Blood, Guts and Determination!

The lads were in a very relaxed mood, a little worrying for the coaches!

Wilmslow kicked off the first half, and pretty much the first twenty minutes they were camped in the Under 16's half. Some great defense however was keeping them out. It shows that all the training is paying off and the lads were responding well to the pressure being exerted.

Wilmslow were doing well in the set piece and it was taking time for the pack to settle into their work. Eventually all the pressure told and Wilmslow went over for the first score of the game, conversion missed 5-0 to the home team.

This seemed to get the lads going and it wasn't long before the black and whites responded. A great burst through the mid-field from Thomas Shallcross led to a Try, converted by Matt Walker. 5-7

Shortly after the referee took offence to Henry Nash who was awarded a yellow card. The rest of the half continued in the same vein, with both teams trying to exert dominance over each other. It was also good to note that the Under 16's defense held out with only 14 players on the pitch.

HT 5-7

The second half started off much the same as the first, the Black and Whites making uncharacteristic mistakes and not keeping hold of the most valuable thing on the pitch, the ball! This led to another unconverted Wilmslow try! 10-7

Everyone was working hard, but we were letting the pressure get to us and some of the decision making was making things worse.

A great try saving tackle by Matt Walker unfortunately led to a serious injury to him.

The pressure eventually led to a Wilmslow penalty 10 meters from our try line, with their big lads ready Wilmslow opted to tap and go. The Under 16's too slow to react and meet them led to a soft try. Again the conversion was missed 15-7 to the home team.

With the game slipping away and some stern words from the coaches, the lads responded. We kicked off and a mistake by the Wilmslow receiver put the pressure on Wilmslow. The forwards picked up the intensity and we managed to retain possession.

This pressure told and we managed to get the ball out wide to Gabe Machin to score on the wing, conversion missed. 15-12

Game on!

Now I'm not sure whether the big Wilmslow forwards were tiring or our lads had just stepped it up, but we were retaining more ball and trying to run it. Forwards and backs now linking well.

Wilmslow were slipping off tackles and we were making ground. Some great team play and moving the ball led to Jake Threadgold getting the ball wide to Gabe Machin who stepped his opposite man and eluded the scramble defense to go over the line and dot it down nearer the posts, Calum Meakin kicked the extras 15-19!

We then had a nervy two or three minutes as we ran the clock down for a great victory. To come back from 15-7 down shows how far this squad has come, a few seasons ago our heads would have dropped and we would have lost.

Well done to both teams for what was a great advert for junior rugby, we wish Wilmslow well for the rest of the season.

Good news that after Matt Walker was taken to hospital no breaks were found, just heavy ligament, tendon damage. We wish Matt a speedy recovery, and hope your back on the field of play soon.

Next week we travel to Lymm for our preliminary round Cheshire Cup game, should be another cracking game.