Cub’s festival triumph

The four teams line up at Ashton

Last weekend saw the launch of four under eights cub’s team, in the friendly 'Bolton, Bury and Rochdale RL Development Group' festival at Ashton Bears.

The festival was coordinated by Bolton, Bury and Rochdale Rugby League Development Officer Ryan Bradley, he said: “The four clubs have been training for a while now and needed a bit of competition to keep them interested. At the recent club survey all four said they were willing to play similar teams but just needed a bit of help getting it off the ground, which I was more than happy to do.”

The teams taking part were Westhoughton Lions from Bolton, Milnrow Cobras and Littleborough from Rochdale. In addition, the host club Ashton Bears, part of the Wigan and Leigh Service area, are coached by Bolton Community Rugby League Coach and Leigh Centurions player John Duffy.

Mr Duffy said: “All of the teams were a bit nervous as none had ever played before. The coaches were fantastic, helping out players from other teams and ensuring the game was played in the right spirit. It was a fantastic advert for the game and we are looking to play a few more of these festivals in preperation for entering the North West Counties league next season.”

The festival this Sunday (31 January) will be held at Westhoughton Lions Cunningham Rd site know as 'The Lions Den' (10.30am start). It will the be the turn of Littleborough and Milnrow to each host a festival before all teams are invited to Spotalnd on Sunday 20 March to warm up the crowd before the Rochdale Hornets Vs Swinton Lions fixture.