Warrington U8's bow out in the Preston Semi Final

The squad for the day: Adam, Ben, Charlie C, Charlie W, Eddie, George, Gregor, Joe, Max, Sam S, Stephen.

The basecamp was established in the team’s new ‘Event Shelter’, and it was certainly needed as rain fell for most of the day.

Group Match 1: Warrington 3 – 3 Preston Hoppers
Tries: Adam 2, Joe
The first game was against the hosts, who started brightly scoring the first try. Wire hit back with tries from Adam and Joe and led 2-1 at the break.
A team talk which focused on tightening the defence seemed to have worked, and Adam’s second try gave us a cushion.
However, uncharacteristic handling errors and players running in to touch handed possession to the Hoppers and they capitalised to level the game at 3-3.

Group Match 2: Warrington 8 – 7 Liverpool Collegiate
Tries: Adam 3, Joe 2, Charlie C, Eddie, Joe
Our second match was against a team we had played earlier in the season, the matches were close then, and this was the same.

Both teams exchanged tries in the first half but we held a slender 4-3 lead at half time. The game was the most physical we have played so far, and some of the challenges would be more suited to next year when we play contact, but the challenge on Ben as he was looking to score in the corner would have been a penalty at any level of rugby.

Adam completed his hat-trick early in the second half before coming off injured, but Liverpool looked to be gaining the upper hand scoring 4 tries to our 2 as the second half wore on.

The boys were rattled, but full credit to them they stuck to the task, and a huge final effort produced tries from Charlie C and Joe to snatch the win.

Three points from 2 games, and a check of the day’s results showed we were the only unbeaten team in the group, which was a timely morale booster for the boys.

Group Match 3: Warrington 6 – 3 Wetherby
Tries: Adam 2, Charlie C, Charlie W, Eddie, Stephen
Our third group game was against a team we hadn’t played before, so we had no form guide. A bright start with tries from Adam, Stephen and Charlie C against only 1 in reply from Wetherby gave us the lead at half time.

Charlie W crashed over from close range early in the second half to extend the lead, and Wethebrby added two tries to match efforts from Eddie and Adam to complete a good win.

Group Match 4: Warrington 8 – 8 Waterloo
Tries: Adam 3, Stephen 2, Ben, Eddie, Joe
We had played Waterloo the week before, and the games had been close affairs, so we knew this would be the same. Going into the match we led the group and knew that a draw would win the group, although Waterloo were playing for survival as they were tied with 2 of the other teams in the group.

The match was closely fought, with both teams struggling to bottle up the others attacks, and this kept the scorers busy.

Wire had the best of the first half and led 4-3 through tries from Ben, Stephen and a brace from Adam.

Waterloo scored first in the second half, andf tries were traded all through the half, with Adam completing his second hat-trick of the day, and further tries from Joe, Eddie and Stephen.

The game ended in a draw, which was a fair result as there was nothing to choose between the two teams.

Semi Final: Warrington 4 – 5 Blackburn
Tries: Eddie 2, Adam, Joe
Going unbeaten in the group meant we finished top, with Waterloo claiming the runner’s up berth. In the other group Fylde were champions, with Blackburn claiming the runners up spot.

We have played some good close games against Blackburn over the last 2 years, and they were clearly relishing the prospect of making a tournament final.

Wire got off to a good start with Adam opening the scoring with his 11th try of the day, but Blackburn hit straight back, and though Eddie put us 2-1 up the fired up Blackburn team showed they meant business and led 3-2 at the break.

The boys knew they had to improve to pull the game back in the second half, and they made a brave attempt, and after tries from Eddie and Joe the game was level at 4-4 with less than a minute left to play.

Blackburn pressed hard, and sneaked in at the corner late in the tackle count, and the final whistle blew before we could get back to the restart.

The Blackburn players were joyous in their triumph, and the tournament was over for Wire. Many of the players were upset at the end of the game, but they shouldn’t be, they had all played really well in the group, but came up against a very strong Blackburn side who were really motivated.

Fylde won through the other semi-final, but Blackburn were riding the wave of emotion and clinched the title.

Our run of tournaments collecting a trophy finally came to an end at the 6th attempt, but the boys were a credit to the club, and played with great spirit throughout.

Unfortunately the defence wasn’t up to the standards we’ve set ourselves over the last few months (the weather was no doubt a factor in this), and without the swarming pressure we weren’t able to force the turnovers which allows us build bigger leads.

However, it’s worth remembering that there were 7 changes from the squad which won at Vale, and once again everyone played at least half of every match, this shows that we have real strength in depth.

We have also become a victim of our own success, with teams knowing they have to raise their game when they play us – that’s something we all should be proud of, as it’s a sign of respect.

Thanks to all of the parents for their great support once again and to Martin for another refereeing stint.

Next stop, Rochdale for the last tournament of the season – let’s hope we can get back to winning ways!!