Heaton Moor Under 14 V’s North Manchester

The omens did not look good when the Moor boys arrived at the meeting point to discover they only had 12 fit players. A combination of broken bones, and other assorted illness had left us in crisis, and the thought of resorting to shaving the coaches and purchasing gallons of Grecian looked like the only alternative to this Lancashire cup game. The opposition twigged what we were attempting when they realise that the cars we were driving were not stolen or hip and trendy, at that point we agreed that we would have to play with 12.

The boys agreed to help out and a number played in positions they have not done so before at this level, Oliver Seville bravely , and may I say very well, moved to prop, whilst James Bennett moved from the comfort of the front row to the isolation of fly half, or for they antipodeans amongst us, 1^st five eighth. Oliver Whitwell a newcomer to the squad had previously only played prop, but a quick 5 minute tutorial from coaches Seville and Williams enabled him to take to it like a duck to ice, a little slippy at first but quickly adapted.

From the off Moor were determined to put a marker down that they would not be intimidated, and the 6 man pack took the ball hard and straight, whilst John Millman and his cavalier backs took every opportunity to have a go. Moor took the lead from a maul ball in the centre of the field. Excellent ripping and break from make shift centre Pat Santos, who then flicked a pass out to Alex Hardy who took on the defence to score, the effort obviously tired him enough to put his kicking radar off and he hit the post. 5-0 to the Moor

Very quickly after another attack broke down and the skilful North Manchester backs shipped the ball to their flying winger who tore past the cover to score under the post. This was converted 5-7. From this point on we would have to keep a very close eye on this speedster.

North Manchester gained confidence from this try and pressured the Moor line for some time. Only excellent defence particularly from James Sinclair saved us from going further behind. A scrum on our 22 metre line was picked up by Adam Moores (aka Captain Caveman) from number 8 and proceed to run the length of the pitch to crash, or more accurately, collapse over the line. Captain was captain for the day and led the boys by action rather than words. Hardy’s radar was back on song resulting in a 12 -7 lead for the Moor boys.

As half time was approaching the boys went to sleep and North Manchester scored right on the whistle. There kicker easily converted, at half time the boys were down 12-14. North Manchester larger squad enabled them to bring on 4 pairs of fresh legs. From the kick off by North Manchester the ball was left by all the Moor boys, and North Manchester took advantage and scored 12-19. Many teams would have dropped their heads at this point, but not the Moor boys.

Everyone worked twice as hard, driving runs from forwards and backs, accurate kicking from Bennett (minor) kept pressure on the opposition line. This pressure eventually paid dividends when James Sinclair outpaced the defence to score, again converted by accurate boot, Alex Hardy. Score level again 19-19.

Again from the kick off we allowed the opposition to score, yes boys it is important to call for the ball and then go and get it. All the hard work seemed to be undone. North Manchester again leading 19-24

After all that effort the boys were not in the mood to lose, pressure led to a 5 metre scrum on the opposition line, and Captain Captain crashed over to put the boys back in the game. 24-24 and 3 minutes left.

Like all go fairy stories we were to have a happy end. Great defence was turned into attack when the ball broke to new winger Bradley Ball, dancing his way through the middle he was eventually caught, but was able to off-load to James Sinclair who took off the 50 metres to the line. Alex Hardy converted, and the final whistle was blown. The Moor boys victorious  31 to 24.

There were many candidates for the Man of the Match award. James Sinclair and Adam Moores with a brace of tries apiece. Alex (Radar) Hardy for his accurate kicking. John Milman for continually driving the boys forward were amongst the nominees, but the award went to Jack Ashby who was first to every ruck, tackled like a demon, and but his body on the line when required. Well done Jack.

A note to mention happened after the game when firstly captain Adam applauded the opposition through the tunnel by shouting three cheers for Broughton Park?????????? ( We played them last week!!!!!!) Secondly we lost the boat race in the bar, when all our boys had such lovely manners that they could not possibly drink that fast.

We have a couple of weeks training when we hope to get some of our injured players back before the next fixture at home to Leigh on the 25^th November.