Competitve and friendly local derby

Ilkeston's under 11s, and Long Eaton's under 11/12 team put on a treat of a game on Sunday morning.

The core values of sportsmanship were on show from before the first whistle as both teams held a joint huddle to highlight what they'd worked on recently and were hoping to show in the game.

The quality was high throughput and some of the skills to go forward were outstanding, as was the support play which led to some great continuity with passes to players in space and audacious offloads creating some incredible tries - teamwork truly on display in abundance.

The Long Eaton side has developed tremendously over the last 12 months. Particular praise must go to their newest player who only started two weeks previously yet was able to make the most of his physical attributes by scoring some super tries and making some thumping tackles!

Ilkeston's award winners this week were:

Matt Briddon - Creative Genius - could have won all three awards as he was outstanding on both sides of the ball throughout and worked tirelessly all morning.

Dennie Green - Hardwork Hero - size of a mouse but heart of a lion, Dennie was everywhere as usual making solid tackles, going forward creatively and being an effective support player in and around contact.

Matthew Robinson - Defensive Warrior - always one of the best defenders and hardest workers, Matthew's resilience really shone through as he took a couple of strong tackles by some much older opposition players (nearly two years in one case) yet had the will to chase down an attacker who looked certain to score only to be chopped down short of the line.

Thank you for coming Long Eaton, we will see you next season.

Next week sees Ilkeston u11s travel to our friends at Moderns who we always enjoy playing.