Old Pat U11’s didn’t have far to travel for this Sunday’s match, but that didn’t mean they had a walk in the park.

Three teams from each club faced off at the impressive Tiger’s home ground with the weather initially fine, later turning more biblical.

From the off the pace was fast, the ball was kept close, and the skills from both sides were brilliant. Tiger’s tried to dominate and were a little surprised when Old Pats repeatedly stemmed their advance, took back control and took the play forward.

Play was tough with many players suffering from the repeated physical contact of fast tackling. Discipline was tight, and play was pretty even until Tiger’s were able to make a break in the first half and score. Old pats made them work hard for every gain and didn’t let up, against what was a more experienced side.

The pace and energy of these matches was such that both sides were continuously substituting players in order to maintain the tempo.

Old Pat U11’s excelled in the rucks, as well as in their offloading skills, and they had great control of the ball with few mistakes. Tiger’s knew they could only wrestle control by swarming over whoever had the ball in play. Even then it often took three of them to bring an Old Pat to a halt!

Half time brought a well thought through pep talk from the coaches and Old Pat’s resumed with more determination, almost scoring an early touchdown had it not been for a wet ball, and a nifty tap tackle from Tiger’s. Old pat’s didn’t let up and finally there was a stonking touchdown in the last few minutes of play.

Ultimately Tiger’s triumphed in all three matches, but the determination, team spirit, and vigor of the Old Pat U11’s left Tiger’s with renewed respect for this young side.

As ever the players, coaches and supporters were amazing.

In the end Old Pats were unable to tame the Tiger, but they did make him retract his claws. Well done U11’s

Tony Nevin