This Sunday saw the under 8's promoted from playing their games from over the brook to one of the pitches by the stadium against one of the strongest teams in our age group. Waterloo only brought nine boys but they brought a well organised group who ran quickly and supported each other well.

Returning from a brief weather related break, the boys returned to Gladiators with more joy than the drills of passing the ball across the field. The boys were divided into two teams, with three boys switching sides to play for a Waterloo team in both games.

In the first games, both Manchester teams lost narrowly 8-6 and 8-7. Dave's team were up against a lively Max in mercurial form who delighted in scoring against his team mates! Ollie and Sam also played for Waterloo, who seemed well drilled in running forwards with the ball and in numbers. Ashi ran in three tries, with Daoud , Ethan and Harry picking up one try each. Nim 's team matched Waterloo try for try but missed the opportunity to press home their possession advantage with a number of uncharacteristic turnovers for running out into touch. The boys were unlucky to lose the ball to a couple of loose passes and Seb did well to spread the ball around with quick passing in the middle of the pitch.Sam Y broke away for 5 tries, with both Joes scoring 1 each and our tagging really caught the eye particularly from Will and Joel.

In the second games, the teams swapped over and so did Max as he scored three for the right team this time! Dave's team managed to reverse the scores on Waterloo's team to win 9-8, with Sam Y also scoring three, Daoud scored two and Harry scored the other one in an excellent team performance. The boys passed the ball better in the second match and took their chances well. Nim's team saw the debut of young Sam who proved to be as tricky as Sam Young and he ran in two tries. Both the Joes scored again but we fell victim to strong and fast breaks from Waterloo who won 9-5. Ashi and Kaya played well for Waterloo, whilst our boys lost our heads a bit when they went behind and were unable to tag the bigger boys.

Overall, we were more than a match for the team of six from Waterloo and should have won both games easier than indicated by the results. However, the Barbarian teams were a tougher proposition which invites the question of whether our boys raise their games against their own! Once the boys learn to pass the ball rather than running themselves with the ball from one side to the other or taking the initial step backwards, then we will have less turnovers and more victories regardless of the opposition.

Bring it on!!!