U8's v Sefton and LSH

With this weeks fixture a three way affair (against Sefton and Liverpool St Helens) at a sunny and dry Douglas Valley, Wigan's U8's again delighted the home supporters - and many of the away ones too! - with their usual show of speed and ability. Strengthened with the recent signings of Jacob and Dominic, the squads growing size was matched by the continued development which proved heart warming to the coaches.

Unfortunately already missing Grace to injury, the late withdrawal of Harry due to illness, reduced the team to 8 players, which meant that against both Sefton and LSH, Wigan had to compete with a small squad which for many would have been a disadvantage. Yet, and as is becoming the case, this proved no limiting factor.

Wigan began the Tri Tournament again LHS, with Sefton running a last minute training session in part watching on the sidelines. Wigan raced to a healthy lead which was never to be relinquished. Due to the 3 teams, games were only 10 minutes long, but despite the time limitation some superb handling and passing resulted in scores which were the result of team effort. A point which both coaches have been labouring on for weeks!

Returning from injury, George showed pace and strength, finding his way to the try line on several occasions. Pleasing to see however was that each and every player kept in close support, a sign that they are obviously listening in training.

With Sefton next on the list, the game was a closer encounter with each team trading tries in the early stages. Wigan, obviously rattled slightly, managed to compose their game with direction from Tom D, who took control from each restart to settle the nerves. Again sterling performances from Zac, Tom and Sam, the latter still recovering from a wrist injury (sustained whilst under his father's care up at the club the day before!) resulted in length of the field tries from each and some diving tags helping Wigan record a hard fought victory. A point proved by the fact that on several occasions Wigan's impressive defense forced handovers on the sixth tackle.

A further game against Sefton, after both LSH and Sefton went head to head with Sefton taking the spoils, again delighted. With parents and family from all teams watching, Wigan's young and developing team put together some attacking moves which witnessed passing along the line to make space for 'a winger' (whoever happened to be there!) to score in the corner. A sight which, having been trying to coach every Wednesday, brought a smile to the coaches faces - a rarity some may say. On several plays, Jacob took the ball forward to draw the opposition and passed (before being tagged) to create space for the gleeful recipient. On one occasion Jacob's use of the 'drop off' pass put George into space for him to traverse the field and find space in the corner to score.

Not to be left out and having only returned to the club on Wednesday, after a spell in football (eventually seeing sense no doubt) Dominic's lightening pace and slight of foot, made for some darting runs through the field maintaining Wigan's dominance on what was another successful morning for the U8's.

However in a team of stars, one shone that brighter, and not for scoring tries but for fantastic defending. After a sterling performance last week (also in defense) Rhys proved its not just scoring tries that wins the games but a strong defense.

Roll on next week, another home fixture and a lye in for the parents!

Well Done Boys!!!