Under 12's Match report

Having lost a couple of players due to injuries sustained at the Champions Challenge 2010 tournament the day before and with three or four missing due to illness and other commitments the Under 12s could only manage to field a disappointing 10 to face the visiting Blackburn outfit. However, we are once more indebted to the sporting attitude of rugby and especially to Jacob and Jack who each played half a game for us to even up the side and allow an 11-a-side game to take place.

As is Bolton’s wont we started “away with the fairies” and before we could ask “do you know how to tackle or not?” Blackburn had raced to a 28-0 lead. However, this just galvanised the lads and with the wise words of the coach Jonathan and the stirring encouragement from Tom Hill and Josh Holmes ringing in their ears they started to play. Firstly the tackles became more telling and Joey Gore pulled off a real peach to win himself the Top Tackler award and give a focus for the boys’ efforts. Then the forwards began to win more and more ball in the loose and provide a strong base in the scrum and lineout. Here Jordan Ashton and Wills Brindle showed their mettle and Nat Hill filling in at hooker his ability to play to a high standard in any given position. Behind the scrum, Harry Stocks’ distribution was again a real plus point and gave Josh and Joey the chance to build some attacks. After concerted pressure on the Blackburn line Danny Turner beat two players and crashed over the line to score with his first touch in his first game and in the red of Bolton. Blackburn came pouring forward in reply and after a storming run from their No. 3 again crossed the home side’s line. But just to prove the first try was no flash in the pan Danny almost got to the line through a sea of blue shirts and then in the dying embers of the first half sprinted over for his second to make the score 35-14 as the sides changed round.

The second half was a much closer affair than the first. “Hazza” Stocks had obviously picked up a few pearls of wisdom from his Dad Gareth and started to turn on some style. Josh and Tom made break after break and Dylan Hibbert seemed to eat up the ground with each touch. I think the watchword for the second half was composure and everyone seemed to have so much more time when in possession and showed the ability to make the right decision at the right time. This was backed up by some really forceful play by the forwards and Faraaz Mohammed in particular and some bone crunching challenges by Tom and Josh. After a couple of probing runs by Dylan and Josh the forwards recycled the fourth of fifth phase ball and Harry spun the ball to Tom in space. Tom drew a defender and fed Joey who committed the last man and put the ball straight into Danny’s hand for him to outstrip the covering defenders and power over in the corner. Once more the Blackburn side refused to lie down and turned up the ante with two further scores of their own. But not to be outdone Danny turned from scorer to provider and after yet another telling break turned and spun a long pass to the supporting Josh who fumbled and slipped just a metre from the line but regained enough control to dive full length over the white wash for the games’ last score. Tom was again back in 100% mode and notched his fourth successful conversion of the game.

Despite some superb performances the Man of the Match award had to go to Danny for a debut to remember. Another great performance boys; filled with fire and determination and no little skill. Thanks, as always, for his superb coaching goes to Jonathan Hill and also to Gareth Stocks for his expert advice to the back in general and half backs in particular. Back to the training paddock on Wednesday for lots of tackling practice and also some work on playing the first 10 minutes as well as the last 30. Well done once more guys the games are just brilliant and get more and more exciting to watch each and every week.