Match report courtesy of Steve Lewis.

Sefton v Warrington – Match 1

Sefton away is always a really tough encounter and with both sides coming off good performances at the Manchester Tournament this was going to be an intriguing encounter. It was good to meet up again with Michael now playing for Sefton and it was lovely to see him enjoying his rugby with his school friends and playing so impressively. Unfortunately it was Sefton who started the fastest and ultimately won due to possession, territory and the strong running of their star player Alfie who must have scored more tries against us over the years than our boys have had hot pies.
Warrington exerted good pressure on Sefton's first scrum, quickly followed by Archie at hooker winning the next scrum against the head. But a loose pass from the scrum was well picked up by Sefton and a strong run and pass later their winger scored in the right corner, 0-1. Almost straight from the restart a strong run by Alfie took Sefton right to our try line and an excellent offload and pass out wide saw a second try to Sefton in the corner. 0-2 and we’ve hardy touched the ball. Waking up a little from their slumber the boys started to put in some decent tackles – Josh, George B and Cameron putting in eye catching hits to stop the big strong Sefton runners. The tackling then deserted the team as Alfie ran in a rather soft looking try, again in the right corner. 0-3 and with no territory or possession this was beginning to feel like a long half of rugby.
Fortunately the boys dug deep and got back into the game. A run from deep by Joe at fullback made good ground and a jinking run by Ed got us into the Sefton half. The ball was secured quickly and a well timed pass by Adam put George B away racing down the left touchline to score what looked like an excellent try (from our side of the field!) but the linesman had seen a foot in touch. Almost immediately afterwards Ed was put clear to score in the right corner following excellent passing by the back line. 1-3 and with a little more possession the boys are beginning to get into this game. However, big Alfie restored the order of the universe by charging down the right touchline to score, unhindered by any tackling, 1-4. A bit of pride in the boys' tackling was rekindled with big hits from Adam and debutant Jamie. It is hard to imagine a better introduction to rugby than, with his first action, Jamie smashing the Sefton winger in full flight right over the touchline.
The format of the day was three long halves. As our boys rested, Sefton beat Birkenhead Park about 4-0 and we then played Birkenhead Park ourselves (see below) before playing the second half against Sefton.

Sefton v Warrington – Match 3

The sun came out and the second half proved a much brighter and more even game with the score locked at 0-0 until the final minutes. A strong choke tackle by Stephen right from the kick-off gave us an attacking scrum close to the Sefton line but unfortunately Sefton’s hooker pinched it against the head, which became a frustrating feature of the half. Will B put in a superb tackle on the Sefton left winger to prevent a break out. From a penalty Adam passed to Will McF who charged at top speed bursting several tackles to get near the Sefton goal line but we failed to secure the ball at the breakdown and the position was lost. Ed pounced from the scrum to disrupt the Sefton scrum half and then floored the stand-off. More Sefton possession and more standout tackles from Will McF, Josh and new boy Jamie saw Warrington resolutely defend their line but, with minutes remaining, on the third successive scrum lost against the head (highlighting the importance of a nuggety hooker) the defensive wall was breached when Alfie barged through the centre from short range, 1-5. Under pressure again on the last play, the ball was needlessly kicked away By Warrington when an overlap begged it to be passed and an excellent passing move by Sefton led to their final try in the right corner.
So 1-6 the final score against a confident, powerful and more skilful than normal Sefton side. The boys were slow to get going in the first half and were quickly down 0-2 before waking up and making their tackles. With limited possession we were forced to play most of the game in our own half. As usual we looked best when moving the ball wide into the open spaces and Ed’s score highlighted how dangerous we can be when winning quick ball and moving it around. The second half was a much closer affair as more of the boys got more engaged but losing our own scrums and turnovers at the breakdown starved us of attacking possession and field position and we never really threatened the Sefton try line for long. It would be interesting to see Jamie amongst the forwards, he’s certainly got plenty of power in the tackle.
Final Score - Sefton 30 v 5 Warrington
Try: Ed