Warrington 43 - 30 Waterloo

Fresh from the Vale of Lune triumph, where Waterloo had been opponents in our group, confidence was high in the home camp ahead of the final friendly of the season.

Both clubs fielded two sides, so four matches were played, with Mark M coaching the Reds, Martin coaching the Greens (thanks for the match reports) while I reffed both Reds matches.

Warrington Reds: Adam, Charlie W, Eddie, George, Harry, Jack, Max, Stephen
Warrington Greens: Ben, Cameron, Charlie B, Declan, Gregor, Joe, Josh, Michael, Sam S

Warrington Reds 11 - 6 Waterloo A
Tries: Adam 4, Eddie 2, Harry 2, Stephen 2, Max
Warrington got off to a flying start, and were soon 2-0 up after a brace of individual tries by Adam, but then as Waterloo found their rhythm they started to match the Warrington tries.

The defence wasn't up to the standards set at Vale, but the support play was very good, with some great team tries being scored from long range breaks with the balls going through several pairs of hands, with Stephen crashing onto an offload from Max 5 yards from the line being a highlight - there was no way he was going to be stopped.

Warrington led 6-3 at half time, and the pace of the Warrington game dropped a little in the second half, although there were some great individual breaks notably from Max who covered most of the pitch on his mazy run to the line, and Harry whose pacy direct runs found no answer from the Waterloo defence.

Adam's 4 tries took him past the 100 mark for the season - that really is some achievement!

Warrington Greens 13 - 9 Waterloo B
Tries: Michael 5, Charlie B 3, Joe 3, Gregor 2
Warrington started the game well with enthusiastic tagging forcing Waterloo backwards on their own ball in the first half and forcing two 7-tag turn-overs. This was combined with excellent support play in attack from Michael, Gregor and Joe taking them into a 6 - 4 half time lead.

The second half carried on where the first left off with a further seven tag turn-over pressuring a very combative Waterloo team. Michael, Charlie B and Joe were prominent in attack off first phase with the squad as a whole providing good support play.

A very competent and confident all round display saw Warrington finish 13 – 9 winners.

Special mention must also go to the Waterloo referee, who provided a very fair and well balanced performance to support the good rugby played by both sides.

Warrington Reds 8 - 8 Waterloo B
Tries: Adam 4, Harry 2, Jack, Max
This was a much tighter game for the Reds, with Waterloo matching them in all aspects and both teams defended well, keeping the score to 3-3 at half time, all of Warrington's tries coming from Adam.

The game opened up in the second half, unfortunately the wrong way for Warrington, with Waterloo scoring 2 quick fire tries and then matching tries from Harry and Max with ones of their own, and it looked like Warrington might be heading to defeat trailing 5-7.

However, the boys showed great character to dig in on defence forcing a couple of Waterllo errors, while Jack, Adam and Harry added to the total with only 1 Waterloo try in reply to end the game as a draw, which was a fair result.

Warrington Greens 11 - 7 Waterloo A
Tries: Michael 4, Joe 2, Josh 2, Ben, Cameron, Charlie B
A very tight first half where the scores went with possession throughout, both sides benefiting from strong running and support play.

Warrington just edging it 6 – 5 at the break, with the strong Waterloo attack proving to be a match for the home team. Cameron’s excellent run from the restart to reach the try line being the home highlight.

A constructive team talk took place a half time, and the revised defensive strategy immediately took shape as Warrington forced their fourth 7 tag turnover of the morning.

Despite more strong running and good support play by Waterloo providing a couple of excellent tries, the all round game of Warrington forced them into the ascendancy, and they ran out strong 11 – 7 winners.

Josh provided a fine break and side step to support his very strong running and finish for his second try.

The man in the middle had another excellent game too!

Coaches summary
Martin - A great performance to finish the ‘friendly’ part of the season, and a fitting way to finish our last home game of the season.

The overall performance of all of the boys was one of commitment, direct attacking, great support play and very vocal, cohesive defending.

Great team spirit in abundance from all involved. Well done lads!

Mark A - It was fitting that our last tag friendly was against our very first opponents as Under 7's, and it was nice to finish with a victory.

The whole squad have improved tremendously over the last 2 seasons, and credit is due to the players for the focus and determination which they show every week, while the additions of Sam S, Jack and Harry have strengthened the squad further.

I think we're in a good position heading into the last two tournaments of the season, where hopefully we can maintain our record of picking up some silverware at every one we've attended - the challenge has been laid down!