Wigan U8s v Macclesfield U8s

The big day finally arrived for the under 8s as they took top billing on Friday night at the Salford City Stadium.

Whilst lesser teams might have been distracted by the big occasion, the force nine gale blowing across the Irwell plains or the disappointment of not having got a Valentine; Butler's men gave an excellent account of themselves on the hallowed turf of Sale Sharks.

Butler's master stroke of banning any kind of Valentine celebration (player and parent alike) paid dividends on a stormy night. A crowd of 5500 ( 5512 if you combine the BT Sport live audience) were treated to a bonanza of rugby. Not necessarily from Sale and Saracens, who, frankly got in the way of the main event.

Macclesfield proved lively opposition and looked as though they might be too hot to handle. But it was only an opportunistic Meninga style interception try that saw Macclesfield home 3-2.

The early skirmishes showed Wigan at their best. A movement that passed through every set of hands was sharply finished by Levi, who demonstrated his big match temperament. Nathan showed the near capacity crowd what he is capable of by scoring one of his trademark scorching tries. Patrick H looked like he had wriggled through a gap and only a last gasp try saving tag stopped him.Strong running from Francis and Connor; excellent contributions from Daniel, George and Patrick had the Sale crowd spluttering on their £5 half time hot dogs.

But, as any cup finalist will tell you, the build up takes forever but the game rushes past in the blink of an eye. The referee blew his whistle to bring the game to a close. Which was a shame because if the game had gone into a fourth minute we might have equalised!

Still an excellent evening out for everyone. A huge thank you must go to Lee and Stuart for arranging the event and for their tireless encouragement and support.