The Under 19 Vipers made the long trip up to Chorley in Lancashire on Saturday 2nd June to take on the Buccaneers of Chorley and Leeds Assassins U19 programmes in their first tournament of the season.

The triangular tournament saw the hosts Chorley face off against Leeds in the opening game. A score in the first half, followed by two quick scores in the second saw the visiting Assassins walk away 20 – 0 victors.

Up next were the Vipers, taking on the Assassins. A slow start from the Vipers saw them fall behind 6 – 0 to a Leeds team clearly buoyed by their earlier victory. However, this was to be the high point of the game for Leeds. Stung into action the Vipers began to turn the screw on the Assassins. The electric running of Cy Roche and Reuben Eddy behind a dominant offensive line saw the Vipers strike back immediately to level the scores. From this point on the team never looked back. The defense, aby led by defensive tackle Arran Hudson, found their form and shut down the offense of the Assassins, stopping their strong running game at every turn. In sharp contrast the Vipers’ running game was rampant, eventually scoring 27 unanswered points. The Vipers running out 27-6 winners in their first game.

Following a short break the Vipers found themselves facing the host Chorley Buccaneers. Strong running behind the offensive line of Josh Hunt, Theo Eddy and Max Reynolds saw the Vipers take an early 6 – 0 lead. It looked like the Vipers were off to a great start, however Chorley had other ideas. On the next drive the hosts stunned the visiting Vipers scoring a touchdown and extra point to take a shock 7-6 lead. This seemed to galvanise the Vipers who quickly regained their composure before racking up another 19 points thanks again to the Roche/Eddy pairing, assisted by Louis Gallagher and Bromleigh Taylor in the backfield, to go 25-6 in front. The defense held firm for the rest of the game, some crunching tackles from the Vipers linebacker corp and defensive secondary held the Bucanneers until the closing seconds when the hosts managed to sneak in for a consolation TD and extra point to make the final score 25 – 15 to the Vipers.

Overall the away day was a resounding success, 2 – 0 on the day leaving the Vipers sitting atop the BAFA U19 7 v 7 Northern Conference.