Looking to build on a hat trick of wins over the past 3 weeks, the first week in December found the U14s making the short trip to Congleton where we were met with very seasonal cold and wet conditions and a depleted Congleton squad requiring reinforcements from the Sandbach ranks.
Building on the last few weeks, the performance was impressive on all fronts, from the actual number of tries scored, full squad performance, sportsmanship and, particularly, the performances put in by the Sandbach boys asked to play for Congleton on the day (a number of whom gave their best performance of the season!).
Playing four quarters, Sandbach were 26-0 up by the end of the first quarter and 52-0 by the end of the second quarter. The third quarter saw the majority of Sandbach players being rotated and by the end of the third quarter the scoreline had only advanced by 5 points a piece to 57-5. The final quarter saw a number of further team changes and a final score of 69-10.
The impressive and comprehensive full squad performance makes it somewhat unfair to highlight specific performances, but at the risk of offending anyone not mentioned, of particular note:
• Rai Bennett’s first try (followed by two further to complete a hat trick) in two years
• Jimmy Bebbington’s repeated charges to the line – for which Congleton had little answer
• Danny Jakeman proving that impressive scoring from the wing isn’t limited to Sam Brookes and Matt Caen
• Chris Malkin’s debut try for Sandbach
• Hal Dearnaley’s return after his (hopefully) temporary loss to the round shaped ball
So the roll continues with four wins and four impressive performances on the bounce – roll on Oswestry on the 14th December!

Sandbach 69 – Congleton 10
Try Scorers:
Rai Bennett (3)
Jimmy Bebbington (4)
Alex Bishop
Daniel Jakeman
Kieron Murphy
Chris Malkin

Conversions:
Kyran Davies (6)
Hal Dearnaley