Report from weekend of November 29/30

FORMER Hoppers Mini-Junior players featured strongly in the week's rugby internationals.

Will Greenwood established himself in England's back line and Patrick Sanderson performed effectively for the English Rugby Partnership XV against the All Blacks 2nd XV, said to be the second best team in the world.

Inspired by their ex-colleagues, the present players enjoyed some encouraging results on Sunday.

Preston Grasshoppers U16s brought Ilkley's long unbeaten home record at Stacks Field to an end with an emphatic performance, winning 24-5.

Lancashire full back James Duffy Price scored twice, but it was the performance of county team-mates, Ben Titterington and Ross Horton which caught the eye.

Playing at no 8, Titterington's tackling was astonishing, appearing all over the field.

In one recovery tackle, with the Ilkley crowd celebrating the points, Titterington prevented an Ilkley score, scooping the Yorkshire attacker off the ground almost as the try was grounded.

Hooker Ross Horton took five strikes against the head and from this sustained pressure. Ed Scott scored.

Robert Kidd landed one of his two conversions before prop Steven Ansley sprinted 70 yards from under his own posts to complete a satisfactory match.

Elsewhere, after leading 5-0 and then by 12-7 at half-time, the U15s lost at home to Manchester 12-21 in a disappointing fixture.

A scrappy match dominated by the forwards saw Keith Walmsley and Oliver Caunce score tries.

Tom Sumner successfully converted one kick but the team will need to improve before the next week's Lancashire Cup tie against Waterloo.

Lancashire flanker, George Strachen fired in four tries as the U14s posted a 57-5 win also against Manchester.

Repeating the Lancashire Cup result of a fortnight ago, Matt Riding also added three scored and George Leeming two.

Leeming enjoyed an outstanding performance, showing signs of the family skills that have graced Hoppers' pitches for decades.

Garstang High School's Craig Airey ran in one and Anthony Devaney added the last score, with Daniel West landing one conversion.

Away from home, playing Manchester FC at Cheadle Hulme, the U11s were bogged down in all respects, losing 46-0.

The U9s won both games, by 30-10 and 20-15.

Matthew Lambert ploughed through the opposition defence twice in the first match, joined by William Norris, Ben Murphy, Tom Dicken and Peter Duckworth, who each added a try.

There were also five points each for Kyle Stewart, Ross Derbyshire, Matthew Turner and Tom Harris who all took their opportunity in the second game, the team combining excellent defence with quality recycling.

The U8s match was memorable not only for their two wins over Manchester by 30-5 and 35-0, but also for most players returning to the changing rooms with significantly more mud on their kit than when they left for the pitch, young John Davies winning the award!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.