Roose Pioneers U12s 26 Hindpool Tigers U12s 14

ROOSE Pioneers started the new season with a hard-earned victory over Hindpool Tigers.

The under-12s sides met on a sunny morning at Redwaters, with Pioneers dominating the first half, and Hindpool fighting back late on.

Both teams started brightly in attack, however it was the defences that caught the eye.

Roose were the first on the scoreboard after an excellent 40-metre run by Cameron McBain from the dummy-half. The try was converted by Ethan Bowness for a 6-0 lead.

From the restart, strong runs from Pioneers' Finn McMillan and Rhys Southward brought play into the Hindpool half. Then, up stepped captain Tom Farren, who ran 50 metres down the touchline to score in the corner.

For the remainder of the half it was all Hindpool in attack, with Harley Bradley-Allan and Ryan Kyte going close on several occasions. Credit went to Roose's Max Davies for some crunching goal-line defence, keeping the half-time score line at 10-0.

The second half started with the hosts on the attack, and it was not long before strong-running forward Oliver Dilks crashed over under the sticks. Bowness converted for 16-0.

Pioneers increased the lead further when McBain went through the defence to score his second of the day. A tough conversion from Davies made the score 22-0.

Immediately from the restart, Lucas Seal ran 80 metres for a superb solo effort for the home side.

Hindpool seemed to lift their attack at this point, and for the last 10 minutes of game it was all them.

Some great passing moves resulted in tries from the speedy Jake McIlduff and Kyte, the latter also adding a tough conversion for 26-10.

The Tigers were not finished there, and had the final say with a try from hard-working forward Bradley-Allan to leave the final gap 12 points.

The game was played in an excellent spirit and was well controlled by referee Jordan Hughes, who was taking charge of his first match.