Sun. Manchester. November. Who’d have thought it!
As the misty morning past, the teams arrived kitted (and layered up) ready to play in the first hit out of the Autumn/Winter series. One game in and the layers were coming off as the sun shone down on the 7 developing Touch teams from the area.
Turbo Chargers and OSJ came out on top of Pool A, whilst Super Chargers and Orrell Anvils took the top spots in Pool B, all of which headed into the Cup Semi finals.
Following a late dropout from Warrington Knights, Pool A had a bye round for each team and we quickly rescheduled the afternoons knockouts to run a round robin format for MMU, Sparks and Blaze, who would be fighting for the Bowl.
Bowl Round Robin got off to a great start, with The Sedgley Park SParks juniors taking on last years winners, Blaze, in a nail biting game which saw the teams deadlocked at 2-2 at the final whistle.
Both Cup Semi finals were next up and saw Chargers best Orrell 5-1 in each game, with some great Touch on display on both fields.
The relatively newcomers MMU took on battle hardened Blaze in the next round. A feisty game all around, but both teams looking for a win. Blaze just edged away in the last quarter of the game, with a bit more technical knowledge, seeing them victors with a 5-3 scoreline.
MMU then met SParks in the final round, a rematch of the morning pool game. Athleticism and speed of the students team edged their win, pipping the juniors 4-3, in a closely contested game.
The plate final saw OSJ v Orrell Anvils. It was one game too many for the Anvils, as OSJ schooled them with an 8-1 win to take the title. Great to see the 'lad and dad' combo taking to the field for Orrell too, Kieran and Rory Burke got to play on the same pitch, what sport can you do that in? Kieran commented "I'm so proud of him, he gave it a real go."
CUP Final time
Floodlights were on and the fairground music pumped out, as Supers Vs Chargers took to the field, both teams undefeated during the day. On paper they were evenly split, with new and experienced players spread across both teams.
Officiated by youngster Nathan Power, Blazes Sian and Rebs, the finals got underway.
The Super Chargers took an early lead, with a quick response but two more unreplied tries saw Supers take the W, and top spot for round one
Huge thanks to all the teams and players refs who helped out on the day, much appreciated. See you in a few weeks time for Round 2!
