Pacy wing star Leah Gibbins was the hero in this thrilling battle of the titans as she scorched in to score the winning try in the last act of this high-octane league clash at Moss Lane.
The game was billed as “the game of the season” by many and it certainly lived up to all expectations as these two evenly matched teams slugged it out to throw this year’s League Title race wide open.
Waterloo Tyldesely are blessed with a large squad featuring several Divisional and County players as well as an England U20 star; they are always committed and competitive in all aspects of their game, so motivation levels were high for both squads from the very first second of this superb game.
LSH were the first on the score sheet as organiser-in-chief Alison Burrows put the ever-improving centre Laura Davidson through a gap enabling her to crash through a robust defence to score a confidence boosting try for the home side.
The Waterloo Tyldesley outfit were never going to give in and some shrewd kicking and chasing saw them take the lead shortly before half time with a converted try. More sustained pressure led the visitors to take the lead in the second half with one of the best tries that we have seen at U18s girls rugby, taking the score to 5-14.
Things looked bleak, and the home team could have been excused for panicking or simply giving in, but this Moss Lane outfit showed the watching spectators that they have developed into a force to be reckoned with. Livewire Ellis Greenwood, who possibly had her best game for the club, constantly gave great service to Alison Burrows enabling her to weave her magic creating and preserving space for runners.  This time Banksy got on the end of Alison’s pass to crash over taking the score line to 10-14 in favour of the visitors.
The forwards were simply superb throughout the contest, with both props playing the full game, and their efforts enabled the LSH backs to weave their magic. It’s important to note that every single LSH player gave their all in this game. Nobody gave up. Nobody doubted that they could go on and win the game. Nobody panicked.  
But with only seconds left on the clock, there was still high drama to follow as a penalty close to the visitors line was quickly taken by Ellis and the ball swept out to possibly the quietest member of the LSH squad, Leah Gibbins, who’s name will forever go down in history as the player that scored the winning try in the final seconds of THE most exciting game of the year.
As the final whistle blew, the LSH girls jumped for joy, the spectators from both sides cheered and applauded their players and the Waterloo/Tyldesley girls were magnanimous in defeat.  It was a bitter pill for them to swallow, but they conducted themselves brilliantly which only enhanced their reputation in our eyes as a truly fantastic team.
Full praise then to the LSH ground staff for enabling the game to be played, to Waterloo/Tyldesley for being such a great team (and our best rugby friends, too).... to the LSH girls for keeping calm under pressure and believing in themselves (and for staying IN on Saturday night)....and to Leah Gibbins for scoring the most important try of her life.