Sweet 16 for gritty Rangers

COMING THROUGH: Michael Tattersall (right), of Waterhead under-17s, attempts to find a gap in the Leyland Warriors line.

YOUTH RUGBY: SADDLEWORTH Rangers under-16s booked a semi-final date in the North-West Counties Development Cup after a 16-0 victory over Leigh Miners Rangers.

Rangers were made to work hard for their win, with a heavy pitch making life difficult for both sides and it wasn’t until the last few minutes of the first half that the local outfit’s pressure finally told.

Bowden Morgan scooted over from acting half-back for a try that Cameron Matthews duly goaled.

Rangers doubled their lead soon after the restart when man-of-the-match Adam Wardle and Dominic Elkin combined down the right for Harry Wallace to score the try of the game. Matthews again added the conversion.

Sebastian Leech sealed Rangers’ place in the last four moments later with another well-worked try down the right.

Rangers under-10s maintained their great start to 2010 with a 34-10 win at Atherton Dragons.

With four tries, two of which were converted, Rangers were in the driving seat by half-time.

Nathan Roebuck was the first name of the scoresheet, and was quickly followed by Matt Fletcher, who goaled his own touchdown.

Elliott Fish skipped through the Dragons line before sprinting two-thirds of the length of the pitch to score his first Rangers try.

And before the half-time whistle, Will Rice poured more water on Dragons’ fire with try number four.

Rangers piled up more points in the second half, thanks to Nathan Burgess, Fletcher and Guy Edwards.

Fish and Edwards also added conversions.


Cup-final repeat

SADDLEWORTH Year 10s are through to the north-west final of the Carnegie Champion Schools’ Cup.

They defeated Southlands School (Chorley) 24-4, to set up a repeat of last year’s showdown against William Beaumont, Warrington.

In heavy underfoot conditions, holders Saddleworth established an 8-0 lead with tries from Scott Booth and Chris Bolton.

An enthusiastic Southlands side rallied and scored a try of their own after a neat kick to the corner.

Saddleworth called on their experience in the second half to swing the ball wide and create further tries for John Casson and man-of the match Josh Bradbury (two).

Bradbury added two conversions to seal his side’s passage, although the scoreline was little harsh on a Southlands outfit who had threatened to cause an upset in the first half.


Waterhead topple Warriors

WATERHEAD under-17s produced their best performance of the season so far to record a 32-8 victory at Leyland Warriors.

Leading 12-4 at half-time thanks to a brace of converted tries from Sam Wilson — Michael Tattersall was the successful goal-kicker — the local outfit continued to dominate their hosts in the second period.

Waterhead touched down on four more occasions through Jordan Hanley (two), Curtis Robinson and captain Anthony Mellor, and Tattersall added two more conversions to complete a stylish victory.