On 17th April, Bishop Auckland Rugby Club Under 13s hosted Winnington Park from Cheshire who were touring the North East.
It was apparent from the start that Winnington Park were a very well drilled side with some excellent players, in particular the outside centre, and they scored 5 tries in the first half to lead 31 - 0 at the break. Bishop had shown some moments of attack, Lloyd Purser coming close to breaking through a number of times. Some good tackling by Sam McIvor and Matty Borrowdale held up the visitors but their support play was excellent and they weren’t slowed for long. Anth Young made some searing attacks, but he was well tackled on each occasion.
In the second half, James Pirie scored a try, converted by Alex Bielby, to narrow the gap although Winnington Park added three more tries. Despite the scoreline, Bishop showed great spirit and fought back. Sunny Maan and Michael Dunn took the game to the opposition, with Leon Berriman covering every blade of grass in support. Purser then scored a try and Pirie added two more, the last being a run of almost the full length of the pitch. Bielby added a further two conversions. All the players worked hard until the final whistle with the game ending 57 - 26.
Team: Tom Clarke, Sunny Maan, Chris Coates, Anth Young, Curtis Hall, Michael Dunn, Jonathan Poulter, Leon Berriman, Josh Leonard, Matty Borrowdale, Sam McIvor, Alex Bielby, Lloyd Purser, James Pirie, Ben Oliver, Toby Oliver, Michael Walton, Sean Pinel