Under 16's v Trafford 8th Nov 2009

A second disarming feature of the fixture was to be a pitch that was firm under foot and green; the Bolton lads were reeling a little at this point. But after a good warm up session they were ready for the off. With the full squad of 17 available we even had subs that could use the shiny new suits we had got!

The latest feature of the U16 game is to be asleep for the first 10 – 15mins. This allows the opposition to build up a healthy score as it was today when within this period Trafford had clocked up three soft converted tries. So then the lights came on and we played out some great rugby for the rest of the half - rewarded just before the break by a well rehearsed front ball move at the lineout that the 1st team would have been proud of. Will Chambers charged down the pitch from taking the ball and after finally being felled, Harry Hunt escaped the clutches of the Trafford defence to get his first score for the team; unconverted but heads up going into the break at 21-5 to Trafford.

The second half got underway with Bolton under pressure for a long period in their 22 resulting in Trafford popping over a drop goal and a fourth converted try to get the score up to 31-5 to the home team which is how is remained until the end.

Lots of positive points for the team though. The lineout won most of its ball and spoiled a lot of Trafford moves. Scrummaging was awesome at times; especially the straight drive from the opposition 5yd line that put their pack over the line and folded them before the Ref could blow it up for advancing more than 1.5m – beautiful to watch!

The backs put some great moves together and when everything connected got the ball out to the wingers to cut down the outside, David Kenyon really showed a clean pair of heels in the second half. The fact we lost and slept for the first part of the game means we have work to do, but the skills were there to see and will come through – just could do with being sooner in the match!

Man of the Match – Will ‘Raging Bull’ Chambers – took the front ball at the lineout perfectly and made the try happen.

Tackler of the Match – Alex ‘Panda’ Charnock – some great tackles across the pitch from a number of players but the Panda’s hits were clinical and included a comedy bouncing bomb version for entertainment value!