cross, Hawks were unlucky not to equalise as Jackson was held up, as Hillsborough looked for periods the better side, but errors were very visible through both sides. The ball handling wasn’t the best from either side as knock-ons massed a plenty. Hawks resolve diminished as they tired and this was pounced on by Kings Cross as they built up a 0-18 lead going into the break, on reflection Hawks were unlucky not to have any points on the board.

Hawks inability to convert chances along with a poor completion rate were to contribute to one way traffic during the second period. Despite a sterling defensive effort Kings Cross made their class tell as they ran in five unanswered tries. Jackson, Pygott and Vivian toiled hard to find openings to no avail. Battye, Hawksworth and Tyers carried the pack but they lacked support from their team mates.

Although the Hawks matched their illustrious opponents in the physical battle they lacked the finesse to break down their resolute defence. They must now concentrate on consolidating their league position in their forthcoming fixtures.  

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Ovenden U16 (0) 20 Hillsborough U16 (16) 26 ...... 12th November

Poor away record crumbles as Hawks soar to victory!

 A battle hardened Hawks made the trip up to Ovenden with confidence, having given resilient performance against a premiership standard side the previous week. Both outfits made their intentions clear right from the off with bell-ringing tackles raining in all over the pitch. After a tense first few sets, Jackson began the scoreboard ticking with a thundering run from the scrum thirty yards out, to score next to the posts. Pygott calmly converted. With vigour instilled the Hawks pushed for a second try shortly after, with Hawksworth running a decoy to fool the Ovenden line, allowing Swire to dive over easily. Pygott was again successful with the boot. A no mercy attitude from the Hawks provided a platform from which Bowler added another try to the tally by powering over from twenty metres. Hawks kept the score to nil with some fantastic defence and the whole team showing real heart and character. The pick of the bunch summed up the Hawk’s attitude; with the Ovenden left centre taking the ball on the twenty and being driven back over his own line by Pygott and Vivian for a drop out. The duo almost orchestrated another score, with a perfectly weighted kick by Pygott over the defence allowed Vivian to speed round the three quarters and hack it on towards the Ovenden line, but was halted by a sliding football challenge by the fullback, who was lucky to remain on the pitch. The half time score ended 18-0 in the Hawk’s favour.

Playing uphill and against the wind in the second half the Hawks knew the battle wasn’t won, and Pygott who with three men on top of him crashed over the whitewash and converting his try. Hunter, Battye, Hawksworth, Tyers, Pearce, Statham and Bowler stamped their authority on the Ovenden Pack with hard defence and a “run to score” attitude. This was demonstrated by Emery who tracked back to give an immense shot on the winger to send him flying into touch. However this wasn’t enough to hold out the Ovenden attack. They crashed over after ten minutes of the ball being gifted to them by a tiring Hawks line-up. Three more tries came in rapid succession as the pressure was piled upon Hillsborough; unfortunately during this Hunter had to be carried off. Dominic has returned home from hospital -  no news of injury though] After a rousing speech from Hawksworth and the coaching team, the Hawks outfit tackled for their lives with a deadlock lasting ten minutes. Fox, Jackson, Sheard, Khoza, Kime and Bell held their opposite numbers well as the Ovenden backs were unable to break through and the Hillsborough pack once again took a stranglehold on their opposite numbers. And with a final penalty under the sticks Pygott put the game out of reach for Ovenden. The final score ended 26-20. All involved played magnificently and rose above intimidation, insults and adversity to claim a well-deserved victory. The Hawks could also take confidence from the fact that Ovenden were previously unbeaten and top of the league table. Well done boys on a solid victory!

The man of the match award went to Eddie Battye, who constantly ran to bust, tackled to hurt and set a platform for the rest of the team to work from. Jackson, Pygott, Hawksworth, Fox and Bowler gave very strong performances also. Well done to Pygott who passed the one hundred points mark in his tally for the season.

 Report by Ben Vivian.

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Complacent Hawks battle over fighting Acorn

 York Acorn U16’s: (24) 28 Hillsborough Hawks U16's: (14) 36 ...19th November 2006

Hawks travelled to York on a cold wintry on the back of a confidence boosting victory over Ovenden, they were warned not to be complacent, but the warnings were to no avail as Acorn rushed into an early 6 nil lead, and Hawks were left stunned. Then the early blows started to rain in, and some good ball work came to no end product. Eventually the break-through came as skipper Hawksworth used his strength to split the home defence, Pygott converted.  The Hawks defence came under scrutiny again as missed tackles allowed York to score a number of long distance tries.  Once again Hawks battled back as Bowler danced his way through the Acorn defence to claim his first of the afternoon. The blinding sun did no favours to hawks as the Acorn upped their attack and focused on the weaknesses in the Hawks defence to build a 20-10 lead. This left Swire to sell a dummy and slide in to make the score line tight at 14 – 20 but once again Acorn capitalised on errors and built on them as they scored again to take a 24-14 lead into half-time. Try as they might the Hawks couldn’t eat into the 10 point deficit.

 Hawks went into the second half knowing that the good result from last week could be squandered.  Hawks seemed to have capitalised on this as Jackson  boomed over the line to take the Hawks within four points of the Acorn. Tiredness was starting to take effect as another Acorn player went the length of the pitch to score. During the play leading to this try Acorn benefited from playing 14 players on the pitch a point which evaded the three officials.!  It was from the mid point of the second half that the Hawks played their get out of jail card. Jackson went in for his second, to bring them within four points of York. During matches like these people need to stand to be counted and Pygott did just this. With a weaving run through the defence he caused confusion in the Acorn ranks and a try resulted of this which he coolly converted to give the Hawks a slender two-point lead. Within all of this build up to the try Vivian gave a superb offload (reminiscence of Hock for Great Britain). Pygott once again put in that extra bit of effort when it was needed like the rest of the Hawks players and another excellent build up resulted in the match winning try for Hawks much to the delight of themselves and the spectators.   

 Man of the Match: PYGOTT earns his award with an excellent game, both in attack and defence, but was closely followed by consistent performers such as HAWKSWORTH, BATTYE and BOWLER. Hawks had a scare today and despite the win, they know they can perform so much better. They need to put this into practice in their cup fixture away to Guisely next week.

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Shock Cup Exit

Guiseley Rangers U16’s: (6) 16  Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: (10) 10 ...26th November

 Hawks travelled to Leeds needing to back up last weeks win with another against a side they had not competed against in a number of seasons, Guiseley. Both sides made their intentions clear from the start with huge hits going in from both sides and being strong in defence. It did not look as easy as Hawks thought it would be as Guiseley were good in attack and solid in defence. Hawks matched this with the likes of Battye, Statham, Hawksworth, Hunter, Bowler and Tyers hitting hard and meeting them equally in attack. One of the latter took the Hawks in front as Tyers supplied an inch perfect pass to Statham as he went under the posts for his first try of the season. Vivian perfectly converted.

Guiseley’s main attacking options centred around their kicking game and a chip ahead saw them win the chase to the touchdown late in the first half. The conversion tied the scores. Hawks replied with a flowing passing movement based on the back of good forward interchange, Kime swept in at the corner unfortunately Vivian pushed the conversion wide.  

A slender 10-6 lead was always going to be difficult to defend against a keen home side with the slope to their advantage in the second half. So it was to prove as Guiesley aided by a series of bizarre refereeing decisions established solid field positions from which swift handling saw them cross twice in the left corner, neither of which were converted but a penalty sealed a shock win.

Hawks contributed to their own downfall with ill discipline landing first Battye and later Jackson spent  periods in the sin bin. When good field positions were created poor options left the Hawks scoreless and out of the last cup competition of the year.

 There were good individual performances from all the forwards with Bowler outstanding and deservedly gaining the man of the match award. The team never gelled and when faced with difficult circumstances losing players to indiscipline is inexcusable. 

A much improved and more disciplined performance will be required next week if Townville are not to record a league double over the Hawks.

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Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks  (0) 12 Townville Tigers (18) 28 ..... 3rd December

A severe injury to Chris Jackson cut this encounter short, and the Hawks showed great deal of determination in this game of over enthusiastic tackling and high shots by Townville and some very inconsistent refereeing decisions.

A full report will appear asap.

The whole of the Hawks team played well and put in some excellent solid tackles and showed that they were not going to be over-run by the very speedy Tigers team. Credit to Townville's number 9 ... not a big lad but his speed and vision were superb. - Ed

Hawks are downed

 Hillsborough Hawks U16 (0) 12 Townville U16 (18) 28

Lacking Ben Tyers and Desi Khosa the Hawks faced a tall order entertaining top of the table Townville at the Arena. Despite matching Townville in the physical battle the Hawks were to pay a heavy price for lacklustre defensive work around the play the ball as Townville registered three unanswered tries in the first period. To add to Hillsborough’s woes they lost captain Dan Hawksworth in the first exchange of the game with a nasty nose injury but swift work from his mother allowed him to return looking a little like elephant man.

At 0-18 down a tactical switch of inserting Ben Vivian at scrum half changed the course of the game. The Hawks took the battle to their opponents and Vivian linked with Hawksworth who courageously crashed over at the foot of the posts for Pygott to convert. Vivian himself spotted a chink in the Townville defence and forced his way over, Pygott’s conversion put a single score between the teams. Townville were to have the last say as the Hawks tired and they touched down twice without reply to secure the game.

The under strength Hawks can take plenty from this performance. They took the second half honours but left themselves far too much to do at half time. The pack matched the Townville six with Battye outstanding in the thick of things. Hawksworth led the team well and was ably assisted by an all-round more solid pack performance in which Hunter and Bowler tackled well. Vivian sparked most of what was good in attack with Pygott probing to no avail. On a sad note the game ended prematurely when full back Chris Jackson was injured trying to prevent Townville’s last try. The injury did not look as bad as was first feared and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Man of the Match Eddie Battye (who atoned for his indiscipline from last week) was stand out but a special mention for Dan Hawksworth who despite his injury continually troubled Townville.

Hawks: Jackson; Kime; Sheard; Vivian; Fox; Pygot (2G); Vivian (T); Hawksworth(c)(T); Hunter; Statham; Emery; Bowler; Battye; Ashton; Bell; Pearce

 Match reporter Bernie Hunter

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Hillsborough Hawks U16's (6) 12 Siddal U16's (12) 32 .... 7th January 2007

Siddal Storm Calmed

Hawks were looking to start the New Year in style with a victory over a strong Siddal side after a long winter's break, but were under strength with a threadbare 13 man squad.

Both sides made their intentions clear from the start with huge shots and busting runs threaded throughout the opening ten minutes. Hillsborough put their intentions to good use with Hawksworth crossing for the first try of the afternoon by ploughing through the Siddal defence. Pygott eagerly converted this. Siddal were then back in it when poor tackling led to a converted try of their own. Both sides matched each other throughout the rest of the half with Siddal coming out on top with 1 more try and a 6-12 lead going into half time.

HALF-TIME SCORE: 6 – 12 

Hawks went into the second half needing to know they would have to work really hard and be unrelenting in attack and defence. They managed to do this in parts but poor defence and tiredness allowed Siddal to build up a 6 – 22 lead. Hillsborough turned up the notch as Battye strode through the Siddal defence to bring the Hawks within 10 points after Pygott converted with ease. Tiredness leered over the Hawks as Siddal scoredtwice in the last 5 minutes to finish the game 12-32 to Siddal.

This does not reflect on Hawks performance as they can all be extremely proud of themselves. They played as a team today, not individuals and they had been looking for that for a long time. 

Hawks: Fox; Kime; Khoza; Sheard ;Bell; Pygott (2G); Swire; Hunter; Ashton; Pearce; Hawksworth (T); Battye (T); Vivian;

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Gateshead Panthers U16’s: (6) 18 Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: (12) 18... 4th February 2007

Hawks clearly made their intentions clear from the whistle as they rained hits in on the Panthers attack. Hawks attack was also unpredictable with the forwards looking a much improved pack. Eventually Hawksworth went in for an easily converted try from Pygott. Not long after Battye ploughed through the defence leaving many in his wake as he dived over for another converted try Gateshead took advantage of a number of penalties to score and leave the scoreline at 6-12 to the Hawks at half time.
Hawks did not look like a team who wanted all the points as ball after ball was dropped. Gateshead took advantage of this and built up a 18 – 12 lead. Hawks then were revived by the need to take something out of this game and Pygott crossed for the much needed try which he coolly converted himself
Scorers : Tries: Hawksworth, Battye, Pygott. Goals Pygott (3)
Man Of the Match : Daniel Hawksworth

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HILLSBOROUGH HAWKS U16’S: 48 YORK ACORN U16’S: 12..18th February 2007

Long version available soon
A barnstorming almost perfect second half display saw Hillsborough Hawks U16 register 36 points without reply to secure a well-deserved victory. A closely fought first period ended all square at 12-12. Hawks gave up the early advantage of tries by Vivian and Pygott, who added the conversions.

The second period saw Vivian and Jackson complete braces of tries with Tyers, Battye and Sheard all scoring. Pygott completed an excellent afternoon by converting all eight tries.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Pearce deserved his award with a fine performance in both attack and defence. Pygott who recovered from a shaky start to register a magnificent game.

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Lack-Lustre Performance Provides Win

Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: 46 Drighlington U16’s: 4 ....25th February 2007

Sheffield went into this chilly Sunday morning game knowing they needed to produce something special to match last weeks win.

Hawks started in a poor way against Drighlington giving away many penalties to provide them with an early 2 point lead. Hawks attacking play was poor as balls kept being dropped and penalty after penalty was given away lifting Drighlington up the field. This was where Hawks fantastic defence came into play with the likes of Pygott, Battye, Hawksworth, Hunter, Pearce, Vivian and Tyers putting in some huge shots to rattle the bones of the Drighlington attack. Jackson provided some trickery of his own as he danced his way through the defence to touch down for the first Hawks try of the afternoon, this was converted by Pygott. Hawks started to look more alert now as Jackson added to his tally with a second well worked try aided by Vivian and others, once again Pygott converted this. Hawks still looked a little lack-lustre as they started to give away penalties again. When Hawks eventually got the ball back a probing run by Battye set up an excellently worked try for Tyers which went thorugh the hands of Battye and Vivian amongst others. Pygott converted this to signal the half time hooter.

HALF-TIME: Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks: 18 Drighlington: 2

Hawks started the second half hoping to improve on the first. Hawks took little time to signal their intentions for the second half as Khoza split the defence with a darting run to go over for his first try of the season, this was gleefully converted by Pygott to add to his tally. More tries followed as Sheard went in for his second in consecutive weeks as great play lead up to it with Battye and Vivian being involved, Pygott converted this. Vivian followed this up later with a weaving run to claim his first try of the afternoon, once again converted by the ever reliable Pygott. Hawks kept their imposing figure on Drighlington as whenever they had the ball they were pounded pillar to post by the Hawks defence. Battye then ploughed his way through the opposing defence evading tackle after tackle to score, converted by Pygott. Hawks were never to far away from the try line as Bowler finished of a mixed afternoon strolling in for a try with Pygott adding the two points.

FINAL SCORE: 46 – 4

Man of the Match: Vivian deserved his awards with his darting runs and great ballwork, Jackson was close behind with the regulars putting in a huge amount of work.
 

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Debatable Decisions Deny Points

Slaithwaite Saracens U16’s: (0) 6 Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: (0) 6 ... 3rd March 2007

 Hawks set out to Slaithwaite on a cold wet Sunday morning riding on the back of their world record breaking feats the day before. 

Hawks and Slaithwaite were not in the best of form from the start of the game with errors a plenty. Defence was sound from both sides with particularly big hits going in from Statham, Battye, Tyers and Hawksworth. Both sides were poor in attack with knock-ons all to prevalent due to poor weather conditions. Towards the end of the half Slaithwaite were piggybacked up the pitch by some terrible refereeing decisions and the Hawks defended brilliantly on their own line to leave the half time whistle to signal a 0-0 score at the break. 

HALF TIME SCORE: Slaithwaite Saracans U16’s 0 Hillsborough Hawks U16’s 0

The second half started to pick up as Hawks started to look dangerous in attack with Tyers, Bowler, Hawksworth and Battye starting to make breaks. Eventually Hawks were awarded a penalty near the Slaithwaite line and Pygott gratefully slotted over an angled kick from close to the touchline.  Hawks were momentarily brought back down to earth as Slaithwaite were advanced by the referee up the pitch and made the most of the field position to register the games first try. This was converted. This seemed to wake the Hawks up and they turned up the heat on what up to then had been a pretty average performance. They grafted their way up the park, with Battye being held up near the line. This left Pygott to use his upper body strength to touch down over the line, unfortunately this was not converted. Hawks then pressed for more points but this was not to be. The Hawks defence held firm under a 24 tackle assault to secure a hard earned point

 FINAL SCORE: Slaithwaite Saracens U16’s: 6 Hillsborough Hawk’s U16’s: 6

 MOM: Battye earned his award today with outstanding running and hard defence and did not stop trying. Fox who was the clear pick of the backs with some really resolute defence closely followed him.

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Reincarnated Hawks Scrape Victory
HILLSBOROUGH HAWKS U16’s (18) 42 GATESHEAD PANTHERS U16’s: (20) 32 ...11th March 2007

 

Hawks warmed up today knowing a drastic change would be needed from the earlier week’s performance to gain anything from a tough Gateshead team.
Everything seemed to be going to plan as the early exchanges showed promise and as a result both Pygott and Vivian went in for two converted tries. As Hawks started to become complacent reality came back to bite them. Questionable refereeing decisions and poor defence led to Gateshead easily dragging themselves back to equal the game 12 all. After this Hawksworth showed his colours as he went in for his first converted try of the game. Then Hawks simply seemed to breakdown as Gateshead ran riot and scored at will to establish a well deserved 12-20 half time lead
The second half seemed to have taken another turn for the worse as Gateshead once again split the poor defence for two more tries at 18-32 they had a commanding lead, but the Hawks showed fantastic team spirit to rally to the cause. Kime pulled off a fantastic tackle in defence to start a memorable fight back by the Hawks. A flowing handling movement through Tyers, Pygott and Vivian allowed Kime to cut in for a try. Pygott converted. Tyers built on his fantastic performance with a try of his own through pure strength and quick thinking from a penalty. Once again this was converted. Hawks were lucky as the pressure accumulated on Gateshead and seemed to be taking its toll as they made mistake after mistake. Tyers was once again involved as Hawks tracked their way up the pitch and Pygott strolled through the gaping gap in the defence for his second try of the game, he converted this. The impossible seemed to have been achieved as this put Hawks back in front. Hawksworth built on his also fantastic performance and left defender after defender in his wake as he went in for his second try of the afternoon, Pygott gleefully converted this to end the game for a very relieved Hawks.
Man of the Match : Dan Hawksworth earned his award in style with a brilliant second half performance, which contributed vitally towards the victory for Hawks. Tyers deserves a mention for his good ball work, setting up a couple of tries and grafting hard in defence with some bone shattering tackles.
Team: Fox, Ashton, Khosa, Sheard, Kime (T), Pygott (7G 2T), Vivian (T), Pearce, Hunter, Pierre, Bowler, Hawksworth (2T), Tyers (T), Bell, Statham, Swire.
 

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East Leeds Eagles U16’s (14) 24 Hillsborough Hawks U16’s(4) 8 ...25th March 2007

 Hawks indifferent away form continued as an under strength team was out fought in a bruising battle at East Leeds. Hawks seem unable to shake off their customary slow start and they fell foul of the poor ball control that had dogged them the previous week, as they gifted Leeds an early unconverted try. The Hawks’ response was immediate as a wide ball from Pygott put Khosa into space and he outflanked a scrambling Leeds defence to cross for a fine unconverted try. The remainder of the first half remained even until the same problem re-emerged, two identical turnovers when safety should have been the strategy, gifted a keen East Leeds outfit a comfortable 14-4 lead.  

East Leeds Eagles U16’s: 14 Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: 4 

Hawks lacked cover from the bench and this was to tell in a second half when they faced a steep slope. Even the introduction of Battye returning from an ankle injury failed to provide the impetus required, yet he pulled of a number of immense shots. Hawksworth led from the front aided by Pierre, Hunter and Ashton but a team response was lacking.

Hawks were pinned in their own half at times with Battye, Hawksworth and Hunter holding up the Leeds attackers over the line three times. East Leeds pounced on indecision to ease out to a commanding 24-4 lead with a quarter of the game still to play. It was to the Hawks’ credit that they rallied to finish the stronger team. A period of sustained pressure was rewarded at the final whistle when Pygott crept in at the corner prior to being bundled into touch.

The team looked on today as a blip on their continually successful season and now hold their heads up and head of to Serbia! 

Man Of The Match: Desire Khoza earned his award with consistent probing runs and brave tackling. Battye and Hawksworth continued their very reliant big runs and big tackling but a strong Leeds side managed to keep them at bay.

Team: Chris Jackson, Aarron Kime (t), Daniel Sheard (t), Desire Khoza, Jack Bell, Gregg Pygott, Sam Swire, Dominic Hunter, Phillip Ashton, Ashley Pierre, Dan Hawksworth, Ben Tyers, Ben Vivian, Ed Battye, Ash Statham,

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Hillsborough Hawks U 16 tour of Serbia...30th March 2007 to 4th April 2007

A keen but wary squad departed to Serbia thoughtful of the challenge that lay before them. Hillsborough Hawks U16 squad are the first youth team to tour in these un-chartered waters. The trip followed hot on the heels of the British Prison Service tour. On arrival they meet their senior counterparts acknowledged they had a difficult task at hand.

 Based in Belgrade, the youngsters set about acclimatising to the 20 degrees temperature and the demands of the overnight journey to Belgrade via Heathrow.

Team sheets for the two matches + the British Prison Service Match can be found by clicking on the following symbol. The team sheets are in a pdf form and can be viewed and downloaded .............. 121kb

U16s INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY - HARRISONS CHALLENGE CUP ...1st April 2007

The first game of the tour saw the Hawks up against Dorcal 13, a locally based side. The game drew a respectable crowd turn out at Sports Center "Inge" a converted soccer ground in the South of the city. It was evident the Serb’s were intent on blooding as many of their U 16 potential as the forthcoming European U 16 championships,  soon to take place Belgrade, loomed large. 

The significance of the game was recognised by the presence of the President of the Serbian RL accompanied by a number of local dignitaries. A trophy was on offer sponsored by   Mr M Harrison an ex -partite lawyer.  

The Hawks needed no invitation to take the battle to the door of their hosts. In a strong and fiercely contested opening it was left to the guile of Swire, to spot an opening at a play the ball, to deftly cross the line. Pygott’s boot neatly converted. The Hawks made the most of a huge pitch to attack the flanks of their hosts. Playing their best football of the season first Gray and later Battye completed flowing handling moves, Pygott converting the latter effort. Dorcal’s first half efforts were rewarded when Stevanovic thundered onto a short ball before racing 40m to score try which Radivojevic converted.  

Half time Hillsborough Hawks 16 Dorcal Spiders 6 

Hillsborough began the second half in a determined manner. Their greater experience began to tell as Batteye added a second try. Soon captain Hawksworth powered over, both tries were deftly converted by Pygott. Failure to gather a restart cost Hawks dear as Dorcal’s loose forward Uncovic scored too wide out for Rodivojevic to convert. It was left to Bowler to cap an impressive performance by strolling through a gap to score under the posts for Pygott to convert. 

The Hawks side played well with the pack led by Hawksworth, Bowler and Tyers laying a firm foundation for the backs to exploit. Pygott, Grey and Jackson were the pick of the backs with the Chris Jackson taking the man of the match. Skipper Hawksworth was a proud recipient of the Harrison cup.

U16s INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY - BELGRADE TROPHY ....... 3rd April 2007

BELGRADE SELECTION U16s v HILLSBOROUGH HAWKS U16s     

VENUE Belgrade, Serbia Sports Center "Inge" 

The Hawks second game saw them returning to Centre “Inge” bearing the bruises and cuts the  hard surface had inflicted. They were soon into their stride as  Jackson exploited a gap from a scrum to register the first try, Pygott’s conversion caused great debate before being disallowed. In the next attack Pygott’s probing kick was chased down by a determined Vivian. Grey scored in identical fashion to the first game followed by Sheard who bravely dived in. Belgrade replied when an unforced error saw stand off Brcik cross unopposed for an unconverted try, a feat he repeated soon after. It was left for Bowler to push the Hillsborough team into a dominant 22-8 half time lead. 

The toll of two games within a short space and poor discipline, which saw first Hawksworth then Jackson dispatched to the sin bin, began to tell. Hawks lifted their game for one last effort with Bowler adding his second, Hawksworth  returned from the bin to power over in a determined fashion. Pygott’s kicking was below its normal standard but the 2/7 return was masked an entertaining display by the touch judges. A resolute defensive display held Belgrade scoreless in a bad tempered second period.

 Hawksworth  was a tired but proud captain when he lifted the Belgrade trophy. His power and the efforts of his front row partner Hunter established a platform for the free running back three of Tyers, Battye and the impressive Bowler to exploit. Pygott schemed and probed in the backs to release Sheard and Grey to strike havoc within the Belgrade defence. A power packed display by Ben Vivian earnt him the man of the match award.

Bernie Hunter

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Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: 18 Ovenden U16’s: 34 …15^th April 2007  

Hawks were on the prowl as they returned from victory in Serbia looking to cement their fourth spot in the league against an eager Ovenden side. 

Ovenden started the match up a gear from the Hawks as they exploited a slow defence to take an early lead. This sprung the Hawks into action as they immediately hit back with Bowler, Battye, Pygott and Vivian amongst many probing holes in the Ovenden defence to leave Hawks with a chance of levelling the scores and they took advantage of this. A penalty conceded by Ovenden looked costly as Bowler strolled over. Pygott converted this. Both sides were equal after this, many including Tyers and Battye stood out in defence with some superb hits. Effort was evident from both sides as they competed to gain more points. Ovenden came out on top as they managed to take advantage of a lapse in the defence to take a slender 6 – 10 lead into half time.

Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: 6 Ovenden U16’s: 10

Hawks were their own first enemies after the whistle as a combination of poor defence and predictable error strewn attack Ovenden built an unassailable lead. This was due to Hawks being naïve from penalties and poor defence. This stoked the embers as Hawks started to launch a fight-back. Hawks attack started to make breaks as the ball was supplied down the line for Sheard to put the ball down in the corner, once again Pygott slotted the extra two points. Bowler received the ball from a penalty and split the Ovenden defence to touch down, Pygott added the extras. Following from this Hawks kept up the pressure and Vivian supplied a superb short ball to Hawksworth to crash over for his first try of the game, once again Pygott converted. Unfortunately for Hawks this was too late as Ovenden time wasted and when Hawks looked like scoring again the whistle blew.

Hawks travel to Drighlington for their final game of the season next week, they hope for a much improved performance to finalise their fourth place

FINAL SCORE: Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: 18 Ovenden U16’s: 34

Man of the Match: TYERS received his award after a tough performance both running and defending with vigour.

 Report by Dominic Hunter

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League Play-off Semi Final

Siddal U16’s: (10) 34 Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: (8) 12 ....22nd April 2007

Hawks had hope in their hearts as they kicked off against Siddal knowing that they could maybe pull of a victory, and have a final waiting for them. 

Hawks were straight in from the start pressuring the Siddal line with unpredictable attack. Eventually this resulted in a Hawks penalty, which Pygott slotted over with ease. The forward pack looked strong as vital ground was being made with Bowler and Hunter grinding out the hard yards. The onslaught continued as Siddal were left stunned as Battye broke through to score. Pygott once again gleefully added the 2 points. With an 8 nil lead Hawks started to realise their hope could become a reality. They were brought crashing back down to earth as Siddal capitalised on some poor defence to break the line and touch down to narrow the score to 6 – 8. As half time approached Hawks looked to hold out, but an interesting referee decision brought an end to this as Siddal took advantage of a penalty and used their attack to gather another try going into half time.

HALF TIME: Siddal U16’s: 10 Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks U16’s: 8

Hawks approached the second half knowing that Siddal held a slender lead, which could be surpassed with the same effort of the first half. Siddal came out all guns blazing with fiery tackles and unpredictable attack. Hawks matched them in parts, with Bowler, Vivan, Hawksworth, Battye and Pierce breaking tackles and making yards. The handling looked good as Pygott, Vivian and Tyers exploited in attack down the wing and with the centres. Hawks defence let them down as Siddal raced through to score a number of tries, with the help of the referee in parts. Siddal started to build up a lead which looked impossible to catch but all was not over yet, as a handling movement down the line ended with Hawksworth supplying an excellent ball for Tyers to build on as under pressure he gave Ashton an inch perfect pass to swoop in at the corner for his first try of the season. Hawks then realised they were still in with a shout. Any hope had been crushed as Hawks made a terrible mistake from kick off and Siddal capitalised by adding one more try to their tally.       

FINAL SCORE: Siddal U16’s: 34 Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks: 12 

Man of the Match: BOWLER deserved his award as he was consistent with strong running and tackling as he has done all season. Hawksworth and Battye were not far behind as they put in a huge amount of work in both attack and defence. Vivian stood out also with some strong darting runs.  

The score does not reflect the performance as Hawks were up against a hard side and an unpredictable referee, yet they gave an excellent account of themselves. The team would like to thank all the management staff especially Julie and Bernie for all their help throughout the season. We will now build a platform for next year and come back stronger and ready for yet another challenge.

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