Portico PanthersGreen 4 - 8 Pilkington Recs U8's

Today was an emotional day in the rugby league community with the tragic death of Wigan St Judes player Miracle Godson and it was quiet touching to be part of the minute silence before the match which was observed brilliantly by fans, players and coaches alike.

The match itself was also a pleasure to be part of and although Portico have a mix of experienced and inexperienced players they showed today that they are a good team that run hard and tackle well.
Pilks were on fire today and it was good to see a set move that was only practiced a few times in training executed really well and with great success, just proving the the players are getting to grips with the mental side of the game as well as the physical.

The first half was really pleasing for me although Pilks had three tries scored against them, they never gave Portico any easy points and out scored Portico 5 tries to 3.

The second half was even better as Pilks stepped their defence up a gear and kept mixing up their attack between strong hard forward running and set play moves, with one of the highlights of the game was when Pilks were on there last tackle late in the second half kept the ball alive with great skill.

As a result of Pilks great defence, they limited Portico to only 1 try in the second half and scored 3 tries themselves.

Honorary captain Nathan Flynn lead from the front as usual with good attack and defence scoring 2 tries in the second half.

Player of the match Joseph Hunter was running with added determination keeping his legs pumping with every contact but also upped his game in defence.

Tackler of the match Rohan Heyes not only made 4 or 5 try saving tackles but also chipped in a try for good measure.

Parents choice Jack McIntyre won this award by a land slide today not only for scoring 2 tries, but for his defence which was physical and also the more than any of his team mates

Ben Lynch ran really well today and made some good decision's near the touchline cutting in at just the right time to save going out of play.

Ryan Halsall ran strong today with good yards down the middle and tackled really well with one tackle in particular gaining special praise from their coach who spoke to him in person at the end of the game.

Rhys Edwards was his usual self today second on the tackle count and also adding to his try tally, this is a player that I am confident is not far off a breakout game and I for one am really excited about that.

Dezi Wilkinson added another 2 tries to his tally with his strong uncompromising running style is proving a real handful defences.

George Donoghue kept up the good form this week that won him the parents choice last week using his strength and his footwork down the middle of the pitch to gain good yards, he is also creeping up the tackle count list.

Today was a real boost for me and Dave to see the things you are teaching in training start to pay off, is what all coaches strive for and today the players did exactly that well done keep it up.

I would also like to add that making the decision's today for the awards was very difficult, because genuinely all the players today deserve special awards so it is now up to the players to make our decisions hard each week and we believe they all can.