Due to injuries and other commitments, Manchester had only eight girls available for selection to face a very large home squad. It was therefore agreed to play a seven-a-side fixture, on a reduced pitch with two fifteen minute halves.

This format was certainly going to be a test of the Manchester’s girls’ stamina with Tyldesley having a packed bench against Manchester’s one ‘spare’ player.

With Rachael Jones on brass band duty for this special day, Casey Thompson, Manchester’s ‘go to’ versatility player once more stepped up to the plate to play prop this time, alongside regular front rowers Jess Davids and Caitlin Knight.

Manchester started well with sustained pressure on the home side, marshalled forward once again by Jess Johnson, playing scrum half. The match was well balanced in the opening exchanges but it was Tyldesley that eventually made the breakthrough for the first try.

Tyldesley then had “the rub of the green” and were allowed to gain some momentum resulting in two quick tries being conceded. Really, only the fourth try of the half could be “blamed” on playing errors when a couple of missed Manchester tackles saw an 'on the up’ Tyldesley team take control of the scoreboard.

This lapse was not typical of the determined tackling on the day with Chloe Barker seeming to pop up everywhere to haul down an attacking player, whether it was her opposite number or not!

Half time team talks seem to galvanise the Manchester girls and so it transpired again! They identified the need to compete better for any loose ball at breakdowns and so wrestle back the game momentum from a refreshed Tyldesley team, able to benefit from the option of half time substitutions. With Chloe Snape in particular pouncing on any loose ball, Manchester were much more competitive for the whole of the second half. This deservedly led to Chloe S scoring and converting Manchester’s first try from a tap penalty move. A second Manchester try was illegally prevented by the last covering player pushing out a sprinting Helena Edwards on the wing to give her a free flying lesson but not the try she deserved!.

Overall it was noticeable how this developing Manchester team are starting to grasp the differences of playing rugby sevens, as opposed to a ten player game which would more naturally suit them. The backs, Georgia Miskelly (who directed the game well at 10), Chloe S, Chloe B and Helena kept much better shape on the field when compared to previous matches. An aggressive performance from the forwards in Caitlin, Jess D and Casey was also controlled in the way that they did not over commit at any of the breakdowns.

When ‘switched on’ all the girls’ commitment levels are excellent – just don’t make it difficult for yourselves and leave it to the second half next time!

The day was ended by a morale boosting ‘friendly’ match against the Tyldesley/Waterloo girls who hadn’t had much game time due to Manchester’s small travelling squad.

With Jess D having to leave before the start, Manchester really were down to minimum numbers for another 20mins+ run out against a relatively fresh home seven.However an impressive result was achieved to end the day on a high as the magnificent seven stepped it up to win 6 tries to 1 (Score 30-5). With the tries spread between the Manchester players, a great team effort in playing nearly an hour of seven-a-side rugby was justly rewarded.

Player of the Match: Choe Barker

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