Manchester Under 8s went into the tournament with players from last year's team and hoping to build on that success in a group with Ormskirk, Waterloo and Broughton Park on a warm day.
 
Ormskirk 8 Manchester 8
 
The opening match of the tournament was high scoring and open as concentration levels on both sides were low. There were strong runs from Ishy and Sam, whilst Ashi and Joe C were trying to hold the line in defence but we ran out of touch too many times.  Manchester were winning until the last play when Ormskirk squirmed over the line.
 
Manchester 5 Waterloo 6
 
We had noticed that Waterloo had thrown the ball across the field quickly and had some strong runners, so we tried to tighten up defensively. Max had a great run and Ethan played well as we kept up with the eventual tournament winners only losing by one try.
 
Manchester 3 Broughton Park 3
 
The final group game saw Manchester put forward their best defensive display in the first half, with two turnovers because of our tagging. William even managed to tag one boy without the ball!   Broughton Park had a few players who were more physical than our boys and we were slightly put off our offensive game as we were unable to make our good passing count in tries and the victory we would have deserved.
 
An anxious wait followed as Ormskirk, Broughton Park and ourselves finished the group on the same points but we were delighted to see that we finish second in the group (on points difference).
 
Manchester 4 Preston 1
 
Having got through on points difference, we qualified for the Shield semi finals and a game against Preston Grasshoppers. This was undoubtedly our best game, where there was fluid passing and good tagging which did not allow Preston any time on the ball. The pressure forced them into mistakes, which we made the most of by spreading the ball quickly across the field into open spaces such as in Joe Kirkham's try.
 
The use of rolling substitutes meant that the boys were kept fresh and it felt like a real team effort.
 
Final : Warrington 8 Manchester 5
 
It had been a long day and the boys had improved as they played each game, so there was an air of confidence as they  sang out  Mighty Manchester!.
 
Unfortunately, the boys were undone by trying to pass the ball long and it being dropped twice in the first half leading to Warrington tries. This meant that we were chasing the game and despite a late fightback from Ethan and Sam.
 
The boys held their heads up high as they collected their medals for being Shield finalists again.
 
Special mention must be given to the team of parents who made it possible for the tournament to run smoothly. Jacqui and Caroline for  gathering the results and keeping track of them together with our "volunteer" marshalls who did a sterling job of getting the teams on the pitch and the results back to HQ! Also, the parents who cheered on the boys from the start to the last whistle.
 
A great day and we will be determined to make the Cup final next year!