U12s’ fine effort sees off Thatto

HFH U12 10 Thatto Heath U12 4 HALTON Farnworth Hornets’ U12s had it all to do with a big Thatto Heath side coming to Wilmere Lane on the back of four good wins.

With only 13 fit players Hornets had the game under control from the start playing through their sets and keeping Thatto Heath in their own half.

It was Flynn Carney who scored the first try collecting a lovely grubber kick from teammate Peter Scott to score under the posts.

Scott converted for a 6-0 Hornets’ lead at the interval.

The second half saw Thatto have 18 tackles on the Hornets line and the pressure told with a unconverted try making it 6-4.

Both teams then met one another head on it was almost a ‘next try wins’ clash.

The pivotal moment came when a dummy from Scott on the fifth tackle saw him hand the ball to Dan O’Neill. The centre weaved past four attempted tackles to give Hornets a 10-4 win.

George Corcoran was named man-of-thematch, with top tackler going to Joey Bulgy and the coaches’ award to Alfie Graham.

St Jude’s U9 8 HFH U9 Blacks 10 HFH U9s Blacks found themselves in for a tough fight at St Jude’s under a baking sun.

St Jude’s took an early lead with fast-paced players making runs out wide while they showed strong defence.

By half-time, Hornets were 6-2 down.

However, Hornets came back out after the interval motivated and ready for business with a new game-plan that closed the wings option down and St Jude’s found themselves struggling to score.

This, combined with some excellent attacking play and offloads that St Jude’s struggled to deal with, brought Hornets back into the game and into a lead they held until the final whistle.

This was a fine display all round by Hornets’ players who showed true grit, teamwork and terrific fighting spirit.

Man-of-the-match was Charlie O’Neil, with parents’ player of the game going to Adam Cook and coaches’ award winner was Liam Hayes.