Bears held to draw but do extend their undefeated run to 15 games

West Bank Bears U9 4 Rochdale Mayfield U9 4 WEST Bank Bears U9s entertained their counterparts from Rochdale Mayfield in a game which could have gone either way.

The Bears, missing two of their front-rowers through illness and injury, knew that they would have to dig deep against the Rochdale side that have gained draws from West Bank in the last two seasons.

The game started brightly for the hosts with Josh Swindley and Oliver Stankevitch marching the ball up the field.

West Bank were quickly on their opponents’ try line and nifty handling from Joshua Lawrenson saw Kian McGann score the first try of the game.

It was clear, though, that Mayfield were here to play, and they repeated what the Bears had done with their set.

Two strong front-row carries resulted in a rapid reply for the away side out wide, as the Bears failed to move up and cover the space.

Despite the setback, West Bank were still looking confident. Tyler McGann and Billy Keeley were finding time and space out wide but strong defence from Mayfield kept the home side out.

Both sides went tit for tat for 10 minutes with Mayfield showing their attacking flair and it was this style that eventually saw the Rochdale side take the lead as uncharacteristically West Bank again failed to move forward in defence on the edges.

It was a disappointment that would be shortlived, however, as Daniel Owen and Evan Milne combined brilliantly to confuse the Mayfield defenders and send Kian McGann over for his second of the game to level up the scores once again.

With the half-time whistle approaching and the defences looking very tired, there was just enough time for both sides to throw caution to the wind.

It was the Bears who took the opportunity to take the lead after some strong carries from Michael Lawton and Lucas Henry. Rochdale were on the back foot and Kian McGann needed no invitation to sprint through a big gap out wide and run 40 metres to the try line.

Once again, though, the away side came back and with their last set they threw the ball from touchline to touchline without any pressure being applied by the home side. Eventually they found their way to the line with another try that the usually strong Bears defence should have prevented.

An honest half-time team talk from the coaches seemed to have fallen on deaf ears and with their first touch of the ball Mayfield made a break up the touchline and almost scored. Only a superb chase back by Tyler McGann prevented the try.

West Bank seemed to now jump into action, and with George Hughes providing his enthusiasm after being brought onto the field, Billy Keeley sniffed a gap and ran away down the touchline to score a superb solo effort.

Now 4-3 ahead in tries, the pressure was on Mayfield to bring their A game – and their young kids certainly did that.

With some superb attacking skills and moves, West Bank had to scramble defensively for a full five minutes, after the away side gained repeat set after repeat set.

But all credit to West Bank they held firm and worked together as a team to keep the one try margin in their favour.

As the second half wore on, and with mistakes aplenty, the game was waiting for one team to grab it by the scruff of the neck.

It was Mayfield who were the team to take the impetus and their ball players, who caused West Bank problems all game, combined in an outstanding move to race down field and bring the scoreline to 4-4.

The Bears were hungry for the victory and had worked hard all game, despite not being at their best, and they had the chance to have the final say.

Michael Lawton charged onto the ball on the last tackle of the game and seemed to reach over to plant the ball on the opponents’ try line.

But the referee called the play short and blew his whistle for full-time despite the objections of the Bears players and the home team’s parents.

Overall this was a satisfying draw for the Bears who were not at their best in this game against a very good Mayfield side, but still managed to extend their unbeaten run to 15 games, something all the players can be very proud of.