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U15 Match Reports 2004-5

November 21st U15 vs Lymm (Home) Lost 71-5
The Northwich under 15s had a testing time in their match against Lymm on Sunday. They scored the first try with Richard Dale running 70 yards down the wing and giving the blacks a very welcome early lead. This boosted the confidence of the Northwich lads, but it also encouraged the opposition to increase their game and unfortunately, Lymm went on to win by 13 tries to 1. It was perhaps not the ideal time to play one of Cheshire’s leading clubs at under 15 who have played rugby together since they were 10 years old as the Northwich team is very much in it’s infancy. There have been major changes within the team in the last few months and many of the lads are new, in fact for some it was their first game for Northwich. They also have a new coach who has all the drive and passion to be an excellent driving force for the lads. With every game the team play together they will become stronger and with their commitment and love of the game, they will be a formidable force in the months to come. They proved this in the last ten minutes of the game when their strength of character really shone through. With the score at 71 - 5 to their opponents, they didn’t let up. They kept driving forward time and again and would not allow Lymm any further breaks through their defence.
Man of the match for his his excellent eary try was Richard Dale.
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December 5th U15 vs Caldy (Home) Lost 52-12
The Northwich under 15’s met with some difficult opposition again for the 2nd tie in a row. This week they were up again Caldy who are a very well established team and seemed to out maneuver and out tackle the Northwich lads through most of the match. However, Northwich showed their potential several times and without some great tackles by Richard Dale, Alex Breau and Chris Powell the score may have been much higher to their opponents. Simon Cheetham put in some good runs and Luke Wilkinson gave some penetrating kicks to give the blacks a few seconds respite. Alex Breau was named man of the match for persistent all round support. Keep it up lads, it’s coming together.
Northwich 2 tries, 1 conversion
Scorer – Richard Dale for both

Opponents – 8 tries, 6 conversions
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January 9th U15 vs Wilmslow (Home) Won 22-19
The entire Under 15 team performed brilliantly, working well as a team with some excellent runs by Eddie Bridle, Adam Morrey, Sam McCormick, Richard Dale, Alex Breau and Jason Carter. After a slow start to the season, they are really starting to work as a team and show their true potential. Mark Preece, the under 15 coach, was very pleased with the overall performance, especially the tackling. The match was well refereed by Adam Bown which contributed to a hard fought, but clean contest. Northwich started well with Alex Breau scoring the first try but the lead was short-lived as Wilmslow went on to score the next two ties either side of half time, which were both converted. It wasn’t until well into the 2^nd half with another try from Wilmslow, that Northwich fought back to turn the game around. The next two tries scored by Richard Dale, saw Northwich trailing by only 2 points and with five minutes left to spare, the lads re-took the lead after continued pressure, culminating in a fantastic try by Jason Carter who ran in 35 yards down the left wing touching down under the posts resulting in an excellent win for the team and the title of ‘Man of the Match’ for him. Well done lads - exciting rugby, keep up the good work.

Northwich - 4 tries, 1 conversion Scorers – Alex Breau, Jason Carter, Richard Dale x 2
Conversion – Luke Wilkinson       
Opponents – 3 tries, 2 conversions

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January 16th U15 vs Stockport (Away) Lost 17-5
Northwich had an unfortunate defeat at Stockport today after some excellent rugby. The lads tackled well and put in some excellent runs, especially Adam Morrey, who was named ‘man of the match’ for a much improved game. It was a hard fought match and the half time score of 10-0 was not a true reflection of the Northwich game. Into the 2nd half and an excellent tackle and run by Alex Breau, took the ball to within a couple of yards of the line where Richard Dale was, as always, in the right position to receive the pass and touch down over the line. Although Northwich carried on pushing forward and had at least 50% possession of the ball, they unfortunately, conceded another try which was then converted to secure Stockport’s victory. This was an exciting game showing the potential of the Northwich team.

Northwich - 1 try, 0 conversions Scorer – Richard Dale
Opponents – 3 tries, 1 conversion
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March 20th U15 vs Birkenhead Park (Home) Won 58-31
This was an excellent match for the U15’s to boost their confidence and evidence that the team are really working well together which is a great tribute to them and their coach Mark Preece. The whole team is showing total commitment and are all contributing to the score sheet, which is evidenced by the number of different scorers. This was a great achievement by the whole team but especially Jason Carter who scored the 2nd try running a third of the pitch with only one boot. Unfortunately, the match was somewhat overshadowed by a neck injury caused by a collapsed scrum just into the 2nd half. One of the Birkenhead 2nd row lads had to be taken to Leighton hospital which stopped the match for 45 minutes. The decision was made by Birkenhead to resume the match once the ambulance had left and the match was completed. The lad had been discharged from hospital this afternoon with strained tendons in his lower neck but thankfully, will make a full recovery. There was a 3 way split for ‘man of the match’ between Kenny Peters, Sam Crawford and Jordan Lydiate.

Northwich – 10 tries, 4 conversions
Scorers - Richard Dale x 3, Sam McCormick, Jason Carter, Sam Crawford x 2, Jordan Lydiate x 2, Kenny Peters Conversions x 4 – Richard Dale
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April 3rd U15 vs Ellesmere Port (Away) Won 22-12
Another good win for the U15 Northwich lads! The team are going from strength to strength and really working well together. They are now starting to reap the benefits of their commitment to the game and to the team. Man of the match was Andrew Hougton for outstanding effort and some excellent rugby. We also saw superb tackling from Jason Carter, Chris Powell and Eddie Bridle and some brilliant runs by Tom Norrey resulting in 3 tries for him. The overall result was a relatively clean match with a 2nd consecutive win for Northwich which has increased their confidence and fired them up to want to achieve more

Northwich – 4 tries, 1 conversion
Scorers - Tom Norrey x 3, Sam Crawford
Conversions x 1 – Luke Wilkinson
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April 10th U15 vs Newcastle (Away) Lost 50-7
This was a hard fought game for Northwich against the county champions. Northwich played well in the first half against the wind but were unable to break through the Newcastle defence. They remained focused throughout and continually fought back in the 2^nd half only conceding 2 tries to their 1 despite the difference in the scores. Northwich dominated the scrums - winning 19 of the 22 in the game. Man of the match was Eddie Bridle for his pick ups and drives and his determination to continuously drive forward. There were some great pickups by Chris Powell from the back of the scrums and some excellent runs by Sam Crawford, Jordan Lydiate and Sam McCormick.

Northwich – 1 try, Scorer - Jordan Lydiate Conversions x 1 – Luke Wilkinson

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April 24th U15 vs Manchester (Away) Drawn 12-12
Northwich did very well to bounce back from trailing 12- 0 at half time to managing a draw on the final whistle. In the first half Northwich struggled to keep it together. They lacked a full strength team with Sam McCormick, Alex Breau and several others noticeably missing from the line up. However, despite the midday Manchester sun being unexpectedly warm, they came back with two excellent tries with superb runs from Kenny Peters and Jordan Lydiate. Kenny’s try was particularly spectacular as he beat the Manchester player to the ball no more than 10 yards from the Northwich line. Kenny’s speed and determination meant that he just kept on going almost the length of the pitch to score the first try for Northwich which was then converted by Ben Stott to bring the score to 12-7. The second try by Jordan Lydiate was scored by another long run. Jordan ducked and dived his way from the 22 yard line to take Northwich level. Man of the match was Matthew Corcoran for his commitment and skill. As the newest and the smallest member of the team, he shows no fear tackling the largest of opponents. A pat on the back should also go to Chris Powell for some excellent big hit tackles and to Sam Crawford for his support play.

Northwich – 2 tries, 1 conversion Scorers - Jordan Lydiate & Kenny Peters Conversions x 1 – Ben Stott(H/T score 12 – 0 to Manchester)

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April 27th U15 vs Winnington Park (Home) Won 19-17
The local rugby derby for the U15’s was always expected to be a tough match. At the beginning of the season, Winnington Park won the previous game between the two sides with a very comfortable lead. But with the massive improvement of Northwich due to their new coaches, Mark Preece and the 2^nd coach Alan Nash, it was decided that we would finish the season with a friendly game to establish how much the lads have achieved this year. It was as tough as expected and there were a few injuries sustained on both sides as all the lads battled to win. But even when Winnington Park were two tries ahead, Northwich kept on pushing back. There was some excellent driving by Sam McCormick and Eddie Bridle and the speed and determination of Jordan Lydiate and Sam Crawford was unsurpassed. Richard Dale made a come back to the team after a short break away some of which was spent playing for Cheshire U15’s and scored the first try for Northwich to put them back in the running. The 2^nd and 3^rd tries were scored by Sam Crawford.

It was a truly nail biting match with only 1 conversion between the 2 scores but a massive win for the Northwich lads against their local rivals. There was a presentation after the match to recognize the efforts of all the boys as the rugby season draws to an end until September. Awards were given to Kenny Peters, Sam McCormick, Jason Carter and Chris Powell (Capt) but the main award from the coach went to the whole team for such a magnificent all round improvement by every single lad in the team.

Northwich – 3 tries, 2 conversions Scorers - Richard Dale, Sam Crawford x 2 Conversions x 2 – Richard Dale

Winnington Park – 3 tries, 1 conversion

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