This weekend saw Manchester playing Heaton Moor, who came with extra players whilst we had some notable absentees.
 
After some training on our starting positions and spreading the ball, we were split into two teams of seven hoping to put everything in practice.
 
In the first round of matches, Rob's team drew 6 -6 in a closely fought match where Joe and Alex led the charge with good direct  running. The boys started the game well but lost a bit of concentration in the second half against faster runners.
 
Dave's team played well together, spreading the ball across the pitch and excellent runs from Sam to run out winners 9-8. Erin managed to get her name on the score sheet finishing off a good move and the defending was good from Ethan and Max.
 
In the second round of matches, Dave's team played well again with an amazing run round the whole of the Heaton Moor team from Sam. There was an excellent defence on the line to deny a try just before half time and Fin stood out with his tagging as they won 5-4.
 
Rob's team were unlucky to lose  6-4 but it was good to see Daoud and Sergio on the score sheet. There was a bit of confusion particularly in following up the second tag  but the boys tried hard.
 
For the last round of games, we mixed the teams up to look at different combinations.  Dave's team were beaten 9-7  despite two tries from Fin and three tries from Max. The  boys passed well between them and there were some good passages of play from Seb and especially Joe K, who was man of the match for his strong running and good effort.
 
Nim's team linked well together and we managed to force a turnover due to our tagging. Oliver recovered well from a bad knock to play his part for the team and Sergio played well in defence. Alex showed further signs of his progress when he passed across the field at a restart as he saw Joel in a wide space which led to a good try. Sam was in irresistable form finishing off five tries as we won 6-4.  
 
 Overall,Manchester played well winning 3, losing two and drawing 1.