Wigan U9 v Ashton on Mersey U9

Players: Connor, Nathan, Patrick, Paddy, Kian, Joseph, George, Harris, Brandan, James, Daniel

Weather: Dry. A bit cold. A one coat morning.

Pitch: First team pitch in glorious condition

When two tribes go to war, a point is all that you can score.

This week marked a momentous landmark in the 2014-15 season. A day that will go down in the record books as - the first home win of the season. In March. This in no way reflects what has been an excellent season with some brilliant rugby played. It just so happens that our big performances have taken place on the road.

Last week's training session in the horizontal rain at Tarleton stood the boys in good stead for the visit of Ashton ( It often does teams good to experience training at altitude or in extreme heat but the monsoon season in Tarleton when you are providing all the players seemed revolutionary). The visitors proved to be strong and well organised opposition. Yet the effort and application of the Wigan outfit was exemplary.

The first game (expertly refereed by Coach Butler despite looking a little worse for wear - blame team bonding exercise in The Millstone) was really good. Ashton had some strong runners and tackled ferociously. They sped into a 5-1 lead. Wigan were tackling strongly, lead by Harris and Paddy (who also did his human cannonball act - don't try this at home ), but Ashton were finding gaps and passing well out of the tackle. Nathan had arrowed in with a trademark score but they had a long way to go to get back. The second half showed the real character of the side. The work rate was upped and the tries started to follow. Patrick was unleashed and scored one of his famous power tries from close range. Daniel stretched his legs and turned on the after burners to score a couple from long range. Mr.Perpetual Motion (Brandan) scored a good try but the best of the lot came from new crowd favourite Kian. Unstoppable from ten yards he swatted off tacklers like a mini Meninga and cantered over. The crowd were on their feet. Having trailed in the game at the half we finished losing by the odd point 6-7.

The second game showed the class of the team. Having softened up the opposition in the first game they now went for the jugular. Connor started to weave his magic (relieved that his parents had managed to arrive at the right ground this week rather than the prison they went to last week!). He scored two excellent tries and tackled with real energy. James showed real courage by overcoming illness to play. Joseph was in the thick of the action and contributed well. George went on some Herculean runs up the middle. Harris, revelling in the opportunity to perform in front of his dad, played with his usual skill and power. The tries flowed from Harris, two more from Dan and obviously Nathan ( showing a Des Drummond-like burst of acceleration). Ashton were overpowered 6-1 in the second game.

Overall a really pleasing performance. Tough opposition, early adversity, digging deep, sticking to the task. This is how champions are made.

Man of the Match - Connor
Coach's player of the game voted for by the Press Guild - Daniel

Post match meal - Hot dog and chips for players. Chips and curry (albeit coconut based) for the rank and file.