A packed weekend with all Mini and Junior teams in action.
This weekend saw Under 7s at home to Widnes. Before kick off all the U7 players for both Hoppers and Widnes welcomed the U6 Hoppers players and coaches to join us on the pitch for a minutes silence in Remembrance. Everyone conducted themselves with upmost respect which shone through in the games too.
The Under 9s hosted both Widnes and Vale of Lune. Hoppers set their stall of intent out early against Widnes, out-powering and outrunning their opponents, Hoppers quickly ran in try after try. Widnes started to give payback in their second and third game, but overall Hoppers came out on top. Great team spirit and solidarity shown by all players during the 2 minute silence.
The under 14s hosted Burnley in the Junior Challenge. As Burnley only had 12 available players, Hoppers had to match the opposition numbers, but it became very quickly evident that Burnley were going to struggle against a resurgent Hoppers team. It was a fairly quick process for Hoppers to get to the maximum margin allowed. With a number of substitutions before half time Hoppers continued to score tries in the subsequent training game. At half time the offer from Hoppers to mix the teams was accepted by the Burnley coaches, and so for the 25 minute second half training game a much more even contest ensued and all Hoppers players were on the pitch getting some game time.
The Under 15s abysmal cup run continues suffering defeat away to Rochdale, it is now played 3 lost 3! With the remaining group games left, Hoppers face an up hill struggle to qualify for the main cup competition.
In contrast, the Under 16s enjoyed another cup win 37-7 away at Eccles. It is still tight in the group but Hoppers look on track to secure a Cup quarter final place.
The Colts made the journey to Shropshire to face Whitchurch. The first half saw Hoppers struggle against a strong wind, but limited Whitchurch’s lead to 12-0 at half time. With the wind in the second half, Hoppers pinned Whitchurch back and took the lead at 14-12. Hoppers then took their foot off the gas and paid the penalty conceeding tries to lose 29-14. Hoppers scrum was immense but a couple of poor decisions and missed tackles cost the team.
