Brilliant Weekend of Rugby

The weekend saw 18 players from the Under 9's go on tour to sunny Blackpool with a friendly fixture at Fylde on the Saturday representing the warm up ahead of the Preston Grasshoppers Festival taking place the following day.

Travelling with the Under 11's and staying at a local Caravan Park we all had a great opportunity to celebrate together how far the players had come on over the season, and everyone seemed to have a great weekend.

The Fixture at Fylde on the Saturday was really enjoyable with two closely matched squads playing some great rugby. All boys managed to get some game time with the two matches played both ending up in draws - a fair reflection on the abilities of both clubs.

The Sunday saw the squad head over to Preston Grasshoppers, and following a late drop out form the tournament we were able to field 2 evenly balanced squads, ensuring plenty of game time for all. Both squads were placed in very strong Pools with other entrants on the day including Sefton, Warrington, Waterloo, Kendal, Fylde and Preston Grasshoppers.

It was a credit to the boys that they saved some of their best rugby for this festival, and whilst one squad lost their opening game they came back strong to ensure they made it through to the semi-finals coming second in their Pool. The other squad managed to win all of their pool fixtures, winning their Pool and leading to the nightmare situation of a semi-final between the two Manchester squads.

The semi-final was a fiercely contested match with all players putting in their all, and there was plenty of emotion showed at the end by both the winning and defeated team.

Unfortunately, the emotion of the semi-final seemed to impact the boys who made the final, and despite a strong start the team ended up losing the final to a strong Warrington outfit. However, the runners up trophy for the boys was well deserved.