Wednesday Night is Lions’ Night!

22 July 2021

Wednesday nights are now a hive of activity for the Swinton Lions Community Sports Foundation, with a full range of playing and training activities taking place!

Just yesterday alone, the Lions were providing a Rugby League playing or training opportunity at three different sites across three Greater Manchester local authorities.

The Manchester Lions Under 16s made their debut with a fantastic away performance in Bolton against Westhoughton Lions. The young Lions, the vast majority of whom were playing their first ever game of Rugby League, impressed their much more experienced hosts in a very competitive game.

Westhoughton’s know-how saw them take an early lead with two scores, but after settling into the contest the Lions strongly challenged their opponents over the remainder of the game. Owing to the high temperatures the match was played over four quarters, with the home side eventually running out 36-14 winners. The Lions’ Under 16s Coach, Gareth Pratt, said, “It was a very hot night and the playing conditions were extremely tough, but all the players from both teams were a credit to their respective clubs. I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Westhoughton for hosting the game and a very big thank you to all of the players’ families who travelled over to support the Manchester Lions Under 16s in their very first game of Rugby League.”

The Lions lined-up as follows: Will Hitchen; Dylan Clark; Tom Crowe-Moore; Joe Retalic; Will Claxton (1 try); Fraser Gillan (1 try); Harry Jamieson; Qais Derregia; Dan Dockry; Sahib Kanda (1 try); Ollie Hillier; Dan Kenrick; Josh Gibbon; Joe Waring; Alex Curly; Henry Baker; Will Celleria; Alex Anthony.

Meanwhile over at Folly Lane in Swinton, our Lionesses continued their training programme ahead of their next match. The Lionesses Under 16s will be playing this coming Saturday against Warrington Wolves Reds, with a 10am kick-off at Folly Lane ARLFC’s Blue Ribbon Field at Pendlebury.

At Carrington meanwhile, the Manchester Lions Under 12s and Under 14s continued their training sessions with the encouragement of new players attending each week. Indeed if your child is interested in having a go at Rugby League and is between the ages of 10 and 16, please don’t hesitate to contact our Director of Development  [email protected] for further information.

In summary, Damian added, “I was delighted that on one single night, our club was organising carefully structured rugby league activity across three sites in three different local authority areas of Greater Manchester. Swinton Lions is now fielding teams not only at elite first team level, but also at open age and Under 16s Lionesses, as well as Manchester Lions junior teams at four different age groups from 10 years upwards. In total more than 100 youngsters have been engaging with the Lions and Rugby League. We are rapidly becoming the “Pride of Greater Manchester”, and we will continue to expand our provision and recognition of the Lions’ brand moving forward.”