Hoppers Junior Colts 0-24 Rochdale Junior Colts
The Game
A squad of 21 players travelled to Fleetwood for the U17s Lancashire Cup Final against Rochdale.
Weather conditions were good, sunny and breezy.
Rochdale won possession from the kick off and progressed forward but were met by forceful defence from Hoppers and after 2 or 3 phases Hoppers forwards turned the ball over and had their first chance of attack.
This set the scene for half-backs George Cullin and Tom Pritchard to start master minding the attack.
Captain Harry Grey (8), Ethan Fisher (4) and Jack Calcutt (5) all took drives in recycling the ball effectively after which the ball was released to the half-backs for them to work with the rest of the back line.
This was how the game progressed to a great extent; Hoppers forwards working hard in attack and defence against a bigger Rochdale pack but they were undeterred and did not give an inch up front.
Rochdale’s first try came about 25 minutes into the game, after which Hoppers responded with some aggressive running from Cam Brown, Korben Newton and Leon King but could not convert the effort into points.
Rochdale scored a second try taking us to half-time at 12-0.
The second half followed a similar pattern, hard work upfront with the backs doing all they could to try and gain ground.
The ‘Finishers’ played a vital role in the game with Jake Clegg, Matt Wright and James Armor all putting in a tough shift.
The last 10 mins saw Rochdale score twice taking the score to 24-0 and full time.
A hard physical game for all, some superb tackling and direct running, not the result we wanted but Hoppers will be back next year to do it all again.
The Squad
Korben Newton, Harry Grey (c), George Cullin, Ethan Fisher, Gabriel Fowler, Tom Bottomley, Jack Calcutt, Jake Clegg, Jake Corey, Matt Wright, Evans Edionseri Ojuruwa, Ben McGarvey, Taylor Parsons. Tom Pritchard. James Armor, Cam Brown, Freddie Jones, Leon King, Max Parisi, Charlie Lochhead, Angus McLeod
A very big thank you to former Hopper Steve Borthwick who sent a fantastic video message of support for the lads, everything we stand for! You can view it by clicking the play button below.
