Ford effort in vain for Rangers
Date published: 05 November 2008
LET ME THROUGH: Ryan Lynch, of Oldham St Anne’s under-12s, tries to punch a hole in the West Bank Bears line.
Junior rugby round up
JACOB Ford, watched closely by his father and England RU defence coach, Mike Ford, picked up the top tackler award for Saddleworth Rangers under-11s in his first game for the club — but his efforts weren’t enough to stop Wigan St Jude’s winning 16-6 on the road.
In near-perfect conditions, both sides put on a fantastic display of rugby which was a credit to the junior code.
Rangers opened the scoring through a try from the fast-improving Dan Holmes, Tom Jowle converting, but just before half-time the Wigan side levelled the game up.
The visitors then went ahead 12-6 before a flurry of superb passing helped them claim another score five minutes later in the corner.
Rangers under-eights lost by six tries to four at Atherton Dragons but came away with their pride intact.
Lewis Haigh performed well on his debut and there was strong running from Elijah Wolstenholme, Adam Howard, Kien Molloy and the ever-improving Sam Pellowe, while Josh Yarwood and Andrew Goodwin were strong in defence alongside man of the match Tom Healey and Ben Forster.
Rangers under-13s extended their winning streak to five matches since the start of the season with a 12-6 win at Chorley Panthers.
After an equally-balanced first half in which both defences dominated, Rangers broke the deadlock five minutes after the interval when Bowden Morgan and Sebastian Leech combined to send Joseph Harrison-Brown in at the left hand corner.
That lead was doubled almost immediately when Leech collected the ball 20 metres out and crashed through three would-be tackles before touching down.
Jack Sykes then set up Harrison-Brown for his second and Rangers’ third try of the afternoon to make the game safe.
Sebastian Leech was voted man of the match.
Honours even
A FIERCELY contested local derby between Waterhead and Saddleworth Rangers under-nines ended all square at five tries each.
Waterhead opened the scoring but were then pegged back twice by their visiting local rivals as the teams went into half-time level at two tries apiece.
The home team went into a two-try lead but Rangers never gave up and equalised in the dying seconds.
Nathan Roebuck, of Rangers, was voted man-of-the-match for his great defensive and attacking contribution.
After gifting visitors Rylands three tries in the opening 10 minutes, a try from Jack Schofield couldn’t help Waterhead under-13s at they fell to a 14-6 defeat.
Nathan Mason won the man-of-the-match award.
Waterhead under-16s made it two wins in a row with a 26-22 victory at Orrell St James.
There were a pair of tries each for Jordan Hanley and Anthony Mellor, with the latter kicking four conversions and Luc Kinder managing to strike two drop goals. Jordan Curtis was named man of the match.
Connelly hogs the limelight
COLE Connelly was the star of the show for Oldham St Anne’s under-nines, who lost to Wigan St Jude’s by eight tries to five in a pulsating clash.
Connelly picked up the boy-of-the-match award after chipping in with four tries, while the impressive Sam Hall also scored in the opening period.
An inexperienced Accrington Wildcats side were put in their place by Saints’ under-10s.
But despite running in 12 tries, the most pleasing thing from a St Anne’s perspective was the defensive effort of Regan Croft.
Saints’ points came through tries by Oliver Depetrillo (two), boy-of-the-match James Ashton (two), Alex France (two), and one each from Cameron Molloy, Joshua Fish, James Barran, Harry Akeroyd and Croft.
The pick of the bunch was Joseph Hall’s which was down to great support play on the back of good work from Nathan Done. Molloy, Fish, Barran, Croft, France and Done all converted tries.
It wasn’t such a good day for St Anne’s under-eights, who went down by seven tries to one at Blackbrook in what was a biggest defeat of the season.
Ethan Chappie claimed their only try in a testing encounter in which the massive size difference of the St Helens side paid dividends.
Saints gradually found self-belief over the course of the game, led by Thomas Barnes — voted most feared player by the opposition — and man-of-the-match Ben Ivell.
A STRONG second half-fightback from Oldham St Anne’s under-12s couldn’t quite stave off defeat at home to West Bank Bears.
Behind 22-0 at half-time, tries from Ryan Lynch (two) and Sam Akeroyd and three Paul Ainsworth goals pulled it right back to 22-18, but that was the way it stayed.
Man of the match was Jack Morrison, with Jake Deakin also impressing.
Bentley is driving force
SAM Bentley was man-of-the-match for Shaw Rhinos under-15s, who beat Culcheth Eagles 60-10 at home.
Also outstanding on the day were James Allott and Luke Bentley.
The club is on the look-out for new players and anyone interested should turn up to training at George Street playing fields, Shaw, at 10.30am on Saturdays.
A club fundraising event is to be held on Friday, November 21, at the Cartshaft in Shaw.
It is a ‘Diva Fever’ night featuring two drag queens, a DJ and food. Tickets, at £10, are available from the Cartshaft.
