Last updated at 17:53, Tuesday, 03 February 2009

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

IT was a big morning for the kids of Hawcoat Storm mini rugby league as they played their first ever match, and they didn’t disappoint.

The under-eights match against an Ulverston side saw the first game of rugby league kick-off at Hawcoat Park and a huge crowd of eager parents packed the touchlines.

From the start, all 18 players from both sides gave their all in cold and windy conditions.

The first breakthrough for the Storm came from a jinking run by Kian Gaitskell who, on making his rugby debut, deservedly won the Balfour Beatty man-of-the-match trophy.

Hawcoat struggled to make ground against a well-organised Ulverston team, with Jake and Harvey Cooper making the hard yards up the middle.

The accolade of scoring the first try for the Storm went to Lewis Burrows towards the end of the first half.

He pinned back his ears and went for the corner to touch down and then successfully convert to register Hawcoat’s first six points.

Burrows was awarded the Doosan Babcock performance-of-the-day trophy.

Experience and novice enthusiasm worked perfectly, with combinations from the wasp like Archie Copeland and debutant Lewis Uren gaining field position.

Sam Williamson and William Wren didn’t hesitate to take the ball in and some strong defence from Marcus Parkinson made it a competitive second half.

The under-eights didn’t win on the day, but the result was always secondary to allowing the kids to experience a real game day.

The under-10s then played a game against an excellent Roose outfit, who set the standards for the new Storm players to aspire to over the coming months.

Another debutant, William Martin, took the Furness Engineering man-of-the-match award with some dazzling runs.

Good ground was made by Oliver Jessiman, Rory Anderson and Charlie Foster and new defensive talent was exposed in Austin Meadows, Jonah Kent and James Postlethwaite.

The Hawcoat Park RUFC award for tackle of the day went to Matthew Brown for some outstanding one-on-one stops, with Harvey Petcher also giving an inspiring defensive display.

A warm reception greeted all the players at an after-match buffet attended by the many sponsors of the club and families of the children.

Despite blue lips and chattering teeth, all the players had smiles on their faces in the aftermath of the games and for some, the first taste of rugby league for many was obviously a hit.

The Storm have now well and truly arrived!

First published at 11:52, Tuesday, 03 February 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk