Manchester under 8s set the world alight!!

1. U8 vs Sedgely Park (B) – won 30 – 20 Tries scored by Oliver (4), Joe, Brandon
2. U8 vs Watsonians (A) – won 20 – 15 Tries scored by Brandon, Travis, Oliver (2) , Teddy
3. U8 vs Liverpool Collegiate – won 35 – 30 Tries scored by Brandon (3), Oliver, Teddy, William and Max, Notable Liverpool was unbeaten all season until this match
4. U8 vs Penrith – won 25 – 15 Tries scored by William, Travis, Joe and Josh (2) Note guest appearance by Josh
5. U8 vs Sedgely Park (A) – won 25 -20, Tries scored by Travis, Teddy (2), Max and Joe
6. U8 vs Kirkby Lonsdale – won 30 – 25 Tries scored by Oliver, Max, Teddy, Brandon, Travis and William
7. U8 vs Watsonians (B) – won 30 – 10Tries scored by Teddy (2), Brandon (2), Zac and William

Total – 7 played, 7 won, Tries for 40, Tries against 27

Players from Max, Zac, Oliver, Teddy, Travis, Joe, William, Josh, Brandon

Having fallen at the last hurdle on a few occasions this season, perhaps Manchester arrived at the ground expecting to do well, but not necessarily win. Kirby Lonsdale is a magnificent venue to play rugby, hard wide pitches, the sun shining, and the backdrop of the Dales to the south. There was a carnival atmosphere inside with teams travelling from all over the UK, some even camping at the venue, and barbecues, beer and daft wigs aplenty!!
Once the first game got under way, we began to see the season long efforts the boys and the coaches begin to pay off, sensational stuff!! The pitches were huge, but that didn’t seem to stop the Manchester boys covering every blade of grass in defense, and you could see the opposition begin to wilt, running sideways and backwards in effort to find space that Manchester were simply closing down!! This became a feature of the tournament, incredible teamwork and support for each other that literally drove the opposition back in a way you do not expect to see in Tag rugby. And where the opposition did get through there was always a Manchester shirt there to cover, ripping off tags with a satisfying Snap!!. I’m not mentioning names here because this was the ultimate team effort, with the same in attack. Look at the try scorers, every single player got on the score sheet, and that’s a testament to the level of teamplay. When Manchester broke, they broke as a team, no longer stopping after a tag to wait for a teammate to catch up, but offloading the ball to a supporting teammate as the tag was coming off, outstanding to watch, and I doubt many teams would live with them in this mood.
Congratulations to all the boys, and the coaches on an outstanding exhilarating performance!!