Though we had a good journey, the output was that we didn’t get on to the field (played on Astro) until a little after 11am and we pretty much went straight out and played. We gave a Wacs (properly Manchester Walcounians) a three goal start but that was the end of their contribution and we overhauled them 8 – 3 by the close of a shortened game. On the down side, we did look pretty game rusty.

Overnight we did ‘the usual stuff’ AND suffered the annual complaints about Steve and me snoring and Sam passing wind – an impressive talent for one so young!

On Sunday morning we took on Brooklands which turned out to be a wholly different ‘kettle of fish’. Brooklands fancy themselves as being one of the best U14 teams in the country – and they probably are!

To compete in this game meant that the whole team had to both play well and ‘take a step up’ and honestly, as a team we found that difficult. We’d play ‘eye ball to eye ball’ for periods but then let it slip by doing something daft – or more often, not do something we should have. The result – well I am not sure about the final score – but it was quite a lot to not too many.

The plusses – well the reason for going to Manchester is to play tough games which we did in playing Brooklands. It usefully reminded us not to take anything for granted and showed areas of skill and team play we need to work on.

Thanks to Sarah for preparing the food and 5th Bramhall for their hall (which is pretty good these days)

The U14 Team: Rosie, Bill, Ru, Fab, Oscar, Ben, Ibs, Jules, Ted, Jamie, Sam, Salim & Dan.
Coaches: Jesse, Pete, Colin & Steve.