Smashing Macclesfield the tour highlight!!!

First up were the Fylde Vipers, who were comfortably beaten 5-1, with tries from Oliver Meredith, Harry Briscoe (2) and Will Nicholson (2). The boys struggled to get going in their second game, against Congleton, conceding a 2-0 deficit before tries from Robbie Agnew and Will Nicholson secured a draw.

Bowdon’s third match was against Cheshire rivals Macclesfield, a team not previously beaten by this group of Bowdon players, and their motivation to set this record straight was clear from the off. Bowdon secured a deserved first half lead through a try from Robbie Agnew, but had to endure a second half onslaught from Macclesfield, who by that time were playing with the wind. An heroic defending effort was needed at times, before a stunning individual breakaway try from Harry Briscoe sealed a much celebrated victory.

Unfortunately, the boys were unable to maintain this level of intensity in their next fixture, against Fylde Pumas, conceding a very soft try within seconds of the game starting. Although Bowdon had two legitimate calls for tries to be awarded, neither of them were allowed, and a second late score for Fylde confirmed the result.

Bowdon’s final game saw a number of developing players given extended game time, but they were up against a very sizeable host team (Stoke), and in the first half the boys were somewhat overpowered. However, they showed a great deal of grit and determination in the second half, which was a far more even contest, but were just unable to secure the try their efforts merited.

As for off-field matters, the writer has no intention of breaking with age old rugby traditions. Big "thank you"s must go to Jim Nicholson and the rest of the coaching team for their sterling work with the boys, to Neil Meredith for arranging for the sponsored shurts, to Gordon for arranging the Saturday night entertainment for the boys, to Rick, Dom and Tim for their hilarious kangaroo court, to Gary for making our wallets a little lighter to carry, and to Ian Griffiths our resident tour photographer. Sorry if I've missed anyone.

Finally, a very special thank you to Jane Nicholson for the tremendous amount of hard work she put in to arranging the tour, especially as she wasn’t even able to go herself. Everything ran very smoothly, and the venue for our Saturday night stay was excellent. Thank you Jane.