Another beautiful day (overcast) began in Manchester for the third North West Development Touch Series.
Kicking off with Super Chargers first game of the day against the Warrington Knights. Having played them in the previous round we knew communication in defence would need to be high with all their dummies, switches and rugby league style of play. With a slow start the knights broke through the Supers defence to take an early lead 0-1. With a quick reply led through Croppers Supers were back level at 1-1 and just getting into the swing of things.
After a strong defensive effort front Supers after giving away a penalty close to the line we punished the Knights in the next attack to take the lead at 2-1. From this point Supers had worked out the Knights game plan and started to break down their attacks quickly by disturbing their attack line. Another attack from chargers led to a quick play close to the line for Pam to dive in for the score, 3-1. Knights had a quick reply with a Supers defence caught off guard bringing the score back to within 1 point, 3-2.
Supers knew to get the job done they would need at least one more score to keep the Knights from getting a result from the game. A penalty for Supers in the Knights half provided them with the opportunity to seal the deal, a couple of drives later and a back door pass, the score was increased to 4-2 and the game was over. Always great to start off with a win, but Supers knew they would need to improve for their next game…Game 2, saw Supers up against the ever youthful team of Crewe and Nantwich Blaze, with all the mince pies burned off in game 1, it was time to get down to business. Crewe had some tricky players that we knew were capable of getting scores against us, meaning an increase in our defence strength from the previous game.
Starting off with the tap off we moved Blaze around to get us into a position to play a move to score, which we did, 1-0 courtesy of Tim, with a dive over the line. The game was then heavily lead by attacks from the Chargers camp, with Blaze giving away a few penalties Supers capitalized on these chances with another 2 tries in quick succession, 3-0. The tricky Blaze players managed to narrow our defence and throw a long ball to the wing to get in for the try, 3-1.
Although Supers had the majority of the position and the lead, there was around 15 minutes left in the game. Within this time Blaze had stepped up their game to score another try and seemed to be on a roll, 3-2. Supers had other plans and with a brilliant long pass from James out to the wing, where Julia was awaiting and stepped inside her opposite half to seal the win, 4-2 victory to Supers.For the third and final group game Supers were up against Chester Cheetaras, much like Blaze they had a young team with the addition of a few older faces with experience.
We were quick to realised they would be driving up the middle and staying there to get a quick play between the two mids for a try. Communication between the two mid was high in order to keep out the attack, but the Cheetaras were the first to draw blood with a try down the middle, Cropper gave Meadows the stare…and he knew he was to blame. With the Cheetaras now in their stride they came back with another quick try, 0-2. With plenty of time left in the game Supers did not rush their chances and were patient in attack, with Lance rolling back the years and running through the gap in front of him we were back in sight, 1-2.
With the game coming to a close Jordan created a opening for himself where he squeezed through to score the try, the game was now level at 2-2 with both teams then having a couple more attacks each the game came to an end, a draw it was.With all the results being added up and the next round of fixtures put together the Supers next game would be a big one, the derby, Turbo Chargers.
With that said Turbo had a point to prove, having being beaten by Supers in the last two finals of the competition surely they would want revenge? Neither team could seem to break the dead lock to begin with Kevin sneaking in between the link and wing to secure the first point of the game, clearly the Turbos hadn’t yet spooled up.
Another try from the Supers Bruce, the game looked all done. With that said the Turbos had found some much needed form against their older brother and hit back with two late tries bringing the score back to 2-2, a drop off on the cards? With the ref blowing for full time, indeed it was a drop off. With the Turbos tapping off they dropped the ball in the second drive allowing for Supers to attack, simple driving up the middle led to a quick play 5 meters out where the final blow was delivered and the Supers won, 3 out of 3 against Turbos.
The final awaited the Supers, but who would they be facing? It was to be a second match against Chester Cheetaras, themselves having just won in a drop off match. With the light now gone the final was to be played under the flood lights, this time there would be no draw, just one winner! Much like the first meeting the two side were very closely matched, a quick try from Paul saw us in the lead, but straight away was met with a try from the Cheetaras, 1-1.
The same again happened, Supers with a try and yet again Cheetaras were right back at them with a try themselves, 2-2. It was clear that Cheetaras were getting tired towards the end of the game and this showed in their performance as Supers went straight through the middle of them to score a third, 3-2.
Within the next couple of minutes Supers had secured a fourth try to help the score line work in their favour, 4-2. With the Ref checking his watch one last time and the whistle blown that was that. A third Tournament victory for the Supers back to back to back and a great way to start the New Year.
Teamsheet
Becci Pearce
Bruce Bailey
Danny Lomax
Gregg Cropper
James Robinson
Joe Meadows
Jordan Hankey
Julia Kang
Kevin Hill
Lance Hetherington
Pamela Teager
Paul Ashton
Sarah Acheson
Tim Shields
Roll of Honour
Female MVP
Pamela Teager
Male MVP
James Robinson
Most Improved
Becci Pearce