Upon reflection (see what I did there?)I now realise how similar the U15’s are to the 1st XV:
- We’ve got some absolutely great coaches (ahem)
- We’ve got a squad of fantastic players
- Most of whom are injured or unavailable
- We’ve only won one game this season
- We’ve played really well but have not capitalised on our opportunities
- Things will come together in the second half of the season

The other reason I chose the Mirror Mirror title was that it’s a film about Snow White and the 7 Dwarves......and that pretty much describes our back line on Sunday. As it turned out, we must have had the smallest back line ever. Unfortunately it wasn’t a fairytale ending and the Brothers Grimm (Branchy & Porky) did not see their wish come true.

We usually have around 30 players to choose from and have to juggle things to keep a balanced team on the pitch. This week we had no such luxury. The list of unavailabilities was huge; Karlos (scuba diving), Big G (no show), The Niallator (ligaments), Cilla (spending more time with his family), New & Improved Cam (unavailable), Lucius (unavailable), G-Man (spending more time with his family), Macerz (transport issues), Louis (“No”!), David Noble MBE/KGB (on-going medical condition),Old Cam (broken leg – wimp), Joe (part of the “Ligament Gang”), Stef (no show), Jamie (Tall Ships). Slasher went to the home pitch so turned up just before half time and Jacko twisted his knee in the warm up leaving us with no front row subs. But apart from that everything was going according to plan.

Just like the 1st XV, we kept the starting line up a secret until kick off (like we had many choices!). Anyhow, the starting line up was Arrold, Donny and Matty in the front row, Greggo and Carter in the second row, The Christians on the flanks and The Harvmeister at No 8. Twigs was 9, Woodsy 10, Will Inside, Ste Outside, Reece and Ben on the wings and Sauna at full back. So that was four players in their first game for Wirral this season and two players on the bench; Nults and Conman.

Traditionally we have not fared too well against AK and it’s been a while since we played them last and so we didn’t know exactly what to expect. From KO both teams competed hard. The majority of possession and territory was with Wirral in the first 15 minutes. A number of penalties were awarded and Will kicked Wirral’s perfectly. In the ensuing line outs Donny threw brilliantly and Charlie caught and reacted superbly. Unfortunately though handling errors and infringements Wirral were unable to make these early opportunities count. The hosts came back and Wirral absorbed a large amount of pressure, possession changing hands frequently until AK were able to string together a number of phases for one of their larger players to force his way over, converted.

Wirral kept their resolve and came back strong once again applying pressure to the hosts who were visibly unsettled at this stage. Again against the run of play, AK broke through and ran for the line to score. The first half ended 12-0. Nults and Conman coming on for Harv and Ben. Harv complained of a sore shoulder and then informed us that he’d dislocated it two weeks ago!

Wirral felt as though they were definitely in the game and could come back to event things up. The second half started much like the first with both sides contesting hard. Wirral managed to put some phases together resulting in Will being able to make a break from 20 yards out, breaking the tackles of a number of defenders only to be caught 5 yards out and off-loading to Greggo who was in support, himself being instantaneously tackled and passed back inside to Will who dived over to score, unconverted. Scoreline 12-5 on 40 minutes.

Wirral, with their tails still up, were soon able to make another break, Twigs passing it out to Woodsy who must have called a move, passing it out to Will who missed Ste and flung it wide out to Reece on the Wing, possibly unaware it was coming his way, the catch wasn’t made and AK capitalised on the situation to run one in from half way.

As the Wirral players began to tire, AK had brought on some big guns and the size mis-matches started to show. AK worked out these size mis-matches and ran in a number of tries. Wirral having no fresh subs by this stage had to replace their hooker with an injured player forcing the scrums to go uncontested. It was a case of hanging on until the end for a number of players as AK ran in a number of tries in the final throes of the game.

Points of note/interest were:
- Another great game for Nults who is showing a real appetite for the game
- Some real certainty about our line outs
- Greggo had another good game but those shorts do look like hot pants – ask your mum to get you some new ones a bit bigger
- Charlie had another fantastic performance
- Donny continues to grow in the hooker role and gives his all each week – he was proper broke by the end
- Great place kicking from Will
- Some immense tackles against some of AK’s bigger players

Ultimately, not a great scoreline, but given the situation some fantastic performances. Onwards and upwards, recover from injuries, continue to build.

Thanks to AK who deserved the win and thanks also to the ref.

Mirror Mirror on the wall........