We arrived in Holmsund (Northern Sweden) after 3 coach journeys and 2 flights; the travelling was probably the only downside to the whole trip. We trained on a nice grass pitch in the village of Holmsund and due to the low temperatures, we were able to train twice a day and also do some theory work in the evenings on the white boards in the hotel.

Both squads(Under 15 and Under 18) played three matches. Bearing in mind, though, that their Swedish opposition are two thirds of the way through their season and we are only just begininng, the matches were very tough.  The Under 15's were also always playing against under 16 age groups, so they lost their 3 matches but they were never disheartened. They worked very hard and their defending became very good. Their second match was a 0-2 defeat, and although the last match was 0-4, they only conceded one goal in the second half of the match.

The 1st XI faired slightly better. They played 2 mens teams and 1 youth team. They lost 3-6 in their first match to a mens team. They then beat an under 18 team 5-0, and they drew their last match against a mens team 3-3 after leading 3-0.

We showed great progress on the training ground and the players have started to learn their new system of play. We now have to build upon the experience gained from these matches to ensure that we have an enjoyable season.
 

A long journey starting at 7am from Shrewsbury finally ended at 1am as we crawled into bed at the Hotel Vasterbacken, Umea.  A little extra spice was added with a frantic battle with the traffic jams of Stockholm to reach our second flight.  We made the boarding gate with 5 minutes to spare only to be turfed off the plane again to wait in the terminal for a spare part to arrive from Oslo.  True Salopian spirit and a 110 Krona food voucher each from the airline meant that the hardship was soon forgotten. 

A hearty Swedish breakfast was followed by a decent training session and a chance to get the journey out of our legs.  Sadly the U15s picked up 2 injuries and we hope they make swift recoveries. 

U15s

During our first match as an Under15 team with an outstanding record the previous season we played at the Umea arena against an Under 16 team playing on home soil. The side played extremely well despite a heavy defeat against a strong opposition. On a wide pitch playing 40 minutes each way going in at half time with a 2-0 deficit was a pleasing start to the tour. We battled hard again in the second half but we tired out therefore conceding a few late goals. We were extremely happy with our passing and movement on the day but with Gittins a lone striker, we had fewer chances than we would of liked. We hope to carry all the positives out the game through the rest of the tour and season.

1st XI

The first match of the season always presents a challenge when playing with others who you have had no previous experience with, and even more so when playing an adult team. However our first game did show a lot of promise. We came up against an Umea ‘youth’ XI – one of the opposition playing in fact had his child watching. The match started with a high tempo, leading to an early goal for Shrewsbury. Roy Chatterjee played the ball onto Sam Welti who put a ball through to Jack Hudson-Williams, finishing the move with a well placed left-footed strike in the bottom corner. From such an early goal Shrewsbury’s confidence rose and we managed to hold on to the lead for around 20minutes, however Umea were able break through and equalise, through a wonder strike in the top corner. These wonder strikes seemed to be a favourite among the Swedish and they ended up putting two more in the top corner, and a powerful bottom corner finish due to a slight lapse in concentration from an inexperienced Shrewsbury back four. Yet these last three goals were slightly controversial as they were all scored after the 40minute mark (the referee mistakenly believing it to be 45 each way). On another note, Henry Lewis kept their score to 4-2 as he made a god-like clearance off the line after their 6ft 7 striker beat John Wells, who otherwise had a very convincing game.

The second half started well for Shrewsbury. Charlie Pilkington played it onto Max Pragnell who then made a good run beating his man, then passing it onto Roy Chatterjee in the box, who was then fouled and a penalty was given. As per usual Roy happily took up his mark and slotted it into the bottom right corner. Umea then immediately went on the offensive and scored another before Jack Hudson-Williams latched onto a stunning lofted through ball by Mark Prescott, then confidently placed the ball into the bottom corner. Shrewsbury then defended very well for a long period, keeping their shape until a scramble in the penalty area lead Umea to another goal. Shrewsbury had another chance near then end where a hand ball gave us another penalty.  Astonishingly Roy Chatterjee failed from the spot giving the keeper a chance to get a good hand on his effort to a saved penalty.

Overall a very promising performance from a young new Shrewsbury 1st XI side. 

• Daily Telegraph 13th August 2010: 'Teamwork helps Wales strike gold'
• Shropshire Star 4th August 2010: 'Six golds as school rowers shine'
• Monmouthshire Beacon 11th August 2010: 'Rival schools pull together '

Following on from the previous successes this holidays in France and at Strathclyde, four boys from our 1st VIII joined up with some of the 1st VIII crew from Monmouth School, and finding some rather tenuous Welsh connections, they represented Wales at  the Home International Regatta

The Home International Regatta is an annual event between the four countries of the British Isles.  Each country takes it in turns to host the event (which may be held on water outside the country), and this year it was held on the picturesque lake at Inniscarra, in Cork.  Events are held for both men and women at junior (under 18) and senior levels.

The Shrewsbury four of Richard Hawley-Jones, James Scott, Ben Spencer Jones and Fiennes Davey, joined by cox Holly from Monmouth, made up half of the junior men's team for Wales with the other half of the team coming from Monmouth School.  The Shrewsbury part of the team provided two fours, a single scull and a quad, and ended up with another three gold medals and a second place. The boys from Monmouth provided an eight, a pair and a double scull, adding a further gold and two second places. Together they put the Welsh team onto the winners’ scoresheet for the first time since the regatta started in 1962.

Wales selector Robin Fletcher said "I am delighted with the result. What started as quite serious rivalry between them last weekend at Strathclyde turned into a close knit and effective team. It was a very exciting weekend."
 

Last weekend saw the coxless J16 four (Fred Day (R), Sam Lapage (R), Rupert Chitty (M) and Tommy Marshall (SH)) in action at Nantes as part of the GB Junior Rowing team in the match against France, accompanied by Paul Manser. In a straight final, rowed on a wide river on a hot morning over about 1500m, they led the French from the start, opening out a commanding 3 length lead as they crossed the line. It was a convincing win. Sadly, though, the overall 'team' prize went to France.

They then returned to Shrewsbury for a day or two of rest, before being joined by the remainder of the first VIII; rowing as two IVs they had elected to enter the GB Rowing National Championships Regatta, this year held at Strathclyde and accompanied by Philip Lapage. The crews were kindly assisted by Robin Fletcher (Monmouth School, Wales junior rowing co-ordinator) in the transport of boats going north. The same four that went to France in the J16 event competed in the Open Junior 4 event (taking on others up to 18 years of age),  for which they had an easy win in the semifinal on Saturday, and a tough race in the final. Shrewsbury won the final by 4 seconds, having been  pushed hard all the way by - Monmouth (the faster half of their first VIII), though they were in fact down off the start by half a length, and had to battle back inch by inch, a seat at a time, to break out to clear water by the 1000m. Monmouth then raced for home from 300m to go, but RSSBC upped their game and responded handsomely. For them it was "one of the toughest races we have had all season - Monmouth never gave up".

The coxed four (Richard Hawley-Jones (G), James Scott (M), Ben Spencer Jones (PH) and Fiennes Davey (G)) were joined by Holly (a Monmouth cox) and they had a straight final in the Open Junior coxed fours event. What a different race they had! The opposition never even saw them; from a half length lead after the first 21 strokes they opened out length after length, rowing at a steady but immensely effective 32 strokes a minute in a strong tailwind, and they crossed the line a full 23 seconds ahead of their nearest rival.

So, double gold for the J16 coxless over two weekends, and another gold for the J18 coxed boat.

Most of the boys have a Welsh connection sufficient to qualify them to row for Wales next weekend at the Home Countries International, in Cork (England vs Ireland, Scotland, Wales).

The historic town of Nantes on the River Loire was the setting for this year’s match between the young guns of Great Britain and France.

This 30 year old event is usually the first time that the athletes gather to compete on an international level, and has been the starting point for many of our Olympians’ and World Champions’ rowing careers.

Shrewsbury’s J16 Coxless four came to the event as national champions, having defeated all the other competitors at National Schools and previous trials. After 2 days’ pre-race practice, the word in the team was that the Shrewsbury Crew was the strongest crew in the team.

On the day this was proved to be correct with the four, (L to R in the medals picture) Rupert Chitty (M), Fred Day (R), Sam Lapage (R) and Tommy Marshall (SH). being much too strong for their French opposition. The win of over 3 lengths was the most comprehensive victory by the British team and helped the boys’ team to a 5/2 victory!

Congratulations to all!

• Shropshire Star 9th July 2010: 'Rowing brothers are just oar-some'

Monday:
Shrewsbury 303-8 (David Lloyd 114)
Oundle 234 all out (Henry Lewis 4 for 43)
Shrewsbury won by 69 runs

Tuesday:
Hilton College (South Africa) 239 all out ( James Aston 3-20, David Lloyd 3-43, Stephen Barnard 2-22, Henry Lewis 2-37)
Shrewsbury 241-4 (Ben Williams 68*, Ben Price 87*)
Shrewsbury win by 4 wickets

Wednesday:
Shrewsbury 209 all out (B. Price 62, S.Barnard 39, J Hudson Williams 26)
Eton College 211 for 4
Shrewsbury lost by 6 wickets
 

Shrewsbury fell just short of retaining the Silk Trophy at Eton College this week. Despite winning their first two matches comfortably Shrewsbury did not bat well enough to win the trophy on the final day but can still be congratulated on a very successful season.