Warrington edged out in close encounters

The opening fixture of the season was played on a cool dry day at Manchester with both clubs fielding 2 teams. All matches were played 6-a-side, so there were plenty of substitutions to ensure equal playing time, and that probably caused some disruption to both teams (labelled A and B but of equal strength). The first 2 matches were 10 minutes each way, and the last 2 were 5 minutes single half.

Team A - Adam, Archie, Charlie W, Eddie, George, Gregor, Max, Stephen, Tom
Team B - Ben, Cameron, Charlie C, Gareth, Joe, Josh, Michael, Sam

Match 1: Manchester 'A' 11 -9 Warrington 'A'
Tries: Adam 3, Eddie 2, Gregor 2, Stephen 2
Manchester were fast out of the blocks to open the scoring on their first possession. A first half hat-trick by Adam couldn't prevent us trailing 5-3 at the break, and while the honours were even 6 apiece in the second half, we didn't really looked like we were going to get back on level terms. Defensively we weren't able to force turnovers, and Manchester's excellent passing out of the tag frequently paid dividends.

Match 2: Manchester 'B' 8 - 9 Warrington 'B'
Tries: Michael 5, Josh 2, Charlie C, Joe
Manchester opened the scoring again. Charlie C leveled the score and then Michael ran them ragged with 4 tries in the first half, and we led 5-3 at the break. One fo the main reasons for the lead was forcing handovers on the 7th tag - a clear sign of what difference keeping our defensive shape makes.
Manchester battled back strongly in the second half, but we managed to hold onto a slim, but deserved, victory.

Match 3: Manchester 'B' 5 - 3 Warrington 'A'
Tries: Stephen 2, Adam
Continuing the form of the previous matches Manchester opening the scoring yet again. Tries were traded evenly but late in the game Warrington squandered a good opportunity by running into touch close to to the try line, and Manchester made us pay, running out winners.

Match 4: Manchester 'A' 4 - 3 Warrington 'B'
Tries: Charlie C, Joe, Michael
For the first time today we scored first through Charlie C but we weren't able to create enough defensive pressure and Manchester made us pay once again.

Some close games against a well drilled, pacy Manchester squad, and although we didn't play up to last year's defensive level there were some good individual performances - plenty of tries from Michael, Adam and Stephen; some great runs from the whole squad, but particularly Charlie C who made some terrific touchline hugging runs. All of the boys looked to be working hard on defence, but without keeping the shape it didn't get the rewards it deserved. I'm confident that we'll be much sharper next time out, and based on last season's results we won't play many better teams than Manchester.