By Jason Atwell
Sunday was Fleetwood U9s fourth game of the season, which was away at Vale of Lune.
After the weeks weather the game was not certain to be played, but thankfully a break in the weather due for kick off time, and the drainage work that Vale did last summer allowed the game to be played.
We were spoiled with our own changing room with its warm showers which would prove to be required at the end of the game.
Shirts were handed out to excited boys and off we went towards our allotted pitch.
A good warm up was worked through with Marc and we spoke together about what would be needed in the game, as the ground was heavy and wet, everyone would soon be wet cold and uncomfortable, we focused on letting the boys know that in these conditions, its the team who dig their heels in and really want to win and support each other that usually come out on top.
The game kicked off with a sustained period of attack by Vale, The most impressive thing to me all game was the defense Fleetwood showed in those few minutes, tackle after tackle was made and the boys really backed each other up.
Both teams traded scores and a tight game unfolded with credit to both sides with some good attacking play considering the conditions.
Fleetwood were attacking from a very flat line, this was discussed at half time, and when rectified and players ran onto the ball immediately improved Fleetwoods attacking play.
Vale had 16 Players to Fleetwoods 10 so they were able to bring fresh legs on as players tired with the heavy ground, but credit to Fleetwood as they dug in and showed just how determined they could be and ended up winning 40 -30.
Lots of confidence should be taken from this display and a few lessons also that we can discuss work on and then put in to practice.
I know myself and Marc were both really proud of all the teams efforts on the day, There was Matthews now standard display of really strong tackles and drive after drive, there was Luca with yet again some massive hits in defense taking his opponent into touch, A really strong game from Zephyr with a great balance of defense and attack, Fred was his usual hard running self and made lots of meters with the ball, Ben again improved on his past performances and showed some real flair in off loading the ball in the tackle, Shane scored a really great individual try and William must be mentioned playing his first game did not look out of place what so ever, Ellijah had some good possesion and made some good meters with ball in hand, Sam P showed real desire to get up out of the line in defense and is again coming on and gaining confidence and technique.
Man of the Match Vale of Lune
Ryan gave another strong performance against Vale in conditions which didnt really suit his skills. He has played really well in all 4 games this season and Ryan always tries his best in training too. Keep it up Ryan.