St Albans Centurions U11s took on their counterparts from London Skolars on Saturday under the sun at Toulmin Drive.

The Skolars had already faced the young Cents a couple of time already this season and had proved a very tough opponent, offering a sizeable challenge. The message to the Cents was simple, stick to the game plan, run hard, tackle low and have fun and without question, they did that. The game was played in four, 10-minute periods, allowing coaches to rotate players and ensure good periods of game time for all.

The Cents found the going tough in the first quarter with the Skolars in the ascendancy. But, after a pep talk, the boys and girls gathered their composure and really started to play some very attractive rugby league, and, as confidence increased, so did the try return with superbly worked efforts from Cian and Sophie.

The standard was repeated in the third quarter with the try tally rising, a noteworthy effort from James. The final quarter started with the scores level at 5-5, but, with the heat, the defences became less effective and both sides ran in three more tries each.

After the game, coach Gary Tetlow said: “I was thrilled to bits with the team display. The guys were a little nervous beforehand as most of them were the younger end of the u11s age range and the sheer size of some of the Skolars players they found intimidating. But once the first quarter ended and we had time to gather our thoughts, we got back to the things we have worked hard on in training.

“Some of the plays were fabulous and the variety we have introduced to our game over the last three months is brilliant for a coach. The Skolars were great opponents, and like us they prioritise kids game time so were quite happy to limit play time of their more damaging runners.

“Well done to all the boys and girls, your coach is very proud.”

On Thursday training, the Centurions Minis will welcome London Broncos Super League stars Denny Solomona and Mason Caton-Brown to help out with coaching and passing on useful tips to the kids.

For more information about Centurions Minis email centurionsminis@gmail.com or call 07713472091