Match Report
Friday Night Friendly – Tigers vs Macclesfield
Last Friday evening the Tigers took to the field for their second pre-season hit-out, facing old rivals Macclesfield – familiar foes from our days in National 2 North.
With confidence high after the excellent display against Preston Grasshoppers, we knew this encounter would be a stern test. Macclesfield are always big, physical and aggressive, and they were certain to probe the accuracy of our set piece in both scrum and lineout.
First Half
The Tigers flew out of the blocks, playing with pace and momentum. After just eight minutes a lovely line break put returning fly halfCharlie Wardle through, and he touched down for the opening score. Full back Josh Yee coolly slotted the extras: 7–0 Tigers.
Moments later, winger Rhys Henderson carved open the defence, feeding new centre Zane Ainsley, who finished superbly. Another Yee conversion pushed us out to 14–0.
On the stroke of half-time came perhaps the try of the night. The ball went through multiple pairs of hands before winger Sam Thorpedotted down in the corner. Yee added his third conversion and the Tigers went in at the break 21–0 up, with Macclesfield offering little answer.
Second Half
The restart brought no let-up. Barely a minute into the half, scrum half Jacob Tansey sniped his way through for the bonus-point try, extending the advantage still further.
The floodgates opened as the Tigers ran in three more tries:
- Rhys Henderson crossing after another blistering run.
- Andy Riley powering over to cap a strong forward performance.
- Sam Thorpe grabbing his second of the night.
By the final whistle it was an emphatic 45–7 victory. To their credit, Macclesfield never threw in the towel and managed a consolation try, but the evening belonged to the Tigers.
Final Thoughts
This was a brilliant all-round performance from the whole squad. The scrum was solid, the lineout accurate, and our defence outstanding – with ferocious two-man hits and relentless line speed.
Two pre-season games in, two hugely satisfying results. There’s still work to do before the league campaign begins, but everything points towards an exciting 2025/26 season ahead.
Your support will be vital, so please keep backing the boys in what promises to be a thrilling year.
Cheers,
Steve Hazz