Wigan U9 v Sefton U9 and Liverpool St.Helens U9

Players: Nathan, both Patricks, Daniel, Francis, Harris, George, Connor, Chris, Levi, James, Harry, Joseph, Alex and George

Weather : Bright

Pitch : Dry

With fifteen players to choose from, Coach Butler looked forward to laying to rest the U9 home fixture hex. Recent performances gave the boys confidence to compete and the injection of some fresh cross code talent in the shape of George and Alex promised much. However it was to prove a frustrating day for the boys in black.

The first game against Sefton started in a positive way. Two evenly matched teams probed defence and tackled stoutly. Nathan attacked the line strongly and opened the scoring with trademark try. Yet this was to prove a false dawn as Wigan stuck manfully to the task but could not break down a resolute Sefton defence. We showed signs of attacking promise with Nathan scoring again and Connor scoring an excellent try down the line. Indeed this endorsed Coach Butler's tactic of keeping the pace out wide and driving the ball up the middle. Unfortunately Sefton also had some big men and we were on the back foot throughout. Harris showed well and tackled bravely while Francis, Harry and James ran the ball in strongly. Patrick Hollins contributed well defensively but was quiet going forward. Brandan was, as always, combative to say the least. The first game ended 4-3. Close but not the result we wanted.

The second game gave us a chance to field a whole new team against LSH. This was an ideal chance to see how our thoroughbreds Daniel and Patrick Horcan would link with our converts Alex and George. There was also a welcome comeback appearance from crowd favourite Joseph to look forward to. Yet, again the game proved frustrating as we made too many errors against a powerful LSH team who were supplemented by some equally powerful Sefton players. Our tackling was good - Daniel pulling off one of his trademark chases and tackling his man inches from the line. Alex and George looked excellent pieces of business from Coach Butler as their disciplined tackling was obvious and their strong running a welcome addition. George in particular ran well enough to score two tries and pick up the man of the match trophy in doing so. Original George (George the First), Levi and Chris continued their good form and ran bravely. However we lost this game 6-3.

The next game was a bit of a first for this particular crop of Under 9s. Having been beaten in their first two games, a third game was organised against an amalgam of both Sefton and LSH. This was all of a sudden a representative game against Merseyside! This was all we needed to boost our performance. Last season we played against Wales (sort of) and now we were representing The People's Republic of Wigan against the whole of Merseyside. The Big Time.

Nathan stepped up to the mark with couple of vintage tries and Daniel finished a good move in his own inimitable way. Brandan scampered over for a great try and even Patrick Hollins attempted to re-create Shaun Johnson's dancing feet in midfield (NB. I controversially missed his attempted dummy pass and feel obligated to mention it because it was apparently ace). The final game finished ( in fading light - just after tea time ) 4-2.

There were some harsh lessons learned today. Principally, try and arrange as many away fixtures as possible for next year. Like The Rolling Stones, we function better on the road.

Man of the Match - George II (not the one who suppressed the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745)

Post match meal - almost an evening meal. U7s and U8s had done their presentations made their speeches and changed into their club blazers by the time we arrived!