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Junior Colts Match Reports 2008-9 September 7th Junior Colts vs Wirral (Away) Lost 22-5 Finally Northwich started to make some ground and got into the Wirral 5 mts but knocked on and Wirral cleared their lines. This was to be the story of the first half, Northwich soaking up a lot of pressure, but continuing to thwart the attack. Wirral's second penalty also went wide and so the game seemed grid locked. However, when Northwich did turn over the ball or win it from a set piece, it never seemed to make it out wide to where potentially the blacks looked to have the edge. Just before half time Wirral managed to round the Northwich defence and score, the conversion being missed. Half time could not come quickly enough so coach Clarke could give some words of advice, however after the restart a missed tackle in the back line nearly lead to an immeditae Wirral score, scrum half Houghton having to scramble back and cover the ill positioned back 3. From their gain in ground, the home side eventually worked in a second score as they stretched the blacks defence, the conversion again sailing wide. Captain Williams read the riot act to his players, some of whom were playing very much below par. He then lead the charge from the kick off and a series of powerful pick and drives battered holes in the Wirral defence and Williams eventually wriggled through a tackle to open the Blacks account. Devaney's kicked just fading past the right hand up right. This should have been the point from which Northwich pushed on, however, the game seemed to be punctuated by "interesting" refereeing decisions, which afterwards neither side could expalin. This, no doubt combined with the huge amount of effort expended by some key Northwich players seemed to take the edge of Northwich's attack. Despite some imaginative replacements and moves of position instigated by the coach, Northwich never again really threatened the Wirral line. It was Wirral that responded to the Northwich score with another of their own and then at the death a tired defence fell off one too many tackles to allow the now rampant Wirral backs to round of their victory. To add insult to injury their kicker finally found his range on probably the hardest kick he had faced. If Northwich are to compete in this top league, they need to shake off this early defeat and prepare themselves properly for this weekends challenge when they face Fleetwood at home. These sides have never met before so it will be an interesting contest for all. Kick off 12:30
Return to fixtures Return to fixtures From the kickoff Lymm applied the pressure and although the line held firm it was not long before the ref was whistling for a penalty to Lymm and Luke Emmet was slotting the first of 4 for the day. Northwich then kicked off and went straight into the attack, Lymm tried hard to clear their lines, but Scrum Half Houghton came up with the ball and darted for the corner. Fullback Roley did a great job of getting the tackle, but Houghton passed out of the tackle, inside to Devaney who scampered under the posts to score and then added the conversion. 3 - 7 Northwich. Lymm again attacked from the kick off and a fumble in the backline gave Lymm a scrum. Northwich were again pinged and Lymm cut the deficit to 1. Northwich were unable to repeat the quality of restart and for a while the game settled into its ebb and flow until twice more the ref saw something to displease him in the shadow of the Northwich posts and Lymm went into half time 12 - 7 up. The second half was a tightly contested affair with Northwich continuing to surge into Lymm only to be thwarted by the ref's whistle. Finally though the ball was taken up the left wing and at the resulting contact was quickly cleared and whipped across the backline to the flying Holt who took the opposition defence on the outside and beat it to the corner 12 - 12. The wide conversion proving too difficult for Devaney. With the clock ticking down all possibilities were ticking through the mind, another score any score to see us clear. However, Lymm were not finished, a series of pick and drives put the visitors under pressure and despite having a couple of opportunities to clear their lines, they were not well executed and inevitably it seems, Lymm pinched a try at the death to seal the game. In all it was a very good contest between too quality teams. Northwich again leave Lymm feeling that they have to some extent had to play against the 16th man, but the solution to at least some of that is in their own hands. We saw a welcome return to the field of Ryan (the Rhino) Barlow who has returned to the fold from a sojourn in soccer. His presence in the tight was notable and I am sure that the Lymm scrum half can attest to his power and weight!! Man of the match is awarded to - The front row for fronting up in the scrum against a big pack Return to fixtures In near perfect playing conditions, Northwich kicked off and immediately steamed into the attack. A series of quick rucks had Northwich pressing and looking like certain to score when the last pass was judged forwards. The play continued in Caldy's half until a missed tackle in the centre allowed a searing break by one of Caldy's rapid back 3 who outstripped a flailing defence for the first score. A good conversion kick hit the posts and went safe. Northwich should have taken this as a wake up call, but failed to react decisively and eventually gave away a penalty in front of the posts and Caldy eased to 8 - 0. Northwich seemed to react to this, but now seemed like they were trying to force the game. A good blindside pick up from a Northwich scrum should have seen a score, but the pass from 8 to 9 was delayed a fraction too long and the speedy Caldy winger snatched the interception and dissapeared under the posts. 15 - 0. Northwich now finally started to go up the gears and some direct forwards play set up James Underhill to weave through the last of the defence and score under the posts, Pete Devaney adding the extras. 15 - 7 With the first half drawing to a close it looked like this would be the scoreline, but a clearance kick from defence was only half heartedly chased down by Northwich and again the Caldy backs took up the opportunity to run at the disorganised defence and scored the final points of the half. Northwich, who were being coached by First team Coach Kevin Greaves were given a calm and sensible talk at half time and the lads turned around determined to improve. If there were "Opta" stats to be had for such a game it would have been interesting to see how much time Northwich spent in Caldys 22 during this half. Northwich literally laid seige to their line and though the defence was well organised and dogged, eventually chinks showed. Firstly scrum half Houghton found a half gap and scampered through it, despite players out wide the big shout game from flanker Ben Jones who was supporting the inside shoulder and was duly fed the ball for a score under the posts, Devaney adding the extras. Again Northwich recovered the kickoff and set up camp in the Caldy half, again the defence was dogged and again it was Ben Jones that crashed his way through and over the Caldy defence to score. Devaney's extras bringing the score to 21 - 22. Northwich could now sniff a victory, but became desparate to score. Firstly Houghton looked to have succeded as he sniped through the defence and looked to have scored just to the right of the posts, the ref though called a knock forward. Twice more Northwich crossed the Caldy tryline, each time the ball was adjudged held up by the referee. Caldy were defending for all they were worth and chance after chance was thwarted. Eventually the ref caught the Caldy defence offside and awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Whilst the captain pointed to the posts for the almost certain points another team member inexplicably tapped and ran the ball, which eventually ended up in touch. However the pressure on the Caldy line remained relentless, and phase after phase worked back and forth across the park. Finally a good ruck lead to quick ball and Robin Houghton picked the hole in the defencesive line and scampered through it to finally take the lead. Devany remaining 100% with the boot to take it to 28 - 22 With 5 mins left at this stage all Northwich had to do was to gather in the kick off and make sure the final few mins were played out back where the rest of the second half had been played - in the Caldy 22. However, this they failed to do and Caldy went all out to recover the game they had lead for so long. A series of misjudgements and mistakes kept Northwich pinned in there own 22 and with the clock almost gone Caldy spun the ball out to the winger. The pass was clearly forwards to all but the referee and the defence failed to nudge him into touch and he scored in the corner. 28 -27. This left Caldy's kicker with a huge effort to win the game from the touch line but his kick was good and Caldy secured the win. Return to fixtures Stung by this score Penrith chased their kickoff hard and Northwich's backline defence was found wanting as they moved the ball wide and scored in the corner, the kick sailing wide. The game settled to a pattern with Northwich making good ground only to loose the ball and be sent back into their own half to start again. Just before half time Penrith mounted an attack and from a line out they created a good driving maul which Northwich failed to deal with 10 - 5 at half time. Northwich turned to face the sun second half and having listened to the half time talk, rolled their sleves up and got stuck in. Northwich pressed and probed looking for the score to open the second half. An attaking scrum about 15 meters out proved the perfect opportunity for Robin Houghton to break from the base and out sprint the cover to the posts. Devaney made sure of the extras. 12 - 10. Northwich tried to press on, but time and again Penrith made good yards through some very mediocre tackling by certain team members. As such others were having to scramble to defend and for some time this was working. Northwich withstood much pressure but slowly the cracks showed and Penrith scored to take the lead 17 - 12. It was now that Northwich needed to score again, but Penrith defended well and opportunities were snuffed out. The game looked set to play out on this score line, but a period of sustained pressure by Penrith lead to a few more Northwich injuries and having had to use the only two subs available at half time, the bench was bare. As a result Penrith rolled in 3 more tries in the dying minutes of the game to present Northwich with a sound beating. Hopefully lessons will be learnt from this, not only by those that played but by those that were "unavailable" for the long journey. Man of the match for Northwich was shared between James Turrell and Robin Houghton Return to fixtures Northwich were missing several players for this game including Captain Phil Williams who was with the Cheshire U18s playing Yorkshire, however, despite having to make several positionanal changes, Phil Clarke was still able to field what was , on paper at least, a strong team. From the kick off Northwich challenged fiercely and looked like they were going to blow holes in the Stockport defence. The line out, which had been the source of concern for certain supporters in the past few weeks worked much better and the rucking and mauling was strong. However, with some great defence from the visitors and some poor decision making by the hosts, Stockport’s line held firm. There were some close calls though, the best of which probably coming when winger Ben Redfern chipped the rushing defence and chased up well, only for the bounce of the ball to beat him as he crossed the line to dot it down. The game was fairly evenly matched for much of the first half, Northwich just about edged the forward exchanges, where as Stockports '10' kept pinning the Blacks back whenever the chance arose. The deadlock was finally broken when Stockport moved the ball across the face of the Northwich posts and managed to get around the drift defence to squeeze into the corner. At half time and 0 - 5 down there was still everything to play for, unfortunately early in the second half Stockport again managed to squeeze around the drift defence and into the corner for a second score. From here on Northwich were chasing the game and despite there being plenty of time on the clock the choices taken seemed to get more desparate. In previous weeks a 10 - 0 deficit would have seemed easily reversible, however, this week, for what ever reason, it seemed like a mountain to climb. Time and again good ball was kicked badly, allowing Stockports backs, who by now were brim full of confidence to run it back at us. Later in the second half the game lost all flow as the ref found plenty of things to blow up for and the game stuttered to its inevitable conclusion. Congratulations to Stockport on a solid performance and for recording their first victory at Moss Farm for 2 seasons, for Northwich, they need to continue to build on the good work from the last few weeks, but also to reflect on the choices taken and the execution of those choices in order to get themselves back into winning ways. Return to fixtures From the restart Northwich again had to soak up much pressure as the home side pressed and again the ref was quick to see infringements on the Northwich side. A resultant penalty in front on the sticks taking the score to 3 - 5. The frustration in the Northwich side was palbable as almost every attempt to relieve pressure was greeted with a blast from the refs whistle. Another penalty saw the vistors trailing 6 - 5. Having been returned to 15 men Northwich enjoyed a short respite before Underhill was deemed to have hands in the ruck, from his own tackle and he too was sin binned. Eventually the Stockport pressure told and a series of fumbles allowed their wide player to scoot around the defence and in under the posts just before half time. 13 - 5. The second half saw Northwich now with sun and slope advantage and expectations of getting back on top. Within a few mins it was Stockport that were starting to displease the official and so it was all the more galling when a mix up in defence allowed Stockport in for another 7 pointer. At 20 - 5 the game was drifting away and with only a small bench to work with (9 players were unavailable), it was not looking good. However, the Blacks stuck to their task and little by little they started to get into the game. It was Stockports turn to defend their line and Northwich's turn to batter away at it. The break came when Underhill, back from his 10 min rest, powered in low and hard to score Northwich's first of the second half, frustratingly the kick again missed the target. 20 - 10. With about 15 to go, it was Northwich that were finishing the stronger, Stockport players were starting to go down and the Blacks superior fitness was starting to show. Ben Jones and Jon Dale came off the bench to increase the pressure and Dale was unfortunate to be held up over the line from a great 5m surge. The Blacks probed and hunted for the break, eventually Tuzza darted through a gap and touched down. Devaney finally found his kicking boots and slotted a difficult conversion 20 -17. And just when you thought we could go on and win it - the ref blows full time......... This was a top vs bottom league fixture and the result does nothing to relieve the pressure on the Northwich Colts, however, it underlined to all that the margins in this league are very small and there are certainly no easy games. It felt like Northwich had been architects in their own downfall with the first half penalty count. However, a tally up at the end showed that actually we had only conceeded 11 to Stockports 13, Stockport though suffered no Yellow cards. Next week Northwich welcome Cumbrian side Penrith to Moss Farm, a fixture that went the way of the home side last outing, Northwich will be determined to ensure that the same is true this time. Kick Off - 12:30pm Try Scorers Josh Holt, James Underhill, JamesTurrell Return to fixtures Northwich, it seemed, started the game thinking that all they had to do was turn up and the game would be theirs, however, despite being several leagues lower it was Park that opened the scoring as Northwich gave away several penalties and got pushed all the way back to their 5 meter line. A scrum there saw the home 8 crash in close to the sticks and it was duly converted. Phil Clarkes team "talk" behind the posts was probably heard at next weeks opposition - Caldy and the lads kicked off knowing in no uncertain terms what was expected of them. Suitably stung, they started to deliver and although the home side held on for a further 5 mins, it seemed almost inevitable that Northwich would get one back. Richard Hart joining the line from Full Back elected to go himself and crashed through 3 to open the scoring for the Blacks. Pete Devaney slotted the extras to tie the scores. Now Northwich started to use their powerful pack to batter into the heart of the Birkenhead defence, with a series of pick and drives that shredded the home defence. Northwich's second score looked assured as rampaging second row James Elliott surged through the defence but he elected to pass with the line at his mercy, which proved to be the wrong option. Number 8 James Cotterill had a similar moment a little later, missing the winger with the final pass and hitting touch. However, from here Northwich pushed on and despite some dogged defence from Park, Northwich just kept coming at them. Tries from Redfern and a second from Hart started to put daylight between the teams. New signing Tim Bridgwater didn't see much quality ball on the right wing in the first half, but what he got he ran well, always looking threatening. In defence he showed his skills with a few bone jarring tackles on the Birkenhead back line. Unfortunately he was feeling unwell at half time and had to come off, but made a good impression in his first start and we look forward to seeing him fit and well soon. Hale took over the right wing berth from half time and immediately set about showing Tim that there was competition for this place as he ricocheted between tackles and over the line for the first score of the second half within seconds of the kick off. The introduction of Cheshire tight head Chris Bridle and Flanker Ben Jones, did nothing to make Birkenhead Parks day and easier as they set about a forward dominated session which culminated in 2 tries for prop Ryan Barlow, who crashed through the defence for his first, whilst his second was the easiest of dot downs after Chris Bridle was brought down inches short of the line. The backs were not to be out done and Redfern grabbed more, whilst Elliot also added for the forwards. With Parks spirits failing and the score mounting it was suggested to the ref that enough damage had been done for one day and the final whistle sounded a few mins early. The final tally was 10 tries to Northwich, Ben Redfern (4), Richard Hart (2), Ryan Barlow (2) Josh Hale and James Elliot - with 7 of the 10 tries converted by Peter Devaney. Return to fixtures The Blacks had more territory and possession in the first 15 mins, but following a line out on the Northwich 22, Northwich streamed through to put pressure on but left the door open and a Caldy player avoided about 5 tackles on his way to the line. So against the run of play Northwich were 5 - 0 down. The lads redoubled their efforts and again put in plenty of pressure, but too often the ref would halt the advance, by finding fault with something. Eventually though a good lineout position was gained from a mid field penalty kick, Williams taking the ball and calling for the drive. It looked as though the drive was going to be stopped short, but then Flanker Jones decided to add his strength and the Caldy defence fractured and Northwich powered over. There was a moments pause whilst the ref considered the position, and indicated the try. The kick was far from simple, being wide out to the left but Devaney bisected the uprights and at last Northwich were in the lead. Caldy in return were given 2 penalties in kicking range in the first half and slotted both, the first one was from some distance out and reminded the Blacks that any indiscipline would cost them dearly. Halftime Northwich trailed 11 - 7, having felt yet again that they had been largely referred out of the game. The second half started a little better than the first, until a failure of the drift defence allowed a hole to open up and Caldy scored close to the posts to go to 18 - 7. The Blacks continued to dig deep and set up some great positions. A driving maul made 25 metres up the park and just as it looked like it had crossed the line and scored, the away supporters realised that the ref was blowing for a penalty rather than the try! No one was close enough to tell what the penalty had been given for. Time to regroup and go again, a lovely chip over the top of the onrushing defence was just about covered by the Caldy winger but Underhill was right up on his chip and immediately took the legs out of the receiver who spilled the ball. Supporting player Hart, hacked on and Underhill joined in and scampered after the kick. The Caldy player stopped dead to try and field the ball, Underhill kicked on as he collided with the stationary player and Hart raced after the ball to score, only to hear the shrill bast of the whistle bringing play back for yet another Caldy penalty - apparently for a push! More and more Northwich pressed, and Caldy were now giving penalties away freely and in good field position, Northwich tried to take quick taps and run the ball and every time they were brought back to do it again, allowing Caldy's defence time to realign. Eventually it was decided to take the points that were on offer and try and start again. Devaney slotting an easy 3 from under the posts. It looked like no one would get there, but Redfern flew back off his wing and the back row raced back, snuffing out the attack, turning the ball over and releasing a counter attack, unfortunately the very good kick ahead by Redfern found touch. The game though ended up with a penalty to Nothwich in their own half and no time on the clock so one last heroic attempt was made to bludgeon away up field with Bridle leading the charge and getting a clash of heads for his efforts. As the coaches gathered the lads together it was clear to see that they were gutted with yet another loss, especially as they had had more possession and territory. However, this is a learning process and the wrinkles will get worked out on the training paddock. what is needed now is for ALL players to make training and not just the regulars. Return to fixtures The match between these two sides is always a passionate affair and todays was to be no different. Lymm put Northwich under severe pressure from the kick off, turning over the received ball and pressing deep into the heart of the Northwich defence. Despite dogged defence, the blacks found it hard to clear their lines and soaked up much pressure before finally being pinged for a penalty that Luke Emmit had little difficulty in turning into 3 points. The position was repeated shortly afterwards and then followed up with an expertly taken drop goal to stretch the lead to 9 points. Eventually Northwich dug their way out of their own half and started to put the pressure back on Lymm, who soon conceded a penalty in front of their own posts and Devaney rifled over the kick. Just when it looked like Northwich would get back into the game a mix up in the positioning of the Back row at kick off left the Fly Half exposed and forced to hold on and conceded a penalty to instantly wipe out the 3 points gained. As the half proceeded Northwich came more into the game and a break from Williams blind side from the base of the scrum saw him feed Hougton who exchanged passes with Bridgwater and then kicked long infield. The chase was good and the defence caught in possession but further benefit could not be made of the position. The second half saw Northwich play much more of the Rugby in Lymm's half, however, they lacked the key to the Lymm defence and despite several times where it looked likely that Northwich would score, it was Lymm that took the only points of the half when a pressured box kick went vertical and Lymm recovered it and worked around the Northwich defence to score in the corner. The usually reliable Emmitt missed the conversion and also missed a later penalty from near in front of the posts. The game and the result show that this team are not very far away from the standard needed to win in this league, however, it was the little bits and pieces that let them down this week. The team needs to take heart from a solid performance and work on its precision if they want to do the double next week over Lancashire side Fleetwood. Return to fixtures From the off Northwich camped in the Ormskirk half and earned themselves 2 penalties. The normally reliable Parkinson had not brought his kicking boots though and the game stayed scoreless. Shortly afterwards the blacks created a great scoring opportunity, with a 3 on 1 overlap, but contrived to botch a try which would have been easier to score than miss. Against the run of play, Ormskirk got a penalty, shaped to kick for touch, but changed their minds at the last minute as they spotted that too much of the Northwich cover was defending the kick. They spun the ball out wide to their flying 13 and he proved, not for the last time, too hot to handle. Again the blacks applied the pressure and had much of the territory and possession, however, another break out by the flying 13 set up a line out deep in the blacks half and although they helped out several attacks, eventually they cracked to a front row drive that just came down on the line. A penalty deep into the first half was finally put over, when captain Williams asked scrum half Hart to take on the kicking duties. 14 - 3 at half time. The game was almost sealed just after half time when another break against the run of play saw Ormskirk extend their lead with a try under the posts. However, the blacks were not for giving up and mounted several very good attacks. Captain Phil Williams came back in from 13 to 8 and almost powered over the line, being stopped inches short of the line.(Photo attached) Eventually Northwich found the line when Houghton drew the defence onto him and fed Cotterill on the outside for a try. The kick was just wide, but the score board looked more respectable and the game was back within reach at 21 - 8. Time and again Northwich won possession, but could not find the route to the try line. Probably the best chance was winger Bridgwater, who was put through a nice gap and sprinted for the line. The support was not quick enough to get on his shoulder, but with a one on one on the full back, he was starting favourite. However, rather than try to step the full back he tried to go through him, with the result that he was well tackled and the opportunity lost. The final whistle came with Northwich still in the Ormskirk 22, but still not working out how to get through the defence. The lads keep loosing, but they are certainly not outclassed in this league and the coaches keep hoping that all the good work will one day come together and they will start to get the results they deserve. Return to fixtures Northwich kicked off with the wind and immediately put the home team under pressure. From the first ruck it was clear that this game was going to be a hard fought affair, neither team could afford to loose this one. Preston struggled to clear their lines into the teeth of the wind and gave Northwich a chance to consolidate their attack. Constant pressure eventually lead to Northwich opening the scoring as Piers Crozier crashed in for the first score. Matt Parkinson’s conversion was good, despite the views of the home crowd. However, Preston were not going to just role over and die because they were a score down, they fought back hard and a communication mix up in the blacks back line lead to them equalising the score shortly afterwards. Northwich were edging the battle of the contact, with some great rucking and mauling but it was tight. A scrum to Northwich on their own 10m line was turned over and within a flash Preston had scored again and Northwich were 14 – 7 down. At this point Northwich could have let their heads go down; however, they were in no mood for loosing today. There hard work was soon to be rewarded with a penalty on the Preston 10m, and Full Back Parkinson stepped up and requested the shot at the posts. The kick sailed with the wind clean through the posts 14 – 10. Northwich now had belief and they kept working for each other. Although there was still a lot of tension in the side, which caused unnecessary errors, little by little they started to dictate the game. Captain Phil Williams got the next try, finishing off a well worked move out to the right and Parkinson added the extras. Northwich went into half time 14 – 17 up, but now turned to face the wind. Half time saw a few changes as the coaches worked through their plans, Houghton moved in from 12 to 9 and Devaney came on to 12. Redfern replaced Milne on the wing. Bridle had taken an injury earlier and had been replaced at tight head by Harries.Although now playing into the wind, it did not deter Parkinson from stepping up for another shot at goal slotting another penalty shortly after the restart to take Northwich 14 – 20 clear. The wind kept Northwich nervous though, with the threat of the high kick always present. Those that did come in were well fielded by Parkinson, non more so than the clearing kick that came from an attack by Redfern down the left wing. Redfern was stopped inches short and the defenders turned over the ball and kicked clear. Parkinson fielded the ball on the half way line and ran it back, through countless tackles to score. He was not able to convert his try though. 14 – 25. By now Northwich’s superior fitness was beginning to tell, coupled with a judicious use of the remaining bench, Northwich were able to keep up a good head of pressure on the Grasshoppers defence. Elliot replaced Baker in the second row, Phillips came back into 13, Williams returning to his more familiar 8 and Crozier coming off for a well earned rest. Redfern may have failed to take the first score of the second half, but he was not to be out done and soon made amends and danced through the defence to score Northwich’s 4th try, this time Parkinson was able to convert. 14 – 32. With time running down, the final substitutions were made by the Northwich coaches, Dale replacing Cotterill in the second row. For Preston there was no let up and Northwich continued to assault their line. Eventually a half break by Houghton created space for Phil Williams to dart through for his second try and the teams 5th and round off a good win. The conversion was the last play of the game but Parkinson’s final kick went wide of the mark. Finally Northwich had managed to find a way to win a game and win it well. The lads were clearly anxious for much of the game and this stopped them from relaxing and really getting into the flow. The score was a decent return on the day, but probably as many scores again were left on the field. We look forward to the return fixture at Moss Farm on the 8th Feb. Northwich travel to Ormskirk next weekend hoping to revenge the defeat of 2 weeks ago. Following todays victory and the fine display they put up against Ormskirk at home, they will travel with renewed confidence, knowing that if they continue to play the rugby, the results will follow. Return to fixtures Northwich responded immediately and soon earned their own very kickable penalty, Parkinson striking the ball well, but seeing the wind take the ball past the posts. The game settled into a forwards dominated affair with a lot of rucking and mauling. Prop Barlow is starting to become very effective in the loose and put a lot of work in early on. If anything, Northwich edged the early exchanges with some good turn overs achieved. However, having got turn over ball too much was squandered through bad choices or lack of precision. Having started with the wind on their backs, Northwich were keen to kick almost everything. Unfortunately little about their kicking game was precise and so good opportunities were wasted. One such instance lead to Ormskirk gathering a stray kick and squeezing in at the corner for a try 8 - 0 Northwich dug deep again and had Ormskirk rattled on a number of occasions, earning themselves another very kickable penalty, however, Parkinson still had not mastered the wind and another good kick sailed wide. Northwich continued to press hard in the forwards and Ormskirk were made to work hard, their scramble defence and "streetwise" approach being the only thing to keep Northwich out (I lost count of the number of times the ref stopped the game to allow an Ormskirk player to tie his boot laces). Despite Northwich pressing hard and having slightly more of the possession it was Ormskirk that slipped a tackle in mid field to score under the posts as the last play of the first half - 15 - 0 looking a lot worse than 8 - 0 at half time. Things got immediately worse in the second half when Ormskirk scored within the first minute of the second half. 20 - 0 now begining to look like a mountain to climb and with that score came the doubts and negativity from certain . The Blacks heads visibly went down at this point and as such, it was followed up by another score to Ormskirk, who knew just how to work the tricky wind 25 - 0. At this point there was a real danger of capitulation and stern words were given by the coach. This and a judicious use of the bench stabilised the team for a while and even saw a period of concerted pressure on the Ormskirk line. However, the blacks just couldn't seem to find that last yard of ground to get the score and inevitably from a great attack came a breakout and another Ormskirk score. 32 - 0. The final score came on the stroke of full time to hand Northwich their worst defeat of the season so far. Again their were periods of great rugby played by the blacks and in those moments it can be seen that they are a match for anyone, however, the ability to turn these moments into points and to string multiple moments together into a class performance is still tantalizingly just out of reach. They have to start believing they will win, rather hoping that they might win. Return to fixtures Northwich were determined to bounce back from the below par performance of last week at Ormskirk and with league games running out, they were also determined to take the scalp of one of the league leaders. From the kick off, Northwich made their intentions clear and flew after their kick to put their visitors under immediate pressure. The early exchanges were fierce as Northwich tried to set the tone for their day. However, it was the visitors that opened the scoring after being awarded a long range penalty which they duly converted. This just seemed to fire Northwich up more and they attacked their restart kick with passion. Wirral were knocked back in tackle after tackle and eventually a break up the right wing from prop Bridle looked like it was going to lead to a score, however Wirral halted the progress in an illegally and the crowd bayed for a penalty try, the ref only saw fit to give the Blacks a penalty close to the posts, which Parkinson made sure of to level the scores. Northwich continued to build the pressure and strong work in the forwards saw them recover the kick off and drive back into Wirral’s half. Constant pressure lead to a line out on Wirral’s 22 and the blacks gathered it in and set up a good driving maul. Wirral failed to stop the momentum and from just over 5 meters out Crozier found a gap and sprinted for the line to score the opening try. Although the conversion was wide out, Parkinson had no trouble slotting the kick. 10 - 3 Wirral were stung into action and threw everything at Northwich, who, despite having been warned not to by coach Clarke, helped Wirral’s cause by giving away a series of silly penalties. Wirral tried to kick one but the shot stayed wide. However the stream of penalties allowed the visitors to pile on the pressure and the blacks defence had to hold out for a good ten minutes against a concerted attack from as close as 5 meters out.. Eventually though the defence won the day and the ball was worked clear and the home supporters breathed a sigh of relief. Northwich again mounted strong pressure on the Wirral line yet their indiscipline cost them another good position as comments were taken as decent at a scrum and a penalty given to the visitors to clear their lines. Half time soon followed and the lads gathered around the coach for further instruction. No changes were made to the line up, however the lads were warned to stay focused. From the restart though Northwich demonstrated that they were in no mood to throw away this lead as Cotterill gathered the kickoff and ran back hard at the defence, supported by Bridle. It was now the Blacks turn to lay siege to the school end of the pitch and before long they were rewarded with a penalty in kickable position and Parkinson slotted another 13 – 3. This gave a little more breathing space and settled any remaining nerves. Time and again the driving maul was used to great effect as Northwich looked to close out the game. A box kick from Houghton found the centre of the visitors 22 and Redfern chased well, but Wirral dealt with the threat and the ball was eventually worked out towards their 10 meter line. An attempted clearing kick was charged down by Williams though and the ball popped up for the supporting Houghton who scooped it up and accelerated down the wing. For a moment it looked like the defence would get him, but a despairing tap tackle missed the mark and he sprinted clear. The touchdown was made under the posts to give Parkinson his easiest points of the day. 20 -3. Northwich now had 8 mins to defend this lead and although Wirral did cross the line, the cover tackle dislodged the ball and resulted in a 22 drop out. The Blacks wound down the clock and the lads were delighted and relieved to hear the final whistle. Finally, after a long season of trying, they had finally taken a win from one of the top placed clubs and proved to all that there is real potential in this team. Next week sees an immediate re-match as Northwich travel to Wirral in the quarter final of the Cheshire Cup. Should be an interesting game! Return to fixtures Wirral played with the wind to their backs in teh first half and started the brighter, throwing everything at Northwich, they competed hard for the ball in the tight and swung it wide when they could. Northwich were pinned in their own half and it was a great testiment to the Northwich defence that it took Wirral fully 25 minutes to reach the try line. Despite Northwich hands being all over the ball the ref decided that the ball had been grounded and awarded the try. 5 - 0. The half played out in similar fashion with Northwich unable to break the home sides 10 mtr line. Half time saw a number of changes as Phil Clarke used his strong bench and hopes were high that with the bitter wind now on their backs, the Blacks would be able to repeat last weeks win over Wirral. However, things went wrong from the restart, a fumbled kick off allowed Wirral to mount early pressure. Northwich dug in to do more dogged defending, but Wirral kept running the ball back at them hard. The session was punctuated with some "interesting" decisions, but the one that hurt the most was when the ref ignored the call for the mark when Wirral chipped the defence on the try line. The resulting melee saw Wirral awarded a try, much to the disgust of the away support. The conversion was very well hit from out wide and the score ticked over to 12 - 0. Northwich finally started to take a grip of the game and were awarded a series of 3 penalties in kickable positions. However, the usually reliable Parkinson had left his kicking boots elsewhere as he failed to register any of them. With time ticking past Northwich were desperate to get on the score board, but they were finding it equally as hard to break down the Wirral defence. Eventually a penalty out wide was "quick tapped" by Houghton and he accelerated through a half gap in the defence, leaving fingers clutching at air. The full back must have thought he had him well covered, but Houghton dropped his shoulder and battered his way over the line to open the scoring for the Blacks. Devaney attempted the conversion but was unsuccessful. Northwich now need just a converted try to go through on the away team rule. However, try as they might, they could not find another gap in the Wirral defence. In the final analysis, the team that wanted this fixture the most won it. Northwich defended stoically for long periods, but lacked the fire and spark from the week before to really take the game away.
Return to fixtures With about 8 mins of the half to go, Northwich succumbed to Penrith pressure and started to pass on rubbish ball, the net result was that Penrith were stopped a matter of feet from the try line. From here they laid seige to the line, but the Blacks were in determined mood and batterned down the hatches and prepared to repel borders. The ref awarded several scrums to Penrith and Ben Jones received a good talking to for his excuberant clearing out of the ruck, but the lads hung on. Penrith were awarded a penalty right in front of the sticks, but elected to run it. They spun it wide well and looked like they were going to get in, but then the determined cover tackles rained in and took the ball out of play. On the stroke of halftime teh blacks won the ball and sent it off the field to turn around 3 - 0 up. First team Winger and deputising coach Adam Bowns had a few words of encouragement for the lads at half time and the only change was Harries replacing Bridle at tight head. The second half saw the home side start the better and had soon taken up camp in the opposition half. The forwards kept battering away at the defence and the backs were hungry for some ball to work with. However, Penrith saw the danger and pulled their cover wide, but this just created enough of a gap for Houghton to exploit and he ricocheted his way through the defence and over the line. Parkinson was wide with teh conversion - 8 - 0. This score bouyed up the home team and they started to press for the game sealing score. Penrith were not going to roll over easily and it took some time to come, but eventually some hard running through the middle of the defence saw the ball slipped to Williams who crashed over adjacent to the sticks for a further 7 points. With still plenty of time on the clock Penrith were not giving this one up just yet and when part of the Northwich back line went up and part stayed back, they made the most of their opportunity and ran in their first score. This gave the Cumbrians and big boost and they through everything at the Blacks. Meanwhile, the blacks went off the boil and allowed a Penrith runner to slip 4 tackles before scoring close enough to the posts for the lick to sail over. With now about 5 mins still on the clock, Northwich had to snap out of their complacent phase and really dig in as Penrith had their tails up and fancied snatching a win. However, rousted by captain Williams, Northwich redoubled their defensive effort and ran the clock down. So yet again Northwich demonstrated that they were perfectly capable of beating teams in this league, its just a shame they left it so late in the season to do so. Northwich:- Parkinson, Hale, Holt, Phillips(Devaney 25), Redfern, Underhill, Devaney (Houghton 25), Crozier (Dale 53), Williams, Jones B, Baker (Jones D 65) Cotterill, Barlow, Jones M, Bridle (Harries 35). Return to fixtures Northwich were rapidly on top in the first exchanges and before long had earned a penalty that Parkinson slotted to open the score. Hoppers had a bright patch from the kick off and sloppy play by Northwich allowed them to remaining in the Northwich half and exert some pressure. However the Blacks defence held firm. Once out of their own half they started to find the gaps in the Hoppers defence and Barlow powered over for the first try. Hoppers were dogged opponents throughout the game and made Northwich work for every point, but the one man advantage proved to be a big deficit to over come and before long Phil Williams opened his tally with a well taken score which started near the half way line. Robin Houghton scored the 3rd try which proved to be the last of the first half. With a full bench to choose from the coaches were operating a "revolving door" substitution policy with changes being made frequently to ensure everyone got some good game time. Second half tries came from Pete Devaney, Phil Williams, who grabbed a second, Josh Hale and Ben Redfern. Although the win was emphatic, the game was far from clinical and these young Colts should reflect as much on the tries they failed to score as well as the ones they did score. With more precision a tally in 3 figures was certainly a possibility today. However, full credit should be given to Hoppers, who stuck manfully to the task and despite being out gunned in many areas, always appeared capable of scoring should they be given the slightest chance. Their blind side flanker proving to be a real handful all game. Return to fixtures A firm, pitch and a cooling North easterly breeze set the scene for this quarter final match of the Halbro Presidents Vase. Northwich were quick to try and establish a hold on the game and looked like they were going to succeed, but it was the home side that registered the first score when the punished a Northich penalty with 3 points. This stung the Blacks and they roared after the restart kick and with in moments had earned themselves a penalty that Parkinson duly slotted from long range. Both sides jostled for the edge and yet again the home side found it and beat the blacks defence on the outside to register the first try, the kick being unsuccessful. With the first half ticking away Northwich were still trying to work out how to play a determined and skillful Fylde team, the answer came as the ball was spun wide and Matt Parkinson latched onto it and rounded the defence for a try in the corner, which he successfully converted. Half time 8 - 10 to Northwich. The second half remained a tight affair. A Fylde penalty kick went wide, but they followed up with an unconverted try to go 13 - 10 up. Northwich seemed to have the perfect repost as a well gathered restart kick was spun wide into the arms of a flying Parkinson, he stepped through most of the defence, stood up the last man and fed the pass out to Elliott who was steaming up in support, but the pass bounced off Elliott's chest and the opportunity was lost. Despite having more possession and looking more threatening, Northwich conceeded a further try to go 18 - 10 down, things were looking grim. However, where in the past heads would have gone down, today the blacks were not in a mood to lose. They increased their work rate and took the game to the hosts. Elliott finally made amends by taking the next try well. This was followed up by a score from Redfern before Elliott decided that he needed another one, spurned the outside ball to the flying winger, put in a most outrageous sidestep and powered over the line. 25 - 18 was the score as Parkinson slid the conversion wide. The ref said there was 10 mins left on the clock and it was no Northwich's game to loose. They seemed to be doing nicely until the ref called last play as Fylde were awarded a penalty on their 22. They tapped and ran and Northwich started to fall off tackles. Hearts were in mouths as the big centre carved through the defence until only full back Parkinson was left! His tackle was full on and dislodged the ball - the ref blew for the knock on and then for full time. Joy and relief all around the Northwich camp. This had been a great game, maybe not a demonstration of perfect technique, but a gutsy game by both teams. See here for photographs Return to fixtures Northwich scored twice more without answer and it was clearly time to make changes. With a large number of players wanting to play in this great event, the coaches had their work cut out cycling players on and off the field. The disruption such changes caused helped to even up the game and the Canadian's started to show that with a little more space, they could play some exciting attacking rugby. The only event that marred the evening was when the Canadian full back tackled the Northwich 12 in a full blooded crunching tackle. Unfortunately the full backs head must have caught a flying knee and it split his head open. He was taken off to Northwich Infirmary but returned to the club house later sporting 7 stiches. Even that didn't seem to spoil his night! In the end the score was somewhat academic (Northwich 41 - Handsworth Royals 19). The game had been fast and fiercely contested, but played in great spirit. Everyone then retired to the club house for food and a chance to get to know each other better. These events help to foster wider friendships and spread the camaraderie to far flung shores. We look forwards to future opportunities to entertain should wonderful guests. Return to fixtures Northwich were missing several key players through a variety of injuries and other commitments, however, the side that took to the field in Crewe felt confident of being able to do the job. Things started badly though for Northwich when, after a few kicks up and down the park, Crewe put in what looked like an over hit kick. Underhill covered back and was set to let the ball bounce beyond the dead ball line when the ball shot straight up off the rock hard surface and the chasing Crewe player won the jump for the ball. C&N's kicker improved the try and Northwich were 7 - 0 down after only a few mins. Shortly afterwards Northwich were forced into an early substitution with Hart replacing Houghton at Scrum Half when the former took a bad blow to his lower back in a ruck. The try put a lot of belief into the C&N side, who saw an upset on the cards. Northwich mounted wave after wave of attacks but despite edging the early battles in the breakdown area, they regularly came undone in the contact area close to the try line when "white line fever" took hold. They could gain field position and possession, but were unable to finish. Eventually however, Northwich worked out how to unlock the C&N defence with James Underhill powering through the defence to score out wide. The kick was unsuccessful - 7 - 5. The score remained like that for the rest of the very physical first half. Northwich turned to attack up the slope in the second half and were soon under pressure from some good play and some loss of discipline. Having been marched back 10 metres for back chat they found themselves 10 - 5 down as the 10 mts brought it within the range of the C&N kicker, and he duly slotted that to go 10 - 5 up. Northwich now dug deep and started to show the sort of determination that saw them through the last round. A good kick chase put pressure on the C&N defence leading to Bridgwater emerging through the centre of the ruck with ball in hand to score the equalising try. Back on even terms and with the try count and away team rules working for them in the event of a tie, Northwich relaxed into their game more and started to become more fluid in their movement. Parkinson slotted a penalty to move to 10 - 13. Josh Holt forced his way over the line only to be adjudged held up by the ref. Eventually Piers Crozier spun through the defence to dot the ball down on the line to take the score to 18 - 10. In a last ditch effort to rescue the game C&N mounted huge pressure on the line and actually drove a maul over the try line, but Northwich were in no mood to conceed a try and a huge effort from their pack working against the slope saw them push the maul back to the 5 metre line before it collapsed. Northwich worked the ball out wide from here and some great handling and running eventually put Pete Devaney in at the far corner to seal the game. Matt Parkinsons conversion was good (but the ref seemed to fail to record the fact !! So the final whistle went with the score 10 - 23 and a delighted Northwich team look forward to playing the winners of Wirral and Sedgley Park in the final which is to be held at Sandbach Rugby Club on the 26th April. See here for photographs Return to fixtures See here for photographs Return to fixtures Northwich kicked off and immediately set out their stall, putting Wirral under pressure and keeping them in their own half for a good 5 mins. However, despite some good possesion, Northwich could not put a score on the board. Wirral finally crossed the half way line with some strong running from their centres. They were stopped shy of the 10metre line, but Northwich kept hands in the ruck and this gave them their first shot at goal. The kick was missed and Northwich dropped out, but within a very short period, Northwich committed the same offence, this time 10 metres closer and directly in front of their goals, this time Wirral took the opportunity to go 3 - 0 up. Northwich came back immediately and again put Wirral under pressure, the driving maul working particularly well. Wirral soon gave away a penalty in a kickable position and Parkinson slotted the shot. This had the makings of a close game. Play ebbed and flowed around the centre of the park, with both teams looking for the opening, it was Wirral who found the gap down their right wing and squeezed in at the corner to go 8 - 3 up. Wirral tried to push on from this advantage and Northwich were forced to defend hard for quite a period, however, they were alive to the opportunities that this gave and one slack pass was all it needed for Phil Williams to intercept the pass and run 60 metres to score under the posts, giving Parkinson an easy conversion. 10 - 8 to Northwich. Half Time came with no further score and Northwich turned to play down the slight slope. Wirral started the brighter after half time and forced the Blacks into their 22. Failure to number up properly at an ensuing ruck gave Wirral the chance to squeeze in to the corner again, the kick proving too difficult. 10 - 13. Wirral edged ahead with a penalty to take it out to 10 - 16, Northwich responded to bring it back to 13 - 16, both sides were throwing everything into this one. Northwich kept mounting attack on attack but Wirral's defence was good, and both sets of coaches and supporters watched with baited breath for the next score. Northwich put a kick through the Wirral defence and turned them, Phil Williams swooped on the loose ball,Williams was held short of the line, the forwards got in and applied the pressure to free up the ball and it came out to Undies, who looked to go wide, saw the gap and burrowed over. Matt Parkinson added the extras and Northwich were 20 - 16 up with not many mins left. Wirral kicked off and Northwich worked the ball back into the Wirral half and it was looking good, just keep them in their half and the job will be done. However, Wirral had other ideas, they turned the ball over from a ruck and got the ball out to their big centre. Northwich started dropping off tackles and got ripped open as Wirral went under the posts to make it 23 - 20 with a couple of mins left. Northwich were not going to lie down, Phil Williams demanded another score from his team as they kicked off. Again terrific pressure was placed on Wirrals defence but they held firm. A knock on led to a Wirral scrum and scrum half Joe Murray came up with the ball threw an outrageous dummy and hit an impossibly small gap, wriggled through and was gone under the sticks. 20 - 30. Northwich came out for one last shot, but it was always going to be damage limitation. They never gave up but the clock put paid to any miracle come back and they were were left wondering how they had failed to close out that win. This had been a true final and probably the game of the day (there were 5 finals in all). It is always hard to loose such a game and the dissapointment was written large on the faces of the Northwich lads, however, they should be proud of the way that they played and reflect on what they needed to have done to close out that game. That is the domestic season over now, next weekend the lads are off on tour to Northern France to an International Festival of Rugby at Arras. And who is also in the tournament and even sharing the same Hotel??? Yes - Wirral, so there may still be an opportunity to beat them once more before we finish for the season.
See here for photographs Return to fixtures The trip was uneventful and we arrived at our hotel without major drama. The hotel turned out to be the worst part of the tour and was a serious low budget French "motel" style building. Northwich were sharing this hotel with Wirral Junior Colts, which was to prove "entertaining". Having endured about 12 hours on a coach, everyone was keen to kick back and relax that evening. Some were more relaxed than maybe was good for them, but we weren't kicking off until 12:30 the following day. The next morning the lads were dug out of their beds and herded onto the double deck coach that had brought Wirral and set off to the festival. Northwich were drawn against Hereford in the first game and as so often seen this year, were slow starting. Hereford took an early lead and it was close on half time before the blacks leveled the score. Hereford scored early in the second half and despite applying all the pressure from there on, the blacks couldn't even up the scores and so started with a loss. Eventually the blacks started to wake up and went on to beat the home side (R.C. Arras) comprehensively by 25 - 0 and then faced a London Scottish side that looked like it should be very useful. Northwich beat them 10 - 0, but in truth the score line flattered Scottish as Northwich butchered several try opportunities that should really have been put away. The loss to Hereford that morning put us 2nd in the league, earning a semi final place against ..........you guessed it - Wirral. The Wirral boys partied hard on the Saturday night, where as the Northwich lads were a little more restrained (but not much!), so it was with much hope of vengeance for the previous weekends defeat that we set off to the tournament on the Sunday. As we stood and watched the prior game, it became obvious that despite the IRB having a common global set of Laws to govern the game, French ref's have a very different way of interpreting them than English refs do. Both sides were nervous as they took to the pitch and game got underway. The Wirral lads showed little sign of damage from the night before and were very competitive from the off. Northwich tried to play their own game, but were stymied by the French rule interpretation on a number of occassions. Whether this had a bearing on the proceedings is hard to determine, but in the first half Northwich played some of the worst rugby that had been seen this season and Wirral took full advantage, running in unanswered tries. A good stiff talking to was administered at half time and the blacks seemed to emerge the better for it. They were also aided by the ref, who now decided that quick tap penalties were in the laws of the game and the first one he allowed lead to Robin Houghton crashing over to score. However, this was to be the only score of the second half and so Wirral went on to the Cup Final, whilst Northwich went to the bowl final. Hereford had suffered a suprise defeat to Old Albanians, who had only made the Semi Final as a result of Windsor being ejected from the tournament for inappropriate behavior. Therefore Northwich had a rematch with Hereford for the Bowl, whilst Wirral face O.A. for the Cup. Hereford again proved to be an awkward opponent, however, this time they never really looked like scoring, whereas Northwich were unfortunate to only score the one (Josh Holt) try. However, it was enough to post the "W" and to earn them the Bowl. Wirral in the meantime dispatched Old Albanians with relative ease and won the cup. So the double decker back to the hotel was a joyus place to be with all the major silverware from the U17's tournament resident there. A night out in Lille was the way to finish the tour and most made it there - although the hotel manager did his best to ruin the tour for the organisers with some very petty behavior. This was eventually overcome, but not before the bus had left some folks behind. The return journey was long tiring but again uneventful and all returned safely. A great time was had by all and the camaraderie between these 2 teams was further enhanced by the acquiring of a "souvenir". This was awarded to Wirral as the winner of the game with a pledge that this will now be played for on an annual basis in the Xmas holidays. The hope is to reunite these teams in the future, even after they have gone away to University. |