Under 17 London Irish International Tournament

HOPPERS fought two unsuccessful matches on their first day, losing narrowly to Richmond by 7-12 and then 7-17 by Irish side Crescent.

On the Sunday, in a the Plate competition, Hoppers won 19-0 against Abbey of Devon. By conceding a single unconverted try to Colchester in the final match they had an anxious wait to learn from results elsewhere. By just one score on try count-back, the 25-man Preston squad failed to collect the silverware.

Hoppers U16 40 Northampton Scouts Old Boys 5

ON their Flat Cap and Whippet tour of the North, the Northampton Scouts soon felt the force of on-form Hoppers. Centre Joe Craff covered much ground during the game and was unlucky not to add a try to his five conversions. Gavin Weight landed two tries, Simon Cattam, Andrew Wadeson, Andrew Barnett and Mark Pledger one each.

Hoppers U23 15 Widnes 15

AFTER defeating Widnes en route to the Lancashire Cup Finals, Hoppers emerged from this friendly unscathed - but it was close.

Winger Andrew Smith captured the first try, Jonathan Horton ploughed through the line-out for the second and with Anthony Mellalieu touching down in the corner the ten match winning sequence was nearly extended until Widnes equalised in the dying seconds.

Halton Hornets 30 Leyland Warriors 12

IN the first half Warriors held their own but a lapse of concentration allowed the opposition to run in some tries which were converted. Warriors attempted to put further points on the sheet but the damage had already been done. Man of the match was Jay Florimo, top tackler was Shaun Hall and merit award went to Jamie McMillan. Tries by Lee Connick, Matthew Stephens, conversions by Michael Wallbank and Jay Florimo.

Warriors U11s 42 Langworthy 32

THE under 11s came out with a victory with Emma Coulshed putting in a tremendous performance against the hefty Langworthy forwards, proving girls can play rugby league and she was voted best tackler. Chris Tuston scored 18pts to earn himself man of the match with other scores from Philip Campbell, Daniel Aspinall and Jonathan Walker (2).

Warriors U12s 44 Vine Tavern 8

A DEADLOCKED first period against a much improved Vine Tavern side was broken by good pack work resulting in a try by Peter Clark. This was followed by a conversion and try from Greg Fishwick and a 4-point run in by Neel Byrom. Vine Tavern replied with an uncoverted try just before half time. Andy Watson ran in a try after good work from the pack. Matt Astley put in a try to bring the score at half time to 22-4. Warriors came out and dominated the second half with a more committed pack working hard to gain the advantage. Player of distinction Greg Fishwick scored 2 and 2 conversions, best tackler was Dean Gallery. Man of the match was Darryl Cheetham.

The two matches were refereed by Warriors U15s, Leigh Byrom and Greg Baron, who were both praised by the under 11 and under 12 coaches.

Anyone wishing to join either the girls team, the new U18s or one of our existing teams please call 01772 624715.

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