Ooh! Suit you, Sir! Suit you!

This week I will mostly be writing match reports based on the Fast Show!

There are some occasions in life which cause you to question whether the direction you are taking is really leading anywhere and whether you should in fact be doing something different. Motoring up the M56 in driving rain under brooding deep grey skies without my own U14 player in attendance was one of those times. Having met with Warrington at home last season and had a really tough fixture resulting in a 5-5 draw, knowing how the Wirral boys prefer sunshine to rain and having even less backs to choose from than usual, I wasn’t entirely sure how the morning was going to work out.

It turned out that I needn’t have worried about the rain driving down on us…………as it transpired that we had hail driving sideways at us instead. It was agreed that we would kick-off early and Wirral were playing upstream for the first half, which was nice! Small boys in the park, jumpers for goal posts.

Wirral started strong, which was nice, and the first few encounters were tough but evenly contested. In the conditions not only was handling difficult but just seeing was proving to be a bit of a challenge. Wirral’s forwards did well at the breakdown and won the majority of the numerous scrums that were a direct result of the conditions.

Warrington played with the weather and so most of the play in the first half was in Wirral’s half finally resulting in one of the Warrington players going over from short range after a series of penalties and a number of probing attacks.

Wirral remained strong realising that if they could soak up the pressure in the first half they could wreak havoc in the second half when they would have the benefit of the weather. One more try by Warrington was met with a solo effort from young Tyrer ( I think he get his strength and speed from his Mum). Receiving the ball on the right wing he crashed through two tackles and then, having lost a little momentum, realised that he couldn’t break the third tackle and so thought quickly (brains from Mum too) and chipped ahead from just past half way. Beating his opponent to the ball as it bounced kindly into the in-goal area Will dived on it to score one of the best solo efforts I’ve ever seen. It was nice to see the Warrington player helping Will back to his feet and acknowledging such a fine try. Will, thoroughly exhausted from the effort, then had to convert which he did successfully. Scorchio!

It was at this point that a worried looking border collie entered the field of play. From the touchline some of the Wirral supporters had the benefit of a vantage point that allowed them to see some handling errors that the ref had been unable to spot in the conditions. It was suggested, in jest, that the collie might have been his guide dog!

Wirral began the second half with the knowledge that they had held the score to 12-7 and that they had the benefit of Warrington having to squint into the rain for the next 25 minutes. We had the usual change of personnel at half time and off we went, all fired up. Unfortunately, the weather eased a little but Wirral were on fire! They played as a team and played for each other, thinking quickly, making the right decisions and generally doing all the things we’ve been trying to coach them for the last 7 years (who knew?).

After a number of phases, scrum and changes of possession the ball went through the hands eventually out to Jamie on the left wing and he used his legendary acceleration to beat his man and run one in in the corner. Amazingly, Will managed to convert it from the touchline.

The Warrington centre managed to break through the line, Wirral’s tacklers simply slipping off him and he ran one in uncontested under the posts. This took the score to 17-14. It was from this point on that Wirral showed a determination to come back that we have rarely seen before. There were some individual performances that were outstanding but what was more impressive was how those performances were selfless and well executed for the benefit of the team. Warrington had realised that fortress Wirral was pretty impenetrable and so they had decided to kick in order to break the line and gain territory. With cold hands and a slippery ball Conor did exceptionally well under the high ball and he was ably helped by his team mates, Twiggy taking several catches and offloading to runners, Hayesey doing the same from a backward diving catch and Ben taking one on the burst crossing from his right wing to the left offloading to Will who beat two men and then offloaded to Jamie who was caught and passed back to Will who was tackled once again but managed to offload to Matty who benefitted from his support running and was able to plunge over to score. Sminki pinki beng beng! Will’s conversion attempt was on target but was just short and bounced under the cross bar.

The final try came from a period of sustained pressure on Warrington from which they kicked once again, Twiggy taking the catch and offloading to a runner and then the ball went out wide left through the hands and then back right reaching Matty at 5 yards out, one man to beat and a one man overlap with Ben supporting on his wing. Matty selflessly made the right decision for the team and passed to Ben who slid over to add to his growing list of scores this season.

As a coach, and no doubt all of the spectating parents felt the same, it was fantastic to see the lads play as a team, using their skills to the benefit of the team, making the right decisions and showing a resolve that has to be admired.

Thanks to David and his coaching team and the players for hosting us and giving us one of the best games of the season as they did last year. Thanks to the ref also for doing what must have been a difficult job in the conditions. The biggest vote of thanks, though, must go to the Wirral players who should be proud of their performance.

Does my bum look big in this?