We entertained a very strong and well organised Blackbrook outfit at Ruskin today and we found out there are a number of lessons for us to learn from today. Having moved up a group from last season this is very much going to be a season of learnings and I am so proud to say that our boys will keep on coming and give everything to learn and be better week by week as today showed with a strong end to a tough game.

Pilks started great with a try from Jack McIntyre at the end of the first attack which saw the boys run some well drilled plays and Jack was strong and determined to end the set with a great run and try. One of of the big focuses for the recs is line speed in defence and from Blackbrooks first attacking set you could see this would be crucial as they looked to spread the ball from the very first tackle.

Sadly the defence line speed wasn't consistent enough through the game and this proved to be a huge difference between the sides as when the recs did get up and press Brook it led to a couple of mistakes. There were some great examples of this with Leon Griffin defending his wing and getting up into the Brook line and then making some outstanding one on one tackles to close down the Brook attack. Equally on the other side of the pitch Alfie Simmons, making his debut made some telling tackles and one in particular stands out when covering from a brook break and tackling the boy in to touch.

The game was well away from the Recs by the final quarter but we spoke about keeping our heads up and always giving everything and this was epitomised in the following set. When having made good yards in the first few tackles the ball went to Sam Nevit, who carried the ball really strong and even though the Brook defence made contact with him 10 yards from the try line he kept moving forward and powered his way over the line. It was a great effort that was noticed by both the coaches and parents as he was also awards the Parent Choice award for the game.

Today's player of the game was Rhys Edwards, Rhys topped the tackle count and was an ever willing runner in attack making good yards ever time he carried the ball. The best thing from Rhys was not only the number of tackles he made but also seeing him getting back to how he was defending early last season showing both great technique and power in his hits.

There were some other positive performances for the Recs today with Arron again carrying the ball well and throwing himself into tackles and it was good to see Nathan in his first game of the season and he showed some good footwork in attack and made his tackles in Defence. Rohan was keen as ever to be involved and had some good runs in attack and made important tackles out wide and Jack Mc was strong throughout the game as usual.

Well done also to Ben Lynch, Kyle Monteith, Carl Grimley, Dezi Wilkinson, Max Nevit, Ryan Middlton, George Donoghue who all kept going until the very end of the match and this is to be admired after such a tough game.

Well done lads, as usual Lee and I are proud of everything you gave in the game!