Season cut short but minis and juniors have fond memories
IT’S at this time of year the club celebrate the Minis and Junoiors Season at the Presentation Night.
However, due to current circumstances this has been postponed to the start of next season, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to put together some highlights of the season from a minis and juniors perspective.
Training started back in September under glorious sunshine and over the next couple of weeks there were approximately 310 players registered from U6s up to Senior Colts.
The Minis played their traditional fixture against Liverpool Collegiate with the Juniors playing in the first round of the Lancs Cup.
The U7s represented the Club at the ‘World Cup Festival’ held at Rochdale Rugby Club, with each team playing as a participating Nation in the World Cup. Steve Thompson’s ‘Waterloo All Blacks’ did us proud.
On the first Sunday in October the U7s, U8s & U9s attended the annual
Festival at Manchester Rugby Club for some ‘fun in the mud’ due to the recent heavy downpours that had flooded parts of the country.
On the following Saturday, the Club held a ‘Club Day’ with England playing France in the World Cup in the morning and the first XV at home to Burnage in the afternoon. The U10s played Southport as a warm up match and then ran out with the first XV players as Mascots with the U11s forming the Guard of Honour on the pitch.
In October, the U16s travelled to Dublin on Tour and played some outstanding rugby to win both games against their marvellous hosts Dublin High School and
Dublin Wanderers. The Wanderers game saw them reclaim the ‘Billy the Bass’ trophy (the younger version of ‘Percy the Pike’).
The Mini’s played the traditional Remembrance Day fixture against Southport in November, with all impeccably observing the silence at the Club and Hall Road.
In November the U16’s played Cobra who are North Wales Champions. It was a very competitive, good natured match which the U16’s won 40-0. They are looking to return the fixture next season.
The Junior Teams continued their steady progress through the Lancs Cup in November and December.
The U12s played in their second round of Waterfall fixtures in the Merseyside group, winning both matches against LSH & Southport.
The U13s progressed well in Group A with three home wins against Sedgley Park, Vale of Lune and Aldwinians.
The U14s had two convincing wins against Littleborough and Sedgley Park but lost narrowly to Rochdale in a rematch of last season’s Lancs Cup Final.
The U15s beat Eccles but suffered a narrow defeat to Tarleton.
The U16s continued to progress with a victory against Manchester.
On December 14, the Senior Colts attended the WOPS Xmas Lunch and presentations were made to 12 players who have played for the club all the way from U6 through to Senior Colts. A great achievement!
The Minis celebrated Xmas with some fun games at their last training session. The New Year saw all Junior Teams return to action in the Lancs Cup.
The U12s held their round of Waterfall fixtures at home.
The U13s finished their round of seven matches with two away fixtures at PGH & Wigan.
The older Junior teams all registered wins in the Lancs Cup as the group games came to an end which meant all teams progressed through to the Qtr. Finals of their respective groups.
The U14s recorded a convincing win against Southport and overcame Liverpool Collegiate 26-12 in a hard-fought victory.
The U15s overcame Fleetwood in a very tight match 19-17, whilst the U16s had a bye against Littleborough.
As the Six Nations progressed, a new venue was introduced when the U13s held their own mini Six Nations Tournament at Hall Road.
The players really enjoyed this and played some of their best rugby of the season.
In March, the weather started to improve as the U11s and U12s played in the Land Rover Festival at Manchester Rugby Club that had been postponed from earlier in the season.
As the season ended earlier than expected the U12s and U13s unfortunately were unable to participate in the Lancs Cup Final Festivals for their age groups.
In their first season in the Lancs Cup Waterfall the U12s only lost one out of the six matches played, recording four wins and a draw, whilst the U13s won five from seven in Group A – a great performance from both teams which bodes well for the future.
The older Junior Teams were able to play their Lancs Cup quarter-final matches.
The U14s beat Warrington in a close fought match. As they were the only team to complete their quarter final – they got further than anyone else in their age group.
The U15s were disappointed to lose against Bury. The U16s continued their unbeaten run with a win over LSH to reach the Semi Finals.