Manchester 29 - 0 Widnes

Manchester welcomed Widnes to a cold and very wet Grove Park on Sunday. Having narrowly defeated the visitors in a Lancashire Cup match earlier in the season but very aware that their improving form had carried them to the 1/4 finals Manchester expected a tough encounter. It seemed as though the half-term holidays of several players would hinder Manchester cause but as it transpired a number of the boys more then stepped up to the mark to record what was in the end a fairly comfortable victory against a Widnes side who showed great spirit and simply refused to give up.

To say that the parts of the pitch were atrocious would make them sound better then they were. But for the determination of both squads to get some rugby played, having lost so much this season to bad weather, and the agreement of the ref to blow up early in certain areas so as to mitigate any risk of drowning the game would not have been played.

Manchester started off the brighter of the two sides and despite the conditions tried to play an expansive game but the wet muddy ball and wind conspired so as to result in several knock-ons - in a few weeks time such endeavour may be better rewarded. Though not quite having it all their own way in the rucks and mauls the Manchester forwards quickly established a strangle-hold on all first phase possession winning both lineout and scrum regardless of whose ball it was. Manchester moved in front when from a scrum on the left of the field the ball was moved along the line to Max. Running hard and straight from Wirral's 22 he was held 2m short of the line but showing great strength he burst from the resulting maul, still in possession of the ball, to splash over the line under the Widnes posts. Louis adding the extra points. After 10minutes of play a long pass finally stuck to Ollie's hands on the opposition 10m line. Ollie then embarked on a trade-mark run, beating several would be defenders to score near the posts, Louis adding the extra points.

Having seen his partner secure the u13 "Most Embarrassing Parent" award last season, on the 11th minute our ref (John Murphy) made his bid for the 2011 award and to keep it in the family. Stepping back from a ruck he was felled by a prostrate Widnes player and landed flat on his back in one of the many pools of standing water - reminiscent of an upturned turtle a flurry of flaying limbs soon saw him upright and following play with a "say nothing and perhaps they didn't see" look on his face…..yeah right!

Having stopped laughing Manchester eventually turned their dominance of possession into more points when after marching up field and stringing several good phases of play together Tom burst through a stretched defence and raced to the line to end the half Manchester 19-0 Widnes.

With conditions underfoot getting worse by the minute, and players on both sides clearly suffering from the regular dunking in pools of freezing mud Manchester continued to try and move the ball. One such movement resulted in Ollie winning the "Splash of the Day" award when while running full tilt he was tackled into an enormous puddle displacing several times his own mass in water. Except for the odd lapse in concentration the Manchester forwards continued to deliver ample ball and as the teams tired Manchester's broken play running and off-loading rose to the fore. An intricate passage of play down the left when the ball was kept alive through several pairs of hands saw Tom hitting the line at pace to score his second. As the game was drawing to a close Louis got his opportunity to run at a broken defence and by carrying the ball in two hands forced the defender to stay with his support runners, Louis doesn’t need to be asked twice to run for the line and glided through the opening to finish the scoring at Manchester 29 - 0 Widnes.

Manchester are no longer a team to give up points easily and Manchester's defence continues to improve with several players making telling tackles all around the field. This spirit was exemplified by Callum who manfully stood his ground against a large Widnes player hurtling towards the line from a close range tap penalty - great effort.

As a spectacle the game may have been lacking but the enthusiasm of all the players made it an enjoyable game to watch. Having been asked to impress their coaches prior to the Lancashire Cup game this weekend several players turned in their best performance of the season and have given the selectors food for thought as we enter the knock stages of the Lancashire Plate competition.