Dukinfield  35, Marple 54

After the recent win at Northwich and the memory of the victory last time we played Dukinfield, the game started with great expectations and the team was soaring with confidence. (more…)

Northwich 28, Marple 73

On fhe first match back after a long period of inactivity owing to snow the lads played as if their lives depended on it. Forced through lack of numbers to play sevens, the lads played fantastically in a match that was as entertaining to watch as the score suggests. (more…)

After a convincing away win against Dukinfield last season, hopes were high for a repeat performance this season. With reduced numbers on both sides, it was a clearly improved opposition who arrived and gave the U12s a far more competitive match than the last time the teams met. With hugely vocal support from both sets of supporters and committed play from the two teams right up until the final whistle Marple U12s fought through for their first win of the season. (more…)

Macclesfield ‘B’ 25, Marple 0

Now that both football and rugby are played on Sunday mornings at this age group, this was the first outing for the U12 team since losing some of our most experienced players to “the opposition”. Whilst there were some real positives from the performance, we also saw how far we have to go to compete with a team whom we narrowly beat last season.

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Our final trip to this great festival of rugby. Luckily this year , everyone managed to arrive early. A squad of 17 , all looking forward to Lance’s BBQ and a days rugby. As is pretty much, always the case, the sun shone for the Matlock festival and a big plus this year, we all were fearing a days touch , but some overnight rain , meant it was to be contact.

Our 1st game was against Sheffield ( this years Winners ) 0-3, closer than the result suggests.

2nd game, against Mansfield, Alistair try giving us a 1-0 victory.

3rd game, against Chesterfield, Nick P try giving us a 1-0 victory.

4th game, against Harrogate A,last years winners, 0-2, this game was in the balance, until a late try.

5th game, against Leek, who scored on the final play, 0-1.

A great team effort, with the whole squad, all playing their part in some of the best rugby played this season, well done boys. The effort and togetherness , its just a shame that the season is drawing to a close. We have had a great weekend of rugby, with all the boys , playing their part in some superb games.

Squad, Nick I, James Y, Cameron, Joe, Sam, Nick P, Richard, Alistair, Jake,Tom W, Tom H, Haydn, James H, Zak, Edward, Scott, Bill.

POW, Edward, MOTW Scott.

We welcomed our Scottish visitors to Wood Lane on Saturday morning. A beutiful day, was complemented, by a very entertaining game of Rugby.

East Kilbride , who play to different continum in Scotland, deserve the utmost credit,for the way their lads adapted to our laws, so much so , that they opened the scoring from their first attack .0-7.  Would Marple crumble and let the opposition walk over them .

No , we have a different team to earlier in the season , now the boys are playing as a team.

Richard, went on a jinxing run for the equalising score ( con by Nick ) 7-7. Both teams played some excellent rugby for the rest of the half, both going for a try that would give them the lead at the break.

A penalty for Marple gave Nick , the opportunity to put in a great kick, for a 5m line-out. Great work by Zak and Eddie , saw Eddie take the ball and drive through for his 2nd try in 3 years , his teammates responded with the chant of ” Eddie, Eddie”.( Con by Nick ) H/T 14-7.

At the start of the second half, Richard got his 2nd and Marple’s 3rd try ( con by Nick ), 21-7 . Substitutions, were made by both teams, Alistair picked up the ball and with his usual unstopable run touched down in the corner ( con by Bryn ) 28-7.

Richard then went on another run from a ruck, for his hat-trick and our fifth try ( con by Bryn ) 35-7.

Then with the final play of the game East Kilbrides no 8 stole our lineout and drove over, for a richly deserved, try for himself and his team. F/T Marple 35- 14 East Kilbride.

Both teams were winners, East kilbride for adapting to our laws , we, as Clubs have made new friends and the spirit in which the game was played.

Both teams changed , enjoyed the buffet supplied by the parents ( Big thank-you to you all ) had a drink, before the captains exchanged gifts . We then thanked East Kilbride and wished them a safe journey onto Blackpool via Edgeley Park.

Squad, Nick I, James Y, Joe, Sam, Nick P, Tom W, Richard, Jake, Tom H, Haydn, James H, Zak, Edward, Cameron, Bill, Scott, Anthony, Jamie, Bryn and Lewis.

Try Scorers , Richard 3 , Edward, Alistair. Cons, Nick P 3, Bryn 2, H/T 14-7. F/t 35-14.

A re-arranged fixture on a beautiful day.

The lads, true to form, started slowly, letting AOM in for a coverted try after 2 mins. This seemed to wake the boys a little as we slowly got into the game.

The forwards had a great day, winning all our scrums and taking the majority of Ashton’s.

It wasn’t long before we drew level, when Haydn picked the ball up 30 yards out and sped over, converted by Nick,7 -7.

Some good work and sharp passing by AOM, were rewarded by two more coverted first half scores, H/T Marple 7- 21 AOM.

The second half, continued as competative as the first, Ashton scored their foruth converted try, score 7-28, then  Marple got going. First Alistair barged through,helped by the forwards, to score and convert,14-28, then Sam went on a long run, rounding their winger to score, Nick coverting 21-28, to set up a grand stand finish, but time ran out final score Marple 21- 28 Ashton on Mersey.

A cracking game in which the lads should be proud of themselves, as they fought right to the final whistle. Which will set us up nicely for the Tour.

Player of the week, Bill M

Moment of the week James Y.

Team, Bill, James, Sam, Nick I, Alistair, Nick P, Richard,Tom w,Scott, Joe, Jan,Jake, Haydn, Jamie, Zac, Cameron, Edward .

On Sunday we hopefully learnt a big lesson from a very well drilled Manchester team. Fast hands, taking the ball at pace and using the width, was all on show. Once again the hope was there, that we might start the game in a positive frame of mind, but the first two attacks, showed that hope to be in vain. Once again, our inability to tackle, put us on the back foot and thats where we stayed for the rest of the half. But in all fairness to the boys, they didn’t give in and tried to push Manchester back. H/t 0-35.

The second half, in true Marple style, we did compete more, with improvements in the scrum, rucks and mauls and restricted Manchester to just two tries. We lost Sam Bennett in the first half to a bang on the leg and he was missed.

Lets hope this was just a step  back and that we continue to move forwards for the rest of the season. Final score 0-49.

Player of the Week, Nick P, for his endless tackling and running.

Moment of the week, Nick I, for his run from near our line into the oppositions half.

Team, Nick P, Anthony R, Sam B, Nick I, Alistair H, Tom W, Richard C, Jan L, Tom H, Hadyn B, James H, Zac B, Edward M, Jake M, James Y, Scott P,  Bill M.

So near and yet so far / A game of Two Halves !

I did think after our last game against Altrincham Kersal, that the boys had took on board, the need for a strong start. In that game, we started strongly and faded in the second half. The lads decided, once again to conserve their energy for the second period. (more…)

The best performance of this truncated season. On another cold Sunday, we entertained a big Altrincham side. But this week instead of the usual start ( not starting until 2nd half ), we started with a conviction not seen this season, and what happened ?. We took the game to our visitors, some great tackling and rucking, put us on the forward foot and we took a deserved lead when Alistair crashed through tackles and barged over, which he converted to put us 7-0 up. Throughout the 1st half, the boys continued to play as a team, in attack and defense, but two sloppy errors cost us 2 converted tries. The boys continued to push Altrincham back and just before h/t, they were rewarded. A clearence kick, was taken by Nick in our half, he then waltzed through their defense to score and convert the try, H/T 14-14.

In  the second half, the boys effort dropped, as Altrincham used their big forwards, to punch there way up field and they scored 3 unanswered tries.

A great effort, we take some hope and belief out of this game, which will hopefully bode well for the coming weeks.

Final score, Marple 14- Altrincham 33

Team, Nick P, Scott P, Sam B, Nick I, Tom W, Alistair H, Joe T, Edward M, Zac B, James H, Haydn B, Tom H, Jan L, Bill M, Anthony R.

Player of the week, James H.

Moment of the week, Nick P.