Manchester Tigers Deliver Ferocious Festival Fun

What a long day for the Manchester Tigers and how hard they fought in every game they played. To a man, they were a team and nobody took their foot off the gas all day long or let their team mates down. Every time they were asked for a little bit more, they delivered. Heroes, every one of them, who did themselves, their coaches and their parents proud on a day of hard and fast rugby at Grove Lane.

On paper, our Pool looked competitive and in reality it was exactly that, regardless of some of the high scores achieved. Every team in every match had their chances, it was just that final illusive pass or broken tackle that made the differences in each half.

Game 1 saw us up against Wilmslow, who we knew would be a handful, having won the Stockport Festival the previous week. It probably didn't help that we have a team full of X factor fans who all seemed to have late Saturday nights,(what are we going to do when they discover girls?)!! Wilmslow won the toss and from the outset we were on the back foot. Though the boys defended stoutly, we were always up against it and two tries either side of half time put paid to an early upset against the Pool favourites.

Game 2 was a much closer affair and one we were looking forward to as we had beaten Blackburn at the Rochdale Festival in our last Tag outing as Under 8s. Well, it was gripping, end to end rugby, with both sides up for the win. The teams came in at half time level and neither side looked to have found a weakness in their opposition. The second half was again closely contended and the deadlock did not look like being broken however long the game went on. Suddenly, with fast ball through the hands, Blackburn were on the attack and with only seconds to spare they went over in the corner to secure their first win of the day, leaving the Tigers still searching for theirs.

Game 3 saw us up against our old friends from Waterloo. We have enjoyed success against them over the years but also created a good bond between the two sides with enjoyment always at the forefront of our game plan. This match was again all of that and more with the Tigers showing their intent right from the off. By half time the Tigers were well on their way to securing that first illusive victory and the final score reflected the effort put in by the whole team. The energy and buzz created by this win really set out the standard for the whole squad and gave them the impetus to move forward with conviction into a must win final Pool game against Altrincham Kersal (AK).

The last game had to be a victory and the bigger the margin, the better for us as we were really now at the last gasp hotel in trying to get out of what had become a three horse race for second place in this Pool. Blackburn had won 2 lost 1, AK had won 2 and lost 1 and we had won 1 and lost 2 so needed the win if we were to get anything from our efforts. Not only did we have to beat AK, but beat them convincingly and then look to Wilmslow to do us a favour in beating Blackburn. Well, what happened in those last two games would define our day!!

Game 4 was a must win affair against AK, who were also in need of the victory to secure their trip into the semi finals. What a game it was, with both sides exerting pressure from the first whistle. The Tigers however, were the first to taste success with Will taking a final pass to go over for Manchester's first try of the game. When 'H' went over for our second, it looked as is AK were not going to be able to come back, but come back they did to go in at half time, 2v1 down to the Tigers. At the restart, 'H' again went over to stretch our lead to 2 and give us a great chance of progressing. When AK went over in the dieing seconds though, everything depended on a Wilmslow win in the last Pool game to decide between ourselves and Blackburn, who would take the second spot into the Plate competition! With a 4v0 victory over Blackburn, Wilmslow did us a huge favour and on we went into the semi final against our old foe from Warrington, who we had drawn with just the previous weekend away.

The Plate semi final was just a blur of fast paced and hard tackling Tigers, determined to get passed Warrington and into a likely final against our old rivals, Lymm. The Tigers did not disappoint and a 1v0 victory was enough to see us in the Final. Would the Tigers still have enough in the tank to take on and beat the mighty Lymm?

The pre-match team talk centred around every boys chance to play in the final, with the knowledge that regardless of whether they did or did not, their own personal contributions to the team had got them all to this point and every one of them was to be proud of a great days rugby whatever the outcome. The coaches were all very proud of the boys efforts and endeavours and wanted the whole team to know it.

Lymm were always going to be a massive ask after a full day of rugby and the Tigers can be proud of the way they played in that final. Two breakaway tries in the first half separated the teams and though the Tigers nullified the Lymm attack in the second half, they were not able to capitalise on this and break the Lymm defensive line, though they tried again and again to breach the opposition try line.

The Tigers lined up to collect their hard earned Runners up medals which were presented to them by Sale Shark and England heroes, Andy Sheridan and Henry Fourie who had come down to watch this team of future rugby stars. The Sharks were very pleased with what they had witnessed and both enjoyed the combative spirit, that was obvious for all to see, from the young Tigers at the start of their rugby journey.

Well done to all the Tigers who attended (tries in brackets):
Alex, Bill, Charles, Eddie, Ethan, Fin, Harrison(2), James(1), Joe, Josh(1), Luke D(2), Matt, Myles, Ollie, Thomas, William(1).
(I missed who scored the semi final try as I had to marshal another game so please let me know and I will add this detail).

ALL THE TIGER'S RESULTS:

Pool matches:

Manchester 0v4 Wilmslow
Manchester 0v1 Blackburn
Manchester 4v0 Waterloo
Manchester 3v2 Altrincham Kersal

Plate Semi Final:

Manchester 1v0 Warrington

Plate Final:

Manchester 0v2 Lymm