Under 9s duo restrict Manchester

LITTLEBOROUGH Under 9s’ two teams took on a good Manchester Under 9s squad and put in the complete performance

Both visiting Littleborough teams set their stalls out early, scoring plenty of tries at will.

Littleborough’s great tackling on both pitches always kept Manchester at bay. It is not often visiting teams reduce their hosts to only a handful of tries through both games.

A real testament to what a good side Manchester have generally, and how well Littleborough played particularly away from home, it was their best performance to date, making the coaches so proud of each and everyone of them.

With the vast majority finding the whitewash, all 15 players deserved a mention as they was all on fire.

Adam Bracegirdle awarded Elliot Wells tackler of the match as he was relentless and solid in the defensive part of his game and someone who put in some crunching tackles all day long.

Harry Tweddle was the grateful recipient of the highlight of the match for finishing a fine team try.

Faced with the same dilemma as his coaching partner, Neil Makinson was left purring at Alfie McLoughlin’s work rate in defence.

The highlight of the match in the other game came from the excellent Noah Phillips for scoring a great try after some good link up play.

Achieving the same kind of success, Littleborough’s Under 11s dismantled their Manchester counterparts in a very satisfactory manner, taking victory by 15 tries to four.

This past Sunday we saw a team driven by passion, sheer power and determination, as well as having a hunger for the ball.

The Under 11s certainly satisfied their cravings. The first try was scored by Ellis Johnson on the back of his appearance as a mascot for Sale Sharks on Saturday, within the first two minutes of the game.

It set the precedent for a very entertaining game of rugby.

Whenever the ball was lost, they were quick to repossess it and panic set in for Manchester as visiting drives forward carried continual threat. It was not long until the threats turned into tries.

Littleborough not only showed up but every single player put in a performance, including a impressive first game for Josh Leach, who scored twice on his debut for his new team.

By the second quarter of the game however the scores read a narrow 3-2 lead as Callum Sharrocks scored a brace for the visitors.

The start of the second half saw Littleborough catapult themselves to new heights with four tries in a mesmerising spell of attacking rugby.

Tries for Josh, a hat-trick for Johnson, Charlie Slade and Timon Warburton with great set ups from Harrison Dickinson, Olivia Stafford, Billie Eastwood, Max Rawlinson and Scarlett Crossley.

For the final two quarters the tries just kept on coming like clockwork as Ellis Beau, Charlie Slade, Leach, Taylor Ward, Rawlinson and a fitting hat trick for the superb Callum Sharrocks.

The energetic Grace O’Keefe was a catalyst for a number of tries on what turned our to be a perfect winter afternoon.