Our first away trip of the 2017 season was a visit to Batley Bulldogs to play the Batley Boys as part of the Jo Cox "In it Together weekend" writes U12s Team Manager Sarah Stephenson.

The coach collected us bright and early from Cramlington Learning Village and we rocketed down the A1 to Batley. It was a gloriously sunny day and everyone at Batley was very welcoming.

We warmed up (well we warmed up a bit more as it was scorching hot) on the Batley Bulldogs pitch which is famous for its incline.

The Players were announced as if they were a professional side and the game started. We began downhill and within a few minutes we were 2 tries up and they maintained their lead throughout the whole game. The players demonstrated an excellent attitude, playing good rugby with a focus on Team Work.

A special shout out to Erik our water carrier for the day who did an excellent job.

Even our coach driver who came to watch the match said we played a really good game.

However, the fun wasn't over as the players were invited to be flag carriers for the Batley Sheffield game and they raced the mascots up the hill at half time. Lightning Cameron was off like a Rocket and was the first of our players at the top.

Once the match was over and the players had drank their body weight in water we bundled back on the bus and made our way home.

For our first proper away game it was an excellent experience which we hope the players remember for a long time. We could talk about the technical aspects of the match but that's not what it was about. It was about memories made, friendships cemented and the chance to have new experiences.

A grand day out all round.