Manchester U12's 15 Bowden U12's 15

A very, very tough and physical battle with Bowden ended 3 tries all, with stout defence (mainly on or very close to the try line), and opportunistic sniping by Ciaren and Walshy the main contributors.
From the sidelines the main differences between the sides were the speed by which the Bowden backs came up onto the Manchester backs, denying them space and the ability to clear their lines, and handling. Bowden’s handling was far superior to Manchester, who dropped the ball on numerous occasions, keeping themselves hemmed into their own half.
That’s the negatives over with – Manchester’s defence was incredible, repelling wave after wave of Bowden attack’s – holding up on the line, and forcing Bowden into errors when they could almost sniff the try line.
The first quarter ended 0-1 to Bowden after they camped in the Manchester half. Manchester started to pressure Bowden in their own half straight from the second quarter restart – Ciaren picked up from a ruck to run the ball in from the half way line. More handling errors from Manchester enabled Bowden to add 2 more scores to reach half time at 1-3.
The third quarter was a very even affair as Manchester started to believe they could get back into the game – and Walshy provided one of his typical ‘leg pumping’ drives to go over in the corner. The last quarter saw Bowden up the tempo looking for the killer blow. A seemingly innocent run and tackle from Manchester culminated in a ruck, and the ball just lay there – Walshy needed no second invitation, and his pick up and run to the line gave Manchester a 3-3 scoreline which they held onto, and even threatened a winner themselves towards the end.
Apart from the scoring, my memories of the game include Laurence getting stuck in (only 4 weeks after an operation), and Josh F ‘nailing’ guys (literally) twice his size.
Aldwynians next – great performance, though.