Kings of Kirkby!

A titanic effort in the final saw the Tigers defeat an imposing Liverpool side by a single score with the last play of the game.

The Sevens came of age in that sensational final, a crowd of nearly 100 witnessing a herculean fightback from a Tigers side that would not be beaten.

3-2 down at half time in the final, with a draw seeing the title go to Collegiate, Manchester’s tiny titans found a belief and determination to win that overwhelmed a Liverpool side hitherto confident of victory.

Captained superbly by Josh, all nine squad members played their part, refusing to be cowed in a bruising encounter with Collegiate, who had swept Manchester aside just hours earlier in a very physical group game.

2 second half tries, alongside a shutout of the Liverpool line, gave the Tigers a 4-3 victory that heralded scenes of jubilation with parents, coaches, U8’s and U9’s rushing on field to join the victorious Sevens in an impromptu party.

The proud Sevens took their places alongside the victorious 8’s and 9’s who were also champions at the weekend to seal a perfect weekend for Manchester’s minis and juniors, with only a single defeat over the weekend between them.

The Sevens’ first game was against the host club, Kirby Lonsdale and they wasted no time in showing their intentions with an early try putting Manchester on the back foot from kick off.

Throughout the first half the Tigers were playing catch up and were lucky not to go in at half time 2 tries down to an inspired home side. After the break, The Manchester came out with renewed vigor and each team member knew his responsibility.

Josh led from the front and fed some excellent passes out wide that the team capitalized on immediately, bringing the scores level from the restart. It was now neck and neck with both sides playing fast, running rugby and making the most of their possession.

With seconds remaining Kirby Lonsdale lost the ball and Luke was again on hand to run in the winner after a clever pick up and layoff from Eddie.

Next up were the much fancied U8’s of Watsonians, from Scotland. They had not fielded a U7’s side, but brought their younger 8’s into the tournament. Unfazed by this larger team, The Tigers went try for try in a competitive encounter that allowed both sides to leave the pitch with honours shared at full time.

Day 1 finished with The Tigers needing to win their first game of Day 2 to secure their place in the final after careful monitoring of all the day’s results.

Day 2 arrived and the crowd could feel the sense of purpose amongst both The Tigers players and the coaches. Something magical was on the cards and nothing was going to get in the way, nothing!

Furness were the unfortunate challengers in that first Sunday match. The Tigers had played them on Saturday in a hastily arranged friendly, when Sedgley Park withdrew their team and The Tigers knew that they had the measure of the Barrow side.

Right from the kickoff The Tigers roared into top gear, showing total supremacy and giving no quarter as they quickly gained a healthy lead. It was the same in the second half with tries coming in from Josh, Eddie, Alex and Luke. The Tigers finishing the match with a 8-4 victory.

The last group match before the final was against Liverpool Collegiate who had showed impressive form on Day 1 but had lost a close game against Watsonians, which had given The Tigers hope of victory and a final against Furness if they could beat the Merseysiders.

Maybe The Tigers were confident of reaching the final, but Liverpool were not about to make it easy. They came out fast, very fast, their star players combining to totally dominate the first half of a very fiery contest.

The Tigers came in 4-1 down at half time, pole axed by the ferocity of the Liverpudlian onslaught. The coaches rallied the team and gave them a second half game plan that just might have turned the tide.

The Tigers came out fighting. Ollie, Ben, Miles and George toughing it out in the close confines of the middle of the pitch, tagging where they could and supporting the runners with good passes out wide.

Josh, Eddie and Luke ran hard to break the Liverpool line and they suffered for their endeavour. All three were manhandled, thrown to the ground, pushed out of bounds. Liverpool used every trick they could to try and subdue The Tigers trio of runners, but to less success than the first half.

The match finished with a 6-4 victory for Liverpool and secured their place in the final against us, but The Tigers had won the second half 3-2 and given Liverpool food for thought going into the final.

As the final approached, the coaches gave their team talk, urging The Tigers to straighten up their running and to run through and over the Liverpool taggers.

Going wide had proved painful in the group game with Liverpool able to use their physical approach to non-contact rugby, much to the Manchester coaches’ frustration.

As with the group match, Liverpool came out fast and aggressive but there was also a steely determination on the faces of all The Tigers for this match.

The starting 7 were, Josh, Ollie, Luke, Alex, Eddie, Ewan and Ben and they all knew what they had to do, harrying from the start, taking tag after tag to peg back the Liverpool hordes as they looked to overrun the Manchester flanks.

Again and again they came close to the try line only to be tagged by one or other of the mighty Tigers. The crowd were magnificent in their support though and first blood went to Manchester with Ollie feeding through to Josh who danced through the Liverpool defence which creaked and groaned but held. Josh quickly off loaded to Luke who got the pass away to Eddie for him to go over unopposed to open the scoring.

But Liverpool were straight back into the game and a fast breakaway quickly leveled the tie. Liverpool dominated this early possession and ran The Tigers ragged in their efforts to take the lead.

Both sides scored straight from the restarts to take the game to 2-2 with Luke being Manchester's scorer. With the referee being more and more challenged by the Liverpool tactics it was nip and tuck throughout the remainder of the half. With the last play of the half, Liverpool broke through our centre to run in their third try and take the lead going in at half time.

The Tigers were out of the blocks early in the second half. George and Miles both came on at half time to add fresh legs to the team and more steel to the centre of the park, where the coaches knew the game would be won or lost.

The Tigers kicked off the second half and Josh took a quick start to run at Liverpool. Liverpool tagged and tagged but with every hit they took from the runners the more space they were conceding to The Tigers.

The tide was turning and the Tigers could sense it. Liverpool were hanging back from the Manchester runners, knowing that they would take a hit if they went in for tags.

They didn’t like it and their talisman player, Jake, who had been giving a masterclass in tagging, had begun to back off, feeding the doubt in Liverpool’s otherwise stout defence.

Even so, Liverpool regained possession after 7 solid tags and drove forward once more towards the Manchester line. Josh and Luke were everywhere, the whole team throwing themselves after tags time and time again.

Ewan kept up the pace in the centre and got in amongst Liverpool to unnerve their passing players. This led to Miles sweeping up on a dropped ball and off loading to Josh who took the ball out wide to level the scores 3-3.

Both sides were now running on adrenaline with the crowd adding to the gladiatorial atmosphere of an already emotional encounter. Liverpool charged again and again, The Tigers tagged and tagged with the seventh tag secured by Eddie just in front of The Tigers try line.

At this point Miles and Ben had to come off due to injury and Alex and Ollie came back into the mix for the final thrust towards victory. The team knew it, the coaches knew it and the fans knew it, Liverpool were on the back foot, their stars had been quietened, their spirits had been broken, but still they threw themselves after our brave boys taking tags but unable to stop the Magnificent 7s from passing superbly to drive the ball ever nearer the Liverpool try line.

Ollie ran at their line only to be tagged feet away, he turned and got his pass away to Eddie, who fed the ball to Luke who exchanged passes with Josh before darting across in the corner to score, even as the referee raised his whistle to blow for time.

The maturity, pride and teamwork of the Sevens was a joy to witness and coaches and parents alike head into summer training with renewed enthusiasm for the season ahead.

The magnificent Sevens at Kirkby Lonsdale were (tries scored in brackets):

Josh (12), George, Ewan, Eddie (5), Alex (4), Ollie, Luke (8), Thunder Ben and Miles.