Manchester Bounce Back At Hoppers

Stats courtesy of your roving reporter, Andrea Johnson>>>

Manchester found themselves three scores down even before they had chance to settle into this game. Although three breakaway tries would have broken the spirit of a lesser team, an outstanding team performance saw Manchester edge out our friends from Hoppers.

The last time we visited Preston was for a memorable victory at the end of last season when our Under 15s clinched the North West Merit League. Many of that team have now moved on to Under 18 rugby with just Jess Johnson and Georgina Noble remaining. This time, players from Glossop and Northwich linked up with the Manchester girls and an equally impressive win was eventually achieved, edging out Hoppers by ten tries to eight.

At the end of the first quarter however, Manchester faced an uphill task with Izzy Worsley having pulled just one try back from that disastrous opening, Manchester still trailing 15-5. Hoppers started the next quarter well, restoring their 15 point lead before Manchester replied through Jess Johnson, but then pulled away again to finish with a healthy 25-10 half time advantage.

Manchester regrouped at the break and came out with much more belief in themselves. Tries from Izzy and Robyn McLaren put Manchester back in touch before Hoppers scored again. A flurry of tries followed from Izzy (again), Amelia Dauncey and Libby Finn which actually gave Manchester a 35-30 lead with a quarter still to play.

Preston were rocking but certainly not finished yet, recovering their lead with two tries to make it 40-35 to our hosts. A strong finish however saw the balance swing back towards Manchester with Jess, Robyn and Izzy crossing the line to end the match with a fantastic 50-40 win.

The county’s Under 15 resources remain stretched, partly because of injury, and it was with some relief to see Izzy fit again after a frustrating few weeks on the sidelines. She marked her return with an impressive four try tally.

Unfortunately the good news that Izzy and Casey Thompson are now back still left other key players unavailable. Annie Mills was a late withdrawal after suffering a hockey injury on Saturday and she was missed, especially with Ellie Davidson, our other scrum half also temporarily out of action. Everyone would also like to wish new recruit Jess Davids a speedy recovery after her impressive start to the season.

We now look forward to a league weekend when all of our players will be available on the same day! In the meantime the whole squad should be proud of a great performance, this time rewarded by a narrow win.