On Monday 23rd 8 schools from throughout the borough competed at Cardinal Langley High School, Middleton. Belfield, Elmwood and Castleton set the early pace scoring victories in their opening fixtures. Belfield and Elmwood were able to maintain their unbeaten runs until the penultimate group fixture where the two teams faced each other. Belfield emerged victorious edging out Elmwood 3 tries to 2. This result meant that Sandbrook needed to defeat Hollin Primary School by three tries or more to progress to the semi finals, Sandbrook got the result they required defeating Hollin 4-0!

In Group B it was a much tighter affair with no schools managing to string a row of victories together. After all the group fixtures St. Mary’s RC and St. John Fishers emerged as the top two teams in group consisting of St. Josephs RC (Heywood) and Castleton.

In the 3rd/4th place play off St. Mary’s RC (Langley) and Sandbrook where involved in an absolute thriller. After normal time it was two tries each so the match went to extra time. After extra time no tries were scored so the match went to sudden death – first try wins! Sudden death lasted only a couple of minutes before St. Mary’s progressed up the pitch and managed to cross the whitewash in the corner to finish third and be the first team confirmed to play at Spotland on Sunday 6th July.

In the final Belfield had too much for St. John Fisher who had done incredibly well to reach the final after an opening game defeat. Belfield were rightly crowned champions after winning all four of their fixtures.

On Tuesday the festival was held at the Littleborough Community Campus, St. Johns RC scored two earlier victories over Moorhouse (Milnrow) and St. James CE. Milnrow parish were the run away leaders in group two scoring 9 tries whilst conceding just 3 in their three group fixtures. St. Johns RC and Milnrow Parish contested a closely fought contest with the game again going into extra time. After extra time the match was still tied at 1-1. Sudden death extra time followed St. Johns pressure eventually paid off with a great team try resulting in the crucial try being scored.

On Wednesday 24th the festival moved across town to Heywood at Siddal Moor High School. All Souls, St. Michaels, and Norden Primary all managed to remain undefeated throughout the group stages. Norden Primary, despite not conceding a single try all day were terribly unlucky not to reach the final, missing out to St. Michaels CE (Bamford) on the amount of tries scored. All Souls emerged as runaway leaders in group two with St. Edwards CE (Castleton) coming in second place. Norden and St. Edwards competed in the 3rd/4th place play off with Norden carrying their group form into the finals defeating St. Edwards 4 tries to 0!
In the third of the three finals St. Michaels looked as though they had it won until the last second of the match where All Souls crossed in the corner to force extra time. This disappointment didn’t stop St. Michaels though who emerged victorious 3-2 AET.

Rochdale Hornets Community Development officer was on hand to comment “we have seen some excellent stuff this week, I have been really impressed with the amount of skills on show! I would like to thank all the schools for their participation this week, we really appreciate the teachers making the effort, I would also like to congratulate all the children on their impeccable behaviour throughout the competition. I hope all the schools have enjoyed themselves as much as I have! The grand final takes place at Spotland prior to the Hornets match vs Keighley on 6th July. All children received family vouchers which will entitle them and their families to get into the ground for £10! All under 16s are still eligible to get into the match for just £1!”

The eight teams who will compete in the inaugural Rochdale Hornets ‘pass that ball’ Grand Final at Spotland on 6th July are:

Group one : St. Johns RC, All Souls CE, St. Marys RC, St. Michaels CE
Group two : Norden CPS, Belfield, St. John Fisher RC, Milnrow Parish CPE

“I know several of the children have already joined up with local amateur rugby league clubs as a result of our coaching throughout the year. I hope this enthusiasm will result in lots of this years participants signing up to Rochdale Hornets Summer School, the summer school will run 10am – 2pm on August 4th, 5th and 6th at Oulder Hill Community High School! At a cost of just £10 per child we feel this is fantastic value for money. The summer school will be open to all boys and girls aged from 7-13. To register for the summer please ring Me (Mat Gartland) at the club on 01706 648004.”