All Whites Colts Selected For Devon!

To seal off a storming season playing throughout the successful Colts campaign, first year, U17 players Albert Dowse, Archie Johnson, Ashton Goulden, Cally Westaway and Leo Hodges set off at the beginning of May to trial for the Devon County U17 squad. All five showcased their skills and strengths well against players all frenziedly vying for each other’s spot in a 35-player squad. From the 85 trialists, it was bitter news that Ash’s half-back genius was not appreciated by the eyes of the selectors in the same light that the other four were. Cally, Archie, Albert and Leo were all successful in making the first “cut”. Facing them was to be a 3-fixture program over the remaining Sundays in May, with a bonus weekly training location of Rackerhays!

All four Colts have been selected to play in all of the fixtures, playing half a match each against Dorset & Wiltshire (39-14 W) and Somerset (60-10 W), both deemed as trials to see where on the pitch players gelled the most with their team mates who are adversaries during the rest of the year’s weekends. It is worth noting, though, that for these lads, so many of them play midweek with each other in educational settings such as Exeter College Academy or Ivybridge Academy that gelling together is not proving a problem…! Results have been strong and Cally (the only pure club-grown talent not playing mid-week in college among them) has scored in both fixtures so far.

Training intensity has built through the month, with the fixture against Middlesex being seen as the sternest test of the three. Consequently, the matchday squad has been honed to just 22 players to meet the London visitors at Ivybridge this Sunday. Very pleasingly, all four of the Newton U17s have made this final draft; Albert is starting prop and Archie, Cally and Leo are rearing to finish off the second half from the bench.