Manchester Tigers deserve Moor than a Draw

Game 1: Heaton Moor 2v3 MRC
Game 1 saw Myles taking the lead as Captain for the first time this season. The Tigers won the toss and elected to run with the ball. Ollie took it into the first maul only to have it ripped out of his grasp and the Heatons were on their way over the Tigers try line before anyone knew what had happened. From the restart the Tigers took ownership and drove the ball up the park with Josh completely dominating both the forward and back play. The Tiger's forwards had a torrid time all afternoon with the Heatons fighting tooth and nail at the breakdown, but Josh came up with the ball and sprinted over to level the score just before half time.

The Manchester coaches regrouped and brought 6 subs on to revitalise the Tigers attack for the second half. Heaton took the restart and ran out wide only to be stopped dead in their tracks by fearsome Tiger tackles from Joe, James and Charles. This became the theme for the rest of the game, Heaton would rip the ball from the maul only to be turned over by these three great tacklers, all of whom were obviously loving the physicality of the match. As a team, the Tigers defended superbly and this allowed Josh and Harrison to stretch their legs and run in two great tries after taking passes from Luke whose vision and movement was applauded all afternoon. These tries took the match away from the Heatons though their forward pressure kept the tempo going right to the end and resulted in a push over try in the dying seconds.

Game 2: Heaton Moor 4v2 MRC
Game 2 saw Ethan taking on the role of Captain and he truly led from the front. At every maul he wanted the ball and he was determined to keep the game alive. Matt, Ollie and Tom took to the scrum with Tom playing hooker for the first time in a competitive game, whilst the backs were made up of, Ethan, Eddie, 'H' Bomb, Luke, Myles and William. Like the first game, Heaton were over the try line before the Tigers knew they were actually playing a game and the catch up could begin. This half was mainly played in the middle of the pitch with both teams guilty of infringing at the breakdown, though bias would lead me to believe that we were guilty of copying rather than instigating!! The final play of the half saw 'H' Bomb appear with the ball to race over to level the game.

Having given their all, Ollie, 'H' Bomb, Luke, Matt, Myles and Ethan made way for Bill, Charles, Fin, James, Joe and Josh in the second half, and with Josh going over early on for the Tigers second try, the Tigers were in the ascendancy or so we thought. Right from the restart Heaton broke free and using the touchline as a guide, they powered towards the Manchester line. Frantic defending from all the Tigers led to the ball being halted mere inches from our line, but when Manchester tried to clear their line with a solo run, the ball was ripped out in the ensuing maul and Heaton were over to level the game 2v2. Going into the last quarter of the game, it was nip and tuck, end to end, line to line rugby. Both sides defended stoutly but with two breakaway tries, Heaton came out on top in the last few minutes.

Today's totally awesome Tigers were (tries in brackets): Bill, Charles, Eddie, Ethan, Fin, Harrison(2), James, Joe, Josh(3), Luke, Matt, Myles, Ollie, William and Thomas. The Player of the Day trophy was awarded to Josh for his tackling, tries and leadership skills along with his total determination to be at the centre of everything whilst remembering that he is part of a team foremost.

Next week it's back to Grove Park for training, where we will be paying particular attention to developing our rucking skills. Think long and strong and we will be there or there about come the Spring tour. With that in mind, can I have a show of hands for taking the Tigers to the Scarborough Tournament at Easter 2012 please. Thanks, Ian