It was a positive start for our U14’s & U16’s as London Junior League got underway this weekend.

This Saturday saw the first fixture of the 2017 London Junior League Season. After a very active Pre-Season which has seen a number of players taking part in regular activity across the Winter months, it was a welcome sight to see the post pad’s and flags laid out on Perth Road in preparation for some Rugby League.

Our U14’s had the pleasure of hosting Invicta Panthers at home, and were under no illusions how tough the challenge would be from a notoriously strong club. There were plenty of new faces for this year’s U14’s but the beauty of such a long pre-season has meant that they have gelled together already and so were able to compete for long periods with the boys from Invicta, albeit losing their way in the final 10 minutes or so as the game finished 40 points to 22 in favour of the Panthers.

U14’s Head Coach Paul Quill was extremely pleased with his young charges and spoke highly of the way in which they approached the game, with games coming thick and fast he will be looking for another positive performance this weekend as they welcome Sussex Merlins.

Meanwhile our U16’s age group led by First Team player Dion Chapman travelled to Brentwood for an extremely tough start against the Eels. The Eels are one of the most consistent teams in the London Junior League and boasted a roster of 27 players to pick from, so the Skolars were in for a tough morning of Rugby League.

However the U16’s rose to the challenge, bolstered by London Broncos Scholarship player Dylan Jimni and with captain Fraser Piercy-Farley leading the charge they raced into a 20-0 lead at half-time. A smart and enthusiastic half, left Brentwood with far too much to do in the second 30 minutes and even though they mounted a spirited come-back, to make the final 5 minutes nervy for the Skolars boys, it was too big a mountain to climb and the boys from North London secured a fantastic 30-24 victory.

This weekend see’s the U14’s welcome Sussex Merlins to Perth Road with a 10.30am kick off scheduled, before the U16’s get the prime slot on the Stadium Pitch as they welcome 9’s Champions North Herts Crusaders with a kick off scheduled for 12pm.