It was a sad start to the proceedings though, as before kick off the teams and supporters stood for a minute in memory of a fellow U18 Colt from the NW League, tragically taken at such a young age.

The opening exchanges saw C&N make a strong start, keeping Macc’ in their own half and starved of the ball. After a number of C&N drives through the forwards, getting the ball wide still found no way through though, as Macc’ defended hard. It was then Macc’s turn to get field position and mount their attack on the C&N line, but defence stood strong with some big hits, not all to Sir’s liking. Like C&N though, Macc’ could not take advantage and went back up the field empty handed.

As the game moved into the second quarter, solid work up the middle won C&N a penalty on the Macc’ 22 that Joe Waterhouse kicked for a lineout, 5 metres out. Mathew Pickering at hooker hit his target Charlie Grinnel, the forwards combined well in the maul and after three pick and drives Jacob Belfield-Upton and his forward mates forced their way over for the opening try. A kick from just infield on the 22 was no problem for Toby Evans and C&N lead 0 - 7

Macc weren’t in the mood for lying down though, they quickly re grouped and put pressure on C&N to clear their own lines. The C&N exit strategy didn’t go to plan, the result leaving Macc’ to run in a try and cut the C&N lead to 5 – 7 at the end of the first half.

The second half settled into a tough exchange, as both teams worked hard to play in the correct part of the pitch and also try and get the ball wide when possible. With mistakes creeping in and the scrum count mounting, C&N kept the pressure on Macc’ and eventually took advantage, with Evans taking three points for an offside penalty to see C&N lead 5 – 10.

As the pace of the game took hold and with players rotating in of the bench, C&N worked well as a team to communicate the changes and adapt. Special mention for all the hard-working forwards, especially Kian Quinn who made a strong contribution when he rotated into the front row for his Colts debut.

As the clock ran into the last quarter, the two teams exchanged attack’s without success, before a final penalty against Macc’ was taken by Toby Evans, to see C&N take the win 5 – 13

Big thanks to Macclesfield RUFC for making us so welcome, especially the team in the kitchen for the fantastic home cooked food. We wish the Macc' lads well for the rest of their season.

Next Sunday (the 9th) we are at home for our game against Sedgley Park RUFC Colts - as we enter the second half of our Preliminary series, can we make it 4 wins from 5?