On a sunny Easter Saturday, Sandbach U14's welcomed Bruff to Bradwall Road for the second fixture of their 2014 tour of Manchester. As always the pitches were in excellent condition and provided a platform for running rugby.

On the previous day, Bruff had played Bowdon and suffered a similar fate to Sandbach from the previous week, so we knew the sides would be evenly matched and very keen for a victory.

The early minutes of the game, saw Bruff control the ball, but strong Sandbach defence limited play to mid-section of the pitch. When Sandbach finally got the ball, a period of expansive play released the left wing, who repeated his recent good form to sprint 50 metres and score in the corner. The resulting conversion was nailed by the booming boot of the Sandbach second row. Many say that teams are most vulnerable just after you have scored and Bruff proved this theory, with a well worked try scored by their elusive number 11. Conversion missed. The Bradwall Road boys were not disheartened and the forwards started to dominate the breakdown, ably supported by the scrum half's direction. After a move started by the Sandbach tight head prop, the ball was moved through a series of phases, with the tight head benefiting from the final pass to power over the line from 5 metres. The conversion was added by the Sandbach second row. With the bit firmly between their teeth the Sandbach forwards again dominated the breakdown and the open side flanker eluded the Bruff defence to score the final try of the half, again converted by the second row.

Half time - 21:5

At half time, the Sandbach coaches made a number of changes to give the whole squad valuable match time and the Bruff squad came out of the blocks with a renewed determination to steal the initiative from the Sandbach pack in both the scrum and the breakdown. Like the early stages if the first half, the two teams held each other at bay, but eventually Bruff were able to secure two tries, one converted to bring the score to 21:17, which is where it remained for most of the second half. Both teams strived to play expansive rugby in the excellent conditions, but the final pass or correct decision just didn't seem to happen. With the game in the balance, as excellent move by Bruff in the Sandbach 22, allowed the powerful number 11 to collect the ball at pace and crash through the Sandbach defence and score under the posts. Conversion added. With time running out, Sandbach gave their all to try and regain the initiative, but with the final play of the match a neat chip kick over the advancing Sandbach defence, by the Bruff number 10, was collected and touched down by the outside centre. The final kick of the game was the missed conversion.

Final score 21:29

In the true spirit of touring rugby, Sandbach and Bruff coaches selected players of the day from each other's line up, with Sandbach selecting Kevin, the inspirational outside half and Bruff selecting Tom for his all over contribution - congratulations to both boys.

It was a pleasure to host such a great set of players, coaches and parents, who I trust had an enjoyable day and we wish them a safe journey back to Ireland. Let's hope we meet again soon and maintain the good ties between the two clubs.

Happy Easter everyone.