Positives aplenty in Wildcats’ clash

ABRIGHT Sunday morning proved to be perfect conditions for the U9s match between Accrington Wildcats and Oldham St Anne’s.

This was the first time the teams had played each other and so as they warmed up they sized each other up for the game ahead.

The Wildcats won the toss and opted to attack first and were met with a strong defensive line from Oldham. Despite strong runs from Theo and Will, the tackling power of Oldham proved too strong and the play resulted in a turnover which Oldham swiftly turned into their first try.

On the attack, Oldham proved equally as strong with the Wildcats fighting hard to defend and slow down the impending attack. The first quarter saw Oldham take control of the game but in the second and third quarter the Wildcats fought back with tries from Max A and Max

K. Ground was made by some strong runs from Theo, who fended off the opposing players and went for the line and from Maya who showed that rugby is not just for boys as she stormed into the Oldham defensive line and made ground everytime.

Wildcats were more than once denied a try as they were brought down for their final tackle just short of the line. The disciplined defensive line of Oldham was some of the strongest that they have ever faced and credit must be given to them for their ability to close down an attack swiftly and effectively.

Several times Max A made a break up the wing, demonstrating his impressive speed but more than once he was pushed out of touch. Twice though his speed proved too much for Oldham as he sped past them to score the try. Likewise Max K demonstrated his strength as he powered across the line, after a powerful drive forward by his team mates, to eat further into Oldham’s lead, followed by a second not long after. After working hard throughout the game, Maya was finally rewarded with a try as she saw a gap in the defence and took advantage of it.

Whilst scoring tries is the ultimate aim of the game what was most impressive in both teams was the hard work put in on the field to enable those tries to be scored. A combination of team work and grit and determination saw all players work together to make their way to the try line. Every try was a team effort.

Although a disappointing loss for the Wildcats, Oldham were formidable opponents and worthy winners. From a positive perspective this match was the first the Wildcats had played without the coaches on the pitch and they proved themselves more than capable of reading the play and organising themselves on the pitch. They can take a lot of positives from the match and build on that new found confidence.

●● SUNDAY saw the under 9s travel to Wigan st Jude’s with just 7 players out of a possible 17.

One of those was Jaiden making his club debut.

Due to Coach Pete only just recovering from Covid Director of Rugby Paul Kidd stood in with Assistant Coach James taking charge of the game.

The game started off with St Judes coming at the Accrington defence with speed and strength that stunned them, scoring tries for fun!

After a talk with the team after the first 10 the nerves of The Magnificent 7 steadied and their resolve was then rewarded by a great opening try from Max K breaking the defensive line of St Judes.

This was closely followed up with ‘veteran’ player Layla Campbell’s first ever try in an Accrington Wildcats shirt, the self high five celebration and smile on her face told a thousand tales( well done Layla)

This followed up with a season first for another ‘vet’ of the team Finn Hird carrying the ball in for a text book Prop Forward try to get his first of the season.

Those 3 quick tries visibly stunned the St Judes team who thought they might be in for a nice Sunday morning session.

Just before half time saw one of the highlights of the game that was pivotal, Finn put on a tackle that could be heard around the ground that seemed to boost the whole teams confidence this was followed up on the next play by a tackle from Max K and some great double team tackling by Theo and Finn that caused St Judes into making a 6 person substitution to try and relieve the pressure being applied by The Wildcats.

Theo opens up the 3rd session scoring by breaking out of tackles and smashing through the line, another quick try by Charlie E finding the space out wide was just reward.

The 4th period saw ‘another vet’ Ben Mc make great metres weaving in and out of defence just to be held up just short of the line for the second week running.

A further three tries from Max K saw the game come to a close and saw what could have been a really bad day turn out to be a very rewarding morning for the travelling kids. ●● THIS week it was a Saturday game day for our U7’s, taking the full team of 11 players against Shevington Sharks.

Once again great defence and great attacking from both teams.

Wildcats top scorer once again was Arabella, scoring her team a hat trick!

Super proud of these kids, they all work superb as a team and amaze us weekly with the effort they put into every game.

Massive shout out to Theo for this week going for gold! Match day awards as follows:

Top Attacker - Jack

Top Defender - Theo Spectators Award - Theo Opposition coaches award - Arabella

Wildcats coaches award - Chloe