Leigh miners

1st quarter 3-1
Leigh miners started the game and Pilks early defence looked strong with big hits from Ellis and Logan to force Leigh to knock on in the first set of the match. Pilks first attack of the match looked like most of the team were still in bed, 5 straight drives down the middle and a hand over on half way.

Leigh didn’t show much more but a barge over on 5th was enough to give them the 1-0 lead. Pilks hadn’t learned their lesson and attacked again with the one out rugby, Dylan Greenall injected a bit of life into the game with a cross field probe of the defensive line, finding a gap and running in an equaliser. 1-1

Leigh came back strong, throwing the ball around and offloading well in the tackles. Miners looked certain to score until Dylan Greenall attacked the ball and forced a knock on. Possession didn’t last long for the recs as a rush of blood went to the head and a stray pass on their try line handed Leigh the advantage 2-1

Every week lately there seems to be a scrappy spell from both sides and here was this weeks, some quick play from Rhys and a strong run from Dylan Finney then Aidan ended with a dropped ball. Two drives later and Leigh returned the favour, only for Pilks to knock on again on the first tackle.

Leigh got the game back on track with some powerful drives and a run away try for miners 13 to make it 3-1. Pilks had to get in the game and some hard drives from Ben, Logan and Aidan had them held up over the line before the ball started moving through five or six sets of hands but couldn’t quite find a way through.

Leigh were hunting another try and driving through the heart of the pilks defence, a great one on one tackle from Rhys stopped them in their tracks and Aidan dragged the attacker into touch.
Dylan Greenall went across the pitch but struggled to find any holes in the defence, Logan went in for a power play but got nailed by the Leigh defence. Harry took the ball back across the pitch but no yards were being made.
The penny finally dropped that one man rugby wasn’t going to break the line and started throwing the ball around. Lewis to Logan, Logan to Dylan, back to Logan, Logan offloading out of the tackle, it was like watching “wide to West” all over again, the ball must of touched every pair of hands. Some good pressure from Leigh tied the ball up on the last but pilks were
Finally trying some real rugby.

2nd quarter 6-3
Josh started the second quarter, the ball found Logan who had two big hand offs to plant ball down 3-2
Emily brought the ball out for Leigh then dropped off as a dummy runner but Rhys read the play and hit the ball carrier, a quick play the ball and Leigh 13 sprinted to the corner to score 4-2
Josh Larkin brought the ball out again with a fancy side step and a good drive, zac then spots a gap and beat the line to make good yards. Aidan then took the ball in and refused to go down in the tackle before Lewis threw his loop pass for Logan to bring it back to 4-3

Emily ran strong again for the miners but strong defence from Lewis, Rhys and Dylan Greenall as usual stopped them in their tracks then Logan did brilliantly to hold the number 13 up over the line. Unfortunately 4 players couldn’t keep the next attacker from breaking through 5-3

Pilks came back with pace through darting runs from Dylan G and Rhys, Aidan looped the ball over to Dylan but was held up over the line and then Logan held up on the last.

This weeks controversial ruling of the game came when some outstanding defence from Zac, Lewis & Dylan G dragged the Leigh players into touch twice but didn’t get given the turnover as there was more than two in the tackle. The third time Dylan decided to do it by himself and the hand over was given.

Pilks were attacking with style, handing off and offloading nicely but a rip on the fourth was seen as a knock on and lost possession. Despite some gutsy defence Leigh was very Strong and physical in attack and a questionable try given 6-3

3rd quarter 9-4
Pilks found it easy to get themselves down field, Ethan ran the ball well and Aidan was spinning out of tackles. The problem was pilks didn’t have the answers to how to get over the line and the ball was passed into touch.
The frustration was showing as lack of concentration let Leigh stroll down the field until he met Aidan, Rhys and Ethan who stopped them advancing and they were bundled into touch.

Attacking chances wasn’t coming easy and pilks were just running into walls then handing the ball over with loose carries, Leigh got their hands on the ball and number 13 again went the full length with Dylan Greenall chasing all the way 7-3
Another quick turnover handed the ball back and despite a big tackle from Ellis, miners number 10 went the length with Rhys chasing back this time 8-3

Recs persisted with the one out rugby but this time it ended with Logan drilling through to make it 8-4
Not wanting them to walk anymore try’s in pilks stood tall in the defensive line and kept miners out with four outstanding tackles on the line, by far the best of the day.
Pilks played the ball quickly and Dylan G flew away for a certain try, just losing the foot race at the final second and being hit into touch.
Again Aidan and Rhys combined to stop any easy yards for Leigh but number 13 was just too strong and again crossed at the corner 9-4

4th quarter 11-8
Five try’s behind you would be forgiven for expecting the pilks heads to drop but not these kids !! Some big drives down field and that over the top pass from Lewis to Dylan again made it 9-5
The pressure had switched and a first tackle knock on let Dylan pick it up and go, Ben made his biggest drive of the day and Leigh 13 didn’t like it, a bit of push and shove wasn’t knocking pilks concentration and Logan shortly flew over to pull it back to 9-6

The recs looked up for a battle to the death and the pressure again forced an early knock on, pilks had ball in hand and played a bit of hot potato, then a pass from Aidan to josh on the wing looked promising but couldn’t find the line.
The next play went across field and another huge pass from Dylan to josh again didn’t quite get them to the line.

Pilks we’re defending for their lives again with Rhys pulling out more class tackles but Leigh 13 side stepped Aiden & Dylan to walk in and regain control 10-6
It wasn’t over yet and Dylan Showed his explosive speed to race down field, Aidan was held up short but Logan then dives low and keeps the party going at 10-7

Unfortunately it didn’t last long as Miners 13 was gifted his final try of the day to walk in and make it 11-7
In true pilks recs spirit they wanted to end the match on a high, Emily really did take some stopping as she powered for the line, Ellis got it that bit closer and Dylan finished it off 11-8

Thanks to Kellie Parr for the pictures & First aid as always never lets us down. We appreciate all your hard work

Thanks to Wendy Carsley for being match day manager we appreciate all your hard work.

Thanks to Leanne for filming we appreciate all your hard work.

Thanks to Ste crehan for the write up, we appreciate your hard work.