Wirral U13 vs Waterloo U13

Wirral U13 hosted their Waterloo counterparts on a very windy Sunday morning in January.

A great turnout for the home side meant there was a squad of 22 eager to get a result against the very capable visitors.

Earlier in the season, Wirral had lost the away fixture 7-5, and were therefore well motivated to defend the Memorial Ground.

Wirral skipper, Leon, opened up the scoring in the 3rd minute with a typical defence busting power run. This was the first of 6 tries in the first third. With Waterloo scoring in the 9th and 17th minute, a try for Wirral full back Callum on the 15th minute, and a brace for Wirral winger Harvey on the 17th and 20th minute - the first of these requiring some neat footwork to guide the ball over the try line.

Centre Luke was unlucky not to add to the tally, having seemingly sliced through the Waterloo defence and having clear space ahead of him. An impressive last gasp ankle tap tackle by the visitors' speed merchant denied Luke his score.

Score at the first interval: Wirral 4 - Waterloo 2

A number of changes for the second third did not stop the flow of tries for the Wirralians. Callum opened up proceedings with his second try in the 22nd minute. Leon completed his hat-trick with tries on 30 and 32 minutes, as did Harvey with a try in the 31st minute. Vinny added to this with his first try of the game on the 35th minute. Waterloo scored 3 tries in this period - again coming from their pacey fly-half who was clearly the fastest player on the pitch, and posed danger for the home side whenever he touched the ball.

Score at the second interval: Wirral 9 - Waterloo 5

The final third saw more changes from Wirral. Waterloo scored two early tries before Leon responded with his fourth on 46 minutes. The visitors soon scored another, before the home side finished with a flourish with tries from Vinny and Luke.

Final Score: Wirral 12 - Waterloo 8

A good result for Wirral against quality opposition, driven by great team spirit, a solid defence and an ability to score from different areas of the pitch. The Wirralians demonstrated excellent flexibility with several players taking a number of different positions during the match - exemplified by the coaches' man of the match Starkers. The forwards were solid at scrum time, and provided muscle and protection at the breakdown - with several turnovers by the likes of Charlie and Ioan.

Scorers for Wirral: Leon (4), Callum (2), Harvey (3), Vinny (2), Luke