West Bank Bears U8's vs Pilkington Recs U8's

Today Pilks Recs u8's visited a very well drilled West Bank side, in what at times was a fiery encounter between two evenly matched sides. The attacking side of our game was superb again , with the boys running strongly, supporting the play well and carrying out a few moves that we've been working on in training.
Defensively, though we're conceding too many try's, and today was no different. The effort when we don't have the ball is improving week, on week and I have no doubt that when we get it right the results will come.
The first quarter West bank ran out 3-1 winners , with Recs try coming from Connor Stubbs after some great runs gave us some superb field position , Connor steamrollered through the defence using his speed and strength to go over.
The second quarter was a close affair , ending 2-2. The defence was much better this period with Recs holding out on our own line on two or three occasions with some great defensive efforts from Harvey Cathcart, Ethan Cranny Jak Davies, Josh Hunt and Noah Heaton.
Recs try scorers were, James Hatton , with some superb footwork and trickery to take him away from the Bears defence. The second, and his second came from Connor Stubbs, proving again that when he's in full flight he's almost impossible to stop.
Defensively, the third quarter was by far our best, with the boys showing some real grit and determination to work for each other which was really good to see. Pilks edged the third 3-2. The Recs try's came from Aaron King, who once again showed real skill, strength and determination to get over the line. The second came from a superb full length effort from Billy Traynor, showing the defenders a clean pair of heels to go in , in the corner . Recs third try of the quarter came from Max Fear, who ploughed over after a great mazy run took him clear of the defence.
In the final quarter Pilks' efforts during the game finally told , with the visitors running out of steam and going down 3-0.

Today's captain was James Hatton, James lead from the front in both defence and attack. he showed some fantastic footwork throughout, which was even mentioned by the opposition parents.

Also playing today were.
Noah Heaton.
Noah had a great game today especially in defence. Some of his one on one tackles on lads who were a lot bigger than him were awesome, two of which saved certain try's.

Aaron King
Aaron has had a really good start to the season and today was no different. His contact in the tackle is superb he always wraps the ball up and never takes a backward step. with the ball he was as dangerous as ever.

Connor Stubbs.
Connor has started the season really well, he's running onto the ball is excellent and his try line defence is brilliant. Best of all are his try celebrations, what a player.

Billy Traynor.
Billy is becoming a great little player. You can see him thinking about everything he does and he's starting to organise the other players and telling them where he wants them to go. A future captain in the making.

Harvey Cathcart.
Harvey was excellent today, he tackled really well but most impressive was how much effort and determination he puts in to running the ball in every opportunity he gets.

Ethan Cranny.
Ethan defended his channel really well . He organises he's team mates around him and tackles really well. Today, though I was really impressed with his running with the ball, he was unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions.

Jak Davies .
Jak is really enjoying he's rugby at the minute and is improving every game. I love his enthusiasm and how he wants to learn. Today was no exception ,he really got stuck in, in defence and made some great yards for the team with the ball.

Tackler of the match today went to two players, and could've gone to a couple more. The two lads who got the awards were James Hatton, he shows unbelievable bravery every week in defence . For a lad he's size he never shy's away from a tackle and he's technique is perfect.
Also awarded tackler of the match was. Josh Hunt. I told him this week that I wanted him in the middle and straight in, and he did this every tackle and also chasing players down using his speed to stop certain try's.

Parents choice man of the match went to.
Max Fear, Max was excellent today, he had he's best game of the season so far he organised the defence from he's position out wide, and had an absolutely fantastic game with the ball, proving hard to stop every time he had the ball.

All in all there was some negatives in today's performance to work on through the week, but there was also a lot of positives going forward. I definitely see improvements each week and the team spirit is great to see. If this group of players keep improving the results will start to come.

Well done boys, KEEP IT UP!!!