Four-try Galbraith makes an instant impact for Rangers
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 21 January 2009
NOWHERE TO GO: Ben White, of Saddleworth Rangers under-14s, is stopped in his tracks.
LEWIS GALBRAITH enjoyed a four-star debut for Saddleworth Rangers under-14s, who maintained their advantage in the Rugby Oldham Junior Tri-Team Challenge stakes with a 44-4 victory over local rivals Higginshaw.
Galbraith benefited from Rangers’ season’s best performance, running in four tries to help his new team put memories of last week’s North-West Counties Cup semi-final defeat behind them.
The other scorers for the home side were Ben White, Jack Connor, Ryan Maneely and Chris Bolton. White also slotted home six conversions.
Jack Hughes came up with the Higgy try in the first half, with the scoreline standing at 18-4 as the sides switched ends.
Ross Hansford picked up the man-of-the-match award for Saddleworth, with Galbraith the top defender and Bradley Knowles, deputising for Josh Bradbury and Lewis Ralph at scrum-half, getting the coaches’ award.
It leaves Rangers top of the three-team table, with the next game — Higginshaw versus Oldham St Anne’s — taking place on Sunday, January 25.
A 24-0 home win over Wigan St Cuthbert’s maintained the unbeaten record of Rangers under-16s.
An 11th win from as many games pushed Rangers two points clear at the top of division two in the North-West Counties League.
The Wigan side started strongly and with a bout of early pressure tested the home defence. Rangers kept their composure, though, producing some fine, flowing rugby which led to a pair of excellent long-range tries.
Sam Wilson ensured that Saddleworth kept a clean sheet with a fine cover tackle close to the line late on, the third time in four matches his side have managed such a feat.
Man-of-the-match, scrum-half Tommy Smith, was outstanding in defence closely followed by prop forwards Lewis Hough and Ben Anchor, while full-back Chris Kiss was solid.
The try scorers were Hough, Curtis Robinson, Jack Francis, Wilson and Nathan Jewitt, with Smith adding two goals.
A 38-4 away-day win against Cadishead put Rangers under-15s through to the next stage of the North-West Counties Cup.
The try scorers were James Maude, Nick McLean, Dan Mulqueen, Andrew Salt, John Deakin, Chris Yarwood, S Rhodes and Jacob Mayers, with conversions from Nathan Shaw-Langhorn (two) and Luke Du Feu.
Rangers under-11s went down to a 34-4 defeat at Haydock, but the final scoreline doesn’t reflect the effort put in by the local side.
A Dan Holmes try was the solitary success for Saddleworth, for whom Sam Ogden was man-of-the-match.
WATERHEAD under-15s continued with their relentless promotion push, casting aside the challenge of Ashton Bears of Wigan 26-0 at home.
The visitors’ hard work meant Waterhead had to be patient, but they managed to maintain enough composure to score four tries.
The home team opened their account with a training ground move, scored by Daniel Yates and converted by Ben Whitehead, to take a 6-0 half time lead.
The second half saw Waterhead control the ball better with an excellent defence throughout.
Yates went in again, converted by Whitehead for 12-0. A Whitehead penalty made it 14-0 and though the tie got a bit feisty, Waterhead stayed cool and Jack Cooke went over twice, both converted, to give the team a well-deserved win.
The under-16s, meanwhile, returned from their National Cup meeting at Skirlaugh with a pleasing 36-0 win.
Jordan Hanley got two tries, Jordan Curtis, Anthony Mellor and Zac Massey one each, and efforts from Jack Mayall and Anthony Adam represented their first scores for the club. Luc Kinder kicked four conversions.
SHORT-HANDED Oldham St Anne’s under-15s overcame the challenge of Latchford Albion Giants to win 24-10 at home.
Despite having only 14 players, Saints overcame a spirited Latchford side thanks to first-half tries from Josh Bradbury, Michael Lockwood and Ryan Bradbury, plus two conversions and a penalty from Kyle Mayall.
Nick Ryan crossed straight after half-time, with another Mayall conversion establishing a 22-0 lead.
The visitors came back with 10 unanswered points, but a Mayall penalty late on kept Saints top of the North-West Counties division one table.
SHAW Rhinos under-15s progressed to the second round of the Lancashire Cup with a 20-4 win over Rochdale Mayfield.
There were stand-out performances from Joe Chambers-Molden, Sam Bentley and Richard Adams, who was man-of-the-match on his debut for the club.
Try scorers were Luke Bentley, Jonathan Pertolbi, Sam Bentley and John Botham, with Botham landing two conversions.
SADDLEWORTH School’s Year Seven side lost 36-6 at home to Wade Deacon of Halton, ending their involvement in the Carnegie Champion Schools competition at the quarter-finals stage.
