Zak bags a treble in fine game

HFH U9 6 Leigh East U9 6 HALTON Farnworth Hornets U9s took on a massive Leigh East side at Wilmere in a fantastic game of rugby from both sides.

The excellent contest was pretty much even throughout.

Hornets’ Lily Byrne went over the whitewash first for the crucial opening try of the game off the back of six defensive sets.

Leigh East hit back after 14 minutes with a pair of quickfire tries.

However, this did not halt the Hornets’ momentum and some fantastic teamwork and support saw Ben Mannering go over to level the scores.

Leigh East then bulldozed over out wide, but a great attacking set right on the half-time whistle allowed Zak Mannion to score up the middle, sending the teams in 3-3 at the break.

Hornets conceded first after the restart but quick footwork shown by Joey Blackwood saw things all-square once more.

The game was a tight affair and Leigh East took the lead once more to make it 5-4 in their favour.

The attacking skills of the Halton red-and-green machine proved too powerful for the Leigh outfit and Mannion scored twice more to make it a personal hat-trick and put his team 6-5 up.

But seconds from the end, Leigh East scored the equalising try as the tremendous contest ended 6-6.

This really was a great performance from both sets of fine young players.

Reuben Sumner was most improved player after a good solid display. Evan Whittall was Halton’s top defender.

The excellent Vince Rowlands picked up the coaches’ award while captain Theo McNulty lifted the man-of-thematch award. ● See pages 58 and 59 for more reports from the Hornets’ teams.