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U14’s Match Reports 2007-8 After many excellent attended and productive pre-season training sessions under the belt, the coaches organised a pre-season session with Old Anselmians. Our visitors brought 26 players, and this allowed both squads to experiment, with a three by twenty minute rotational fixture. Both teams started the first 20 with their potentially strongest XV, and although warned at the start about the excellent 'Saints' winger, the Northwich team let him in to score two unconverted tries, and it would have been three if he had not infringed with a double movement after a last ditched tackle from Josh Hall. The 'Stags' however showed great character to respond with a period of strong pressure and deep territorial penetration. There were piercing runs from Mike Collier, some excellent tackling from Ryan Kitt and Will Mitchell, and Simon Dale and Jack Vandersteen appeared to be everywhere, Sam Jones had a good kick and run; but it was after his fourth characteristic surging 'blast' that Luke Murray scored a try that was then converted by Chris Sheppard to make the score 10:7 to the visitors at 'third-time'. At the start of the 'second-third' Anselmians made 8 changes and the 'Stags' 6. Last season this would have weakened the Northwich team, but the pre-match warm-up gave clues that the squad had much more depth in strength. Baden Powell with growing confidence after dumping Mike Gough on Wednesday night; Andrew Dawson continues to impress his versatility on and off the water; Luke Targett who has attended every pre-season training session has improved immensely; and Ryan Simpson, Joe Halsall and Tom Foulkes all impressed during the pre-match warm-up game, all took their places for the 'second-third'. Northwich dominated this 'third' and quickly led with a well-worked try by the forwards with Jack Vandersteen setting the Richter scale off as he crashed over the line. Although he missed the conversion, Chris Sheppard was awesome with his defensive tackling and weaving runs. However the stars of the 'third' were Joe and Tom; Joe Halsall had a great debut match by showing great strength in the loose, and on one occasion, imitated a 'weeble' as he refused to go down after three Ansellmian attempts (if you haven't a clue what a weeble is then ask the old man - 'A weeble used to wobble but would never fall down'); Tom never missed a tackle and made many good runs with great technique to ensure the ball kept moving. The final 'third' allowed the 'Saints' to strengthen their team again, with Northwich ensuring that every one contributed in the last 20 minutes. The home team kept their 12:10 lead well into this session but then after some ill discipline from the forwards, Anselmians were allowed to take the lead with a well, worked penalty move. Then on the last play of the game Anselmians scored a converted try to win by 22:12. Well done lads, we only told you after the game, "but this Anselmians team hardly ever lose", and last season they consistently beat teams like Winnington Park and Wirral. Reflections for Mid- week Training: The real positive is that we now have a squad of good players that have started to create a strong team spirit and understanding, rather than the team being totally reliant on the usual foot-soldiers to make all the impact. We anticipated and witnessed some early rustiness, with the back line initially slow in closing the defensive gap and also too many players keeping the ball a touch too long, when an offload would have been the better option. The next training will be on Wednesday 26th September (6.30-8.00pm), at this session, we will work more on making runs with two hands on the ball, and look at creating fresh lines of running, for example, Michael Chubb has a great natural instinct to do this, but he hardly saw the ball on Sunday, this will need to change before next Sunday. September 30th U14’s vs Crewe & Nantwich (Away) Won 38-0 On a bright morning in Shavington the Vagrants Club hosted a keen Northwich U14's squad to play a familiar Crewe and Nantwich team. Minus a few pairs of boots the majority of the squad looked good in their Sunday 'match' Best. After another keenly contested pre-match warm-up that left both coaches battered and bruised, the 1st XV got ready to face the Crewe kick-off. The home team held their own for ten minutes, until the Northwich backs gave the large away crowd an exhibition of impressive rugby. Elliot Alston in his first game for the 'Stags' showed superb presence and entered the line at will; Luke Murray (with only one knock-on in the whole match) must be one of the strongest runners in the County; Chris Sheppard controlled the line with new found confidence; Jordan Byrne had some great runs; but after a series of back moves, it was with his Rugby League style hand-off and excellent direct running that debutant Tom Bebbington surged over the line to score the first try of the day. To some spectators, it was the best 25 minutes of rugby they had seen, with the forwards strong in the scrum, especially the front row of Simon Dale, Will Mitchell and Mike 'the revelation' Gough; the forwards were so agile around the pitch, were quick to the breakdown and subsequent brilliant rucking allowing Sam Jones to release a lot of quick ball to his backs. This style of play stretched the Crewe team across the pitch that first allowed Luke Murray to score two excellent tries; and secondly allowed Tom Foulkes to continue his good form (albeit, being such a good-bloke was reluctant to give Crewe more heartache and hence put the ball down twice just before the try line), however Jamie Hall (who obviously has a more killer instinct) picked up the second Foulkes-special and surged over the line to score a rare try. For the record Chris 'metronome' Sheppard had a 50% kicking record at half time to leave the score at 24-nil. Having been expertly 'warmed-up' by the bootless Josh Hall, the eight half time replacements showed the depth in strength of the Northwich squad. Play remained intense and the quality of the all round tackling was impressive; Jack Vandersteen and Sam Clayton led by example in the forwards; Chris Sheppard's driving tackle led the referee to take unnecessary action; but the champagne tackle came from Luke Targett who stopped the Crewe number 8 in a similar way to a brick wall. Ryan Kitt and Joe Halsall were highly impressive in the second half, and it was with his NFL style running-back dive over the ruck that Joe scored his first try for Northwich in only his second game. From the kick-off Chris Sheppard demonstrated his giant slalom skills and without hitting a single gate he scored under the posts and subsequently augmented his kicking 'stats' to 100% in the second half to finish game at 38-nil. In the end of match huddle the whole squad felt good and that they had all contributed to an encouraging performance, well-done lads! Respect Barrie's Spectators' selection of the Player of the Day: Auntie Barrie was troubled with his duties when he realised that every spectator sees the game in a slightly different way, but after much deliberation he came up with the 'days RBS selection'. In third place with an encouraging running performance from debutant Tom Bebbington; in second place was Sam Clayton who was awesome, his all round forward play on the day was top-draw (I doubt we will see much better in Cheshire) ... it must have been Audrey's 'magic boots'; but RBS Player of the day goes to debutant Elliot Alston who looked comfortable under the high ball, did not miss a tackle and gave the backs a new dimension at both full-back and centre ... well done Elliot (even though he forgot to wear a tie, but we will let if off - just this once!). However, Spectators must brace themselves for Barrie's technology innovation next week. Reflections for Mid- week Training: Having a large squad Northwich has its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and the coaches are mindful of them all. Although our prime objective is to have 'fun in safe way', players must also show a 'willingness' to attend training, 'open to learn' more about the game. Last Wednesday's training was a difficult one for the three coaches to run. This week's training will be much more focussed towards our next two games, with the second being against Wilmslow, the best team in Cheshire (13th October), therefore we would hope that the players were equally as focussed at these sessions. Return to fixtures Tries: Jack Vandersteen, Josh Hall (2), Elliot Alston, Sam Jones, Mike Collier and Tom Bebbington Full Report To be fair the Congleton squad did prove a hard nut to crack in the first third, Joe and Tom Beck gave the Northwich front row a challenge and on three occasions the scrum was pushed back; Zak Jones, Jack Scolfield and Max Marrell were all excellent in both tackle and turnover ball. The two stars for Congleton however, were Oliver Winnington and Scott Sommerfield and it was Scott with an individual kick and chase that led to Congleton’s first try. Those who have watched Congleton before will remember the excellent contributions from Shaun Nuntry. Shaun lost recently lost his mother to illness and we all felt for him when he had to leave the field with an emotional breakdown, and all the players and coaches wish him well and hope that he soon feel better and will face us again in the New Year. The ball in the third Northwich try tracked the flow of a meandering river as the ball flowed neatly through the hands to one side and then the next and finally polished off in the corner by Elliot Alston. At the end of the first third Northwich led 19:5. Then on came the army of new recruits as Northwich made 10 changes and Congleton 6. Scott Sommerfield again proved the danger man and crossed over the line but because of an overdose of ‘show-boating’ the try was not given, but shortly after he again broke through the Northwich defence to score his second try, converted by Max Marrel. Sickness all week, and a sea of red and white could not keep Sam Jones out of the limelight, and like a sausage skin under great heat, he exploded into action to score the squad’s fourth try (a difficult and even more expertly converted by Chris Sheppard). At the end of the second third Northwich led 26:12. In the eyes of the large crowd the final third was full of spellbinding rugby and seamless substitutions. If it was a boxing match, the referee may have stopped it. The fifth try came from Mike Collier who was so excited about his exploits that he ran off the pitch to relay to his adoring fans the greater fineries of his conquest. The sixth try followed immediately from the kick-off, Josh Hall (who was pure genius) caught the ball broke the gain line and passed to Tom Bebbington who rapier liked crossed the border with his guided missile system homed in on his target to score his second try for the club (as expected, expertly converted by Chris Sheppard). The seventh try saw some more great forward play and then some laser precision passing from the backs allowing Josh to bag his brace (guess what? … expertly converted by Chris Sheppard). The referee came under fire from a single Congleton dad, who thought that the fight should have been stopped after the first try, but whilst he continued to fire his verbal reasoning, Scott hopped dangerously close to the touch-line to score a try, and after the video judges were called in to adjudicate the twelve Congleton touch-judges all awarded the try, and the referee still smarting from his constructive feedback reversed his decision, only to be turned on by a few vocal ‘Stags’. So there we are: Congleton missed the conversion; the referee blew the final whistle; and Northwich had won 45:17. In the end of match huddle the whole squad felt even better than the previous week and that they had all had their own opportunities to contribute to another encouraging performance, well-done lads! and a big thank you to Congleton in allowing us to rotate our large squad. Respect Barrie’s Spectators’ selection of the Spectators’ Player of the Day: Auntie Barrie surpassed himself (or was there some youthful assistance) but the RBS technological innovation was used for the first time. Great praise was given to Luke Murray who continued to inject speed, strength and aggression to continuously break the gain line. Similar recognition was given to Elliot Alston for another faultless performance at fullback; Simon Dale Jack Vandersteen and Mike Collier were all singled out in the forwards, but the top three proved unanimous. In third place was Josh Hall, who not only scored two tries but also had a high passing and tackling count – well done Josh. In a close second place was Ryan Kitt, who two weeks running has surpassed expectations from his migration into the forwards, his tackling was immense, his rucking was superb and his fitness (and even pain) levels were impressive – well done Ryan. The RBS Spectators’ pick of the day went to Chris Sheppard, who released the ball to his backs with accuracy, who commanded the mid-field and who never missed a tackle all day. Not always in agreement with the knowledgeable crowd, but this decision was unanimous with the coaches to – so a big well done to Chris. ‘Tango’ Moment of the Day: After picking up a positional Congleton field kick, Tom Sheridan did not just perform one faked ‘shimmy’, but the attacking backs were fooled by two in quick succession, followed by a storming run. We are in awe of this great moment, well done ‘Teddy’ Return to fixtures Tries: Jack Vandersteen, Josh Hall (2), Elliot Alston, Sam Jones, Mike Collier and Tom Bebbington The superb Wilmslow fullback was the difference between the two sides scoring four tries against a Northwich squad who certainly showed one of the best teams in Cheshire that their crown is in danger this season. Northwich crushed the opposition in all areas of the forward play, with the backs scoring all of the points. This Sunday: Home fixture to be arranged (Extract sent to the Northwich Guardian). After a massive thumping to nil last season, and in the knowledge that Wilmslow had already beaten Sandbach 14:10 in September, this fixture was always going to be a test for both the assembled 26 players and the coaches (see 'modern dilemmas' later). The squad welcomed back both Matt Beazley after a four-year soccer exile, and Ryan Simpson who had been sidelined for 4 weeks with an injured foot from ballet dancing (on ice). Wilmslow brought 22 players and the match format was agreed between coaches as a 25:20:20, allowing all players to get a minimum of a third-play. The pre-match warm-up was pleasingly focussed ensuring that the highly toned 'Stags' were ready for their big test; Sam Jones lost the toss again; and Wilmslow elected to start with the kick. After memories of his 5 tries against us last season, the Northwich backs were again warned before the game of the speed and power of the Wilmslow fullback and delighted him by continually kicking the ball down his throat, and within ten minutes he had scored two tries, both from his own half. Not known for losing it, Steve Jones made his position very clear, and eventually the penny sunk, and Northwich started to keep the ball in hand, and from this moment the ball stayed in the Wilmslow half for the rest of the first period and after much pressure Luke Murray powered his way across the line, having equal presence of mind to put the ball under the post to allow Chris Sheppard to easily convert to make the period 1 score 12:7 to the visitors. At the start of the next period, Northwich made 11 changes and Wilmslow 7, but rather un-sportingly left their star on the field against some of our less experienced players. However, undeterred, the 'Bulls' powered the forward play, causing Wilmslow to reconsider their scrummage, and very quickly 4 of their 7 substitutes had been replaced. Unfortunately the strength of the Wilmslow No. 15 showed through again bagging another brace to make the score 24:7 to the visitors. In the final period, Northwich scored an early try with Luke Murray again showing his power to score another excellent try with Elliot Alston converting, bring the 'Stags' to within ten points and the game was back on. Even though Northwich continued to pile on the pressure, with close efforts from Jack Vandersteen, Tom Bebbington, and an unfortunate try-line knock on by the excellent Sam Jones, Wilmslow held their defence well, and right at the end their No. 15 ran the whole length of the pitch and although brilliantly tackled by both Josh Hall and Elliot Alston, the powerful Wilmslow No. 8 scored an unconverted try from the line-out (this was the only time that the No. 8 had managed to get one over on Sam Jones who had continuously dumped the guy twice his size throughout the previous 60 minutes). The game finished with the visitors winning 29:14. Respect Barrie's Spectators' selection of the Spectators' Player of the Day: Once Auntie Barrie had collated the scores, it was great to see that the selections were spread across the squad. Many recognised the excellent contribution from the forwards: Will Mitchell battle-scared and looking like a punch-drunk cartoon character was brilliant; Jamie Hall, Ryan Kitt, Joe Halsall and Simon Dale received recognition for their tenacious rucking; and Mike Collier was simply inspired. Elliot Alston again showed great promise. However, after three recounts the votes for the top three were agreed: in third place with a stunning performance with both a high tackle count and some strong running was Chris Sheppard; in second place with another brace of tries was the power house himself Luke Murray; and the player of the day went to Jack Vandersteen for another committed display of pretty good forward play, well done Jack! (A final well done must go to Sam Oakes, who was last seen at training on the 16th September, but still managed to get an RBS nomination for this performance). 'Tango' Moment of the Day: We found out after the game that the Wilmslow No. 15 was actually the fastest guy in his age group for Cheshire at 100m, with a physique and great rugby mind to go with it, so picture this: he had been given enough room in his own half to obtain his optimum velocity, ball under arm and eyes focussed on scoring his fifth try, with just the one obstacle left in his way, Chris Sheppard. Then allow yourself to close your eyes and try and re-live the sound of two players colliding in unison with the whole crowd simultaneously gasping as Chris sent the young fullback flying heavily to the ground: a 'Tango' moment hard to top (how's your shoulder Chris?). Reflections from the Coaches: Besides the few obvious handling errors and early suicidal kicking, one can only be proud of the commitment demonstrated by every player in the squad. The power shown in the tackle, the enormous hits and clear-outs in the ruck and the strength of quality now developing in the squad gave us shear delight on the day. If Wilmslow are currently recognised as the best team in Cheshire, then this is a case where one player made the difference for them. In the longer term it has got to be better to have strength in depth then to be dependant on individual 'islands of excellence' and we are sure that as the season moves forward Northwich have the potential to become a new power in the County. Modern Dilemmas: We now have 31 players on our register, with 27 that we can count on at the moment based on their attendance consistency. This obviously is a healthy situation but because we do not have enough numbers to create two teams this therefore gives us a dilemma. Firstly it is our commitment to ensure that who ever turns up gets a game, and clearly most players would like to get as much game-time as possible, but with 26 present on Sunday this proves to be a difficult conundrum to balance, especially when the opposition is as strong as Wilmslow. It would be great to canvass the views of the parents (thoughts on a postcard/email). Our current thinking is to get some more fixtures organised. The thought is to have one squad, contributing to two teams: the Northwich Stags and the Northwich Bulls, with a nucleus of 10 players in the Stags and 10 in the Bulls, with the others rotating accordingly. We will look at having either two back-to-back fixtures on a Sunday morning but with two teams with some overlap of a small number of players, or unique fixtures for either team. Ken Houghton has agreed to help us by contacting all the clubs in Cheshire this week with our proposal. October 21st U14’ B’s vs Helsby (Home) Won 31-15 During the week the club had contacted many of the larger squads in Cheshire to organise some 'Bull' fixtures to help overcome our 'Modern Dilemma' (see Newsletter 25), in fact this game was organised at short notice to ensure that all the emerging 'Bulls' experienced a full game. However, the 'Half Term' factor had not been taken into account, as the squad of 31 was depleted to 17, with 8 of the absentees who had been targeted to play in the game, missing out on the opportunity, but this still gave some of the other squad members a chance to prove themselves against a mixed team of rather tall U15's and some U14's from our neighbours Helsby. The coaches were highly impressed with their contribution, and many players shone through with some excellent performances, with the pick of the bunch being Joe Halsall with his excellent running, ball handling and tackling (in fact both coaches are still nursing pre-match warm-up bruises from Joe's excellent rucking style). Other promising displays came from Tom 'the jink' Sheridan; Matty Beesley who never missed a tackle on the Helsby danger-man winger; Michael Chubb continued to show his instinctive running lines; Baden Powell and Ryan Simpson (with the help of regular front rower Will Mitchell) matched the strength of the older and larger Helsby '123'; Jordan Byrne who is developing fast into a good all round player was especially strong in the ruck; Luke Targett especially pleased the coaches and had plenty of chances to show how strongly he has developed this season; unlike Samson, Tom Bebbington had lost none of his strength with his rather severe haircut (you wait until the cold weather comes); for a small man Ryan Kitt continued to wear his big heart on his sleeve with some big hits on the Helsby forwards; and Mike Collier used his rare opportunity at number 8 and led the forwards very well. For the record the points were scored by the more established players, all of whom had been unexpectedly selected to start the game. It took 12 minutes before the referee awarded the first scrum, and from the set play Northwich took the lead with a familiar combination of a Luke Murray run and Chris Sheppard conversion (here known after a 'Chruke'). Helsby quickly replied with an unconverted try, but only to be immediately neutralised with a fine try and conversion from Chris Sheppard. Before half time Helsby scored their second try to make the score 14:10 to the 'Bulls'. Shortly into the second half, the Helsby forwards powered over the line to lead 15:10; this pushed the sleepy eyed Northwich Team, metaphorically 'hung-over' from the World Cup final the night before, into action with a further 'Chruke' being scored under the posts and a surging try from Jack Vandersteen finishing the game at 31:15. Respect Barrie's Spectators' selection of the RBS Spectators' Player of the Day: Auntie Barrie, minus his innovation collated the scores; Sam Jones received his plaudits, especially for his excellent kick and chase that nearly ended in an excellent individual try; Josh Hall again showed his strength in midfield and never pulled out of a difficult confrontation all day; but the RBS top 3 went to Jack Vandersteen in third place; Chris Sheppard was again excellent in second; and Luke Murray in first place, who showed that he enjoys playing in the forwards as much as in the backs, well done Luke! 'Tango' Moment of the Day: Although tempted to give it for his repeat performance of the Sheridan double-jink, this week's TMD goes to Joe Halsall, if only because the pain killers are not working on my shoulder this morning from his massive pre-match rucking-hit. Modern Dilemmas 2: Thanks to Ken Houghton, who has now contacted all the clubs in Cheshire this week, giving the squad some potential opportunities for 'Bull' fixtures, but given this week's experience we might need to recruit a few more players before we commit to too many additional fixtures this season, so if you know of any guys who would like the opportunity to start playing the best game in the world, bring them down to training and we'll set up some special sessions for them. Return to fixtures The 'Stags' were replaced with eight 'Bulls' as the team was completed changed. Although some players were playing in new positions and the game lost a bit of its first half shape, Northwich still held their own, until a superb cross kick from the Leigh stand-off cleared Jordan Byrne's rain dance and the 'green' winger caught and touched down to score an unconverted try. The game remained full of minor errors and as the Leigh forwards tired, Sam Jones who irritated Leigh all match charged down a defensive kick and allowed Ryan Kitt to quickly react to score his first try of the season. The match had gone for 49 minutes and 59 seconds without needing the second set of posts, but the final act of the game was for Chris Sheppard to complete his 100% kicking record under the opposite set of goal posts to end the game, 28:5 to the home team. Respect Barrie's Spectators' selection of the RBS Spectators' Player of the Day: In a game full of mistakes and players picking up scraps from broken play, the crowd were united in their inability to agree on all but the RBS player of the day, Mike Gough, who is proving that he can run and can be first to a breakdown and with that extra bit of fitness the game becomes that much easier to play, well done Mike! It was left to the coaches to pick out the excellence from the parental spread-bet from mediocrity. The jet lagged Jamie Hall and Alex Dickenson both played well; Luke Murray and Chris Sheppard scored a brace of 'Chrukes'; Joe Halsall was consistently good throughout the game, proving his place in the 'Stags'; but third place goes to Sam Jones, who in my opinion continues to be developing as one of Cheshire's finest scrum halves and again had a steady game leading the loose play; and second place goes to Sam Clayton who led with his chin on many occasions into a wall of aggressive stiff-arms and regularly recycled the ball for his forwards. 'Tango' Moment of the Day: The choice was between Chris Sheppard's excellent conversion from the touchline full of his adoring fans that cleanly dissected the uprights and a piece of Jamie Hall excellence. After great deliberation the TMD was given to Jamie Hall, the ball (and Jamie) disappeared into a wall of green, the maul was moving forward, with the full eight from both teams involved in a familiar game of Clampits. Then like the 'Terminator' appearing from a ball of explosive flames, the compact powerhouse of Jamie appeared from mangled blend of green, gold and black, with the ball to launch another Northwich attack. Well done Jamie! Reflection from the Coaches: In general the watching crowd were happy with the performance, and felt that the entrance money had been rewarded with great excitement and a good win. Obviously the coaches are slightly more critical, probably because of the next two big games looming against Sandbach and the Cheshire Cup game at Hankinson's Park. In general, the rucking, mauling and the forward support play was good; scrums were strong and more line-outs were won rather than lost; individual running was strong. However, there were many missed tackles, not that we mind if the players attack legs and low, but because the attempts were still through shirt-grabbing or techniques more attuned to trying to stop the Weaverham Circular; there were lineout and penalty moves in the game that were innovative and complex, but never broke the gain-line; and although the individual running of the backs was strong, the collective team-nature of the back line was lacking, balls were not being passed early enough and the continuous overlap advantage was never exploited. Should be an interesting training session on Wednesday, so guys, we look forward to honing our efforts for a potential win over Sandbach on Sunday .... Let's go for it!!!!!! Tries: Luke Murray (2), Mike Gough and Ryan Kitt November 4th U14’s vs Sandbach (Away) Lost 30-3 Sandbach agreed prior to the fixture to play a match made up of two 20-minute halves for a 1st XV fixture, and then to have a further 20-minute practice period to ensure that all the 'Bulls' got valuable game time. Although the Sandbach 1st XV were obviously far stronger than Northwich in all quarters, the format seemed to work well by giving all players a chance to compete against such an impressive outfit. Rather than talk too much about the game, it maybe good to reflect on a few differences between the two teams. Having over 50 under 14's on their books gives Sandbach the opportunity to play both a 1st and 2nd XV fixture every week; it is also true that the Sandbach schools major on the game of rugby (hence the other significant victories in the U13's, 15's and 16's fixtures too) and currently boast England Academy players in all qualifying age groups; with the Grammar School littered with many rugby photographs plus England and Cheshire shirts, demonstrates the great tradition in the town. However, their base building blocks are still the same as ours. Although the Northwich players may well have been 'psychologically' affected by the apparent size difference between the teams, it could still be argued that Sandbach's best player was their smallest: the excellent scrum-half. In fact the real difference was in their approach, aggression, drill, skill and technique (and not all in their size), and all of this can be coached. As a Northwich squad we are not yet in the same league, however with more victories than defeats this season, we have still reached a significantly competent level within the county, and on Sunday many of our players showed some superb tackling, running and mauling skills, and although out-classed, the effort and commitment was there, but the overall breadth of technique across the squad clearly still needs further development. So rather than despair we must be proud of what the players have achieved to date. So as coaches we are highly proud and motivated by both the longer-term potential of the squad as well as the excellent team spirit that exists within the squad (for we have consistently seen over 20 players turn up to every weekday training session and match since March of this year). 'Tango' Moment of the Day: To reflect this spirit, one of our keenest and physically smaller players, Tom Foulkes, showed his massive heart and determination to pole-axe the largest player on the pitch, with an excellent tackle (that obviously hurt both parties), but immediately stood up to face the next opposition surge. Well done Tom. Respect Barrie's Spectators' selection of the RBS Spectators' Player of the Day: The previous week the 'Stags' easily beat Leigh, but probably in a way that left the coaches disappointed. This weeks performance was full of heart and some excellent defensive play, and without the endless stream of crunching tackles from Tom Bebbington (continued to batter with his sore shoulder), Josh Hall, Elliot Alston, Chris Sheppard, Sam Clayton, Simon Dale, Jamie Hall, Joe Halsall, Jack Vandersteen, Sam Jones and Luke Murray, the defeat would have been far greater. This superb display of individual defensive play was reflected on Barrie's 'innovation sheet'. However, a top 3 had to be agreed: in third place was Josh Hall for only missing one tackle facing him all match; in second was Sam Jones, who under extreme pressure still managed to launch some attacking play through both forwards and backs; but just on his number of bruises, his ruffled hair and shear exhaustion after the match, Chris Sheppard now leads the RBS table with another excellent individual contribution. Well done Chris! Penalty: Chris Sheppard Return to fixtures The big match, on the massive pitch at 'Hankinson's Park on the Dane', saw a revived pack of Congleton 'Bears' eager to overturn a previously poor display at the Farm. After a well respected minutes silence, the team in red pushed the startled 'Stags' back on to their hind legs, the hunting pack scared their prey who quickly succumbed to a well worked but unconverted 'kill'. With blood dripping from the wounds, the hunted soon became the hunters, and managed to separate the pack by an impressive attacking display of numbers. At the end of the first half Northwich were leading 7:5, and on reflection it could, and arguable should have been much more. Jack Vandersteen was convinced that he had grounded a try from a rolling maul; and Tom Bebbington was pole-axed twice, as too was Elliot Alston by the excellent tackling from the Congleton fullback, Jacob Nichols. In fact, if these three tackles had been missed, Jack's try given, and including the excellent solo try actually scored towards the end of the half and then converted by Chris Sheppard; (and assuming Chris kept his high kicking average going from previous games); then the score could have been 35:5. This of course would not have been fair to Congleton, whose game plan, approach, aggression and general attitude was far better than in the previous encounter between the two teams; and of course it would not have reflected the completely apathetic start from the team that thought the game was won before it had even started. So 7:5 was a fair half time score. However the second half was far more one sided, and although Congleton scored a last minute converted try, to end the game 19:12, the unconverted try from Ryan Kitt and Chris Sheppard's conversion of Sam Clayton's excellent try under the post kept the muzzle on the 'Bears'. If the truth was truly known, then there were probably at least two further tries lost due to lack of 'team-mate positional awareness' (expansion of this on Wednesday night's training). 'Tango' Moment of the Day: If Jacob Nichols wore Black 'n' Gold, and if he had only played one game as fullback for Northwich before this game, then for his three excellent tackles on two of our Northwich finest in the first half would have easily put him in the running for the much sought after 'bottle of tango-plonk'. Alas, bears and stags find it hard to harmoniously mix in the wild. However, it was not hard to part with the corked magnum. Congleton turned over the ball from a ruck close to their line and Zak Jones picked and ran up the touchline; then in true Andy Farrell (when he was awarded the man of steel as a league player), Tom Bebbington hit Zak backwards with immense force. As both players rose from the impact, Tom's nose was bleeding, but in 'John Smiths' no-nonsense fashion, he gave it a wipe, and almost immediately trapped another bear in similar fashion, who lay wounded on the floor, caught in the 'Bebb the poacher's trap'. The post match diagnosis was that Tom had broken his nose. So straight in at number 2 on the tango charts, is our new 'man of steel', Bebby. Well done Tom. RBS Spectators' Player of the Day: If we throw the first ten minutes into the chip wrappings of club history and evaluate the spectators' viewpoint on the rest of the game, it was clear that many players excelled. Mike Collier played his best game this season and led the forwards with great prowess; Sam Jones again linked the forwards and backs with great effect; Chris Sheppard was a shear pleasure to watch, as too was Ryan Kitt when he came on; and Teddy 'the jink' Sheridan was excellent after replacing Will Mitchell early into the game (with Will practising his new party trick by forcing coca cola out of his new facial orifice); but in true 'catch phrase' style, 'they had to narrow it down', and the top 3 eventually formed. In third place, and from the bench, was Jordan Byrne who showed strength in running and awareness in passing, and clearly impressed the far touchline with his second half inclusion; in second place, was Elliot Alston, who has naturally soft hands, instinctive awareness and on many occasions turned defence into attack by tempting others into the space he created; but top spot goes to Sam Clayton, and not wanting to overuse the word, was awesome, and clearly an influential player on the pitch, from an already high standard he continues to improve, and this performance was his best of the season. Well done Sam, you move into second place. Tries: Chris Sheppard, Sam Clayton and Ryan Kitt Return to fixtures Next Sunday: Macclesfield in the Cheshire Cup (Home) A late change in arrangements, and a big thank you to Ken Houghton, saw many of the U14's travel in style over the Offa's Dyke and into North Wales with Ken's U16's in an executive coach. The atmosphere on the coach was electric, literately, as the boys found pleasure in electrocuting themselves (and the coaches) with a statically charged chrysanthemum. On arrival, the team joined up with those that had made their own way. Both sets of coaches agreed to play 3 x 20 minute 'thirds' so as to give all the players from both squads plenty of game-time opportunity. From kick-off the game was equally balanced, and fiercely competitive, albeit in an extremely good spirit, albeit, let us not forget that this was a Welsh team playing an English one. Both sides attacked and defended very well and the score after the first third stayed at 0:0. However, it was not long into the second third that Rhyl broke the deadlock with a very well worked try, that they converted with ease, but the score was quickly levelled with an all to familiar 'Chruke', as the expectant crowd witnessed Luke Murray bundle over the line, allowing Chris Sheppard to convert. Before the beginning of the final third, the excellent referee spoke to both teams, expressing his wish that the excellent contest should really end 7:7, however there were to be more twists and turns in the final third. With both teams taking the opportunity to field all of their large squads, the last twenty minutes commenced. It was becoming evident that Northwich were becoming the stronger team as the larger Welsh Warriors started to tire. From a retaken penalty ten metres short of the Rhyl line, Jack Vandersteen with his head down in true stag combat style forced his way over the line, and with Chris Sheppard converting, Northwich had taken the lead for the first time in the game. However, refusing to hang up his armour, the superb Rhyl centre broke through the flying arms of the Northwich backs to score under the posts, and the conversion set the scores level again. Then, in an almost identical fashion and on the same spot as before, Sam Jones popped a penalty move to Jack Vandersteen who this time was tackled inches from the line, but with excellent support play from the forwards, Ryan Kitt picked up the ball and crashed over the line to score his third try of the season, and with Chris Sheppard converting, Northwich were in the lead with five minutes remaining. Rhyl attacked with urgency but Northwich defended valiantly, and on the referee's 'last play' call, Sam Jones kicked the ball in Matt Dawson style directly into touch to seal one of Northwich's finest victories. It is quite common for the away fans to criticise 'home referees', but whether the referee is right or wrong, he is always right, and in the case of Rhyl's referee, he was always right and deserves a mention for his excellent stewardship. Ones that Got Away: Mike Collier was denied two tries, one when he peeled off a maul but the referee had already blown up, and the second when he touched the ball down on to the upright, which in hindsight probably should have been given. There were four other tries scored two from each side, but all of them were scored on the five-metre line, and in one case the referee was initially fooled as well by giving one of them before he realised his mistake. 'Tango' Moment of the Day: Rhyl were very good at getting the ball out to their fast wingers, and gaining good yardage in doing so. On one occasion their no.11 broke the tackles of the Northwich backs and raced down the touchline, however it was clear that Josh Hall had him covered, so the winger set his running stance to chip over Josh's head. Enter left, the charging Bull with only the red caped dragon in his sight, Sam Clayton had to exercise his lines strictly on cue, too late he would have been sin-binned, but with precision Sam hit the winger with such force that not even the crowd had time to get out of the way. Sky Sports would have been playing this tackle over and over again if only their cameras had been there. RBS Spectators' Player of the Day: The pleasing thing was that everyone played at least 25 minutes, and all of the squad of 25 contributed towards the victory. It was again difficult for the spectators to separate their top three: Matt Beesley showed what he is capable of doing and played very well; Will Mitchell had his best game of the season and in the eyes of the coaches played a massive part in Northwich winning more than their share of the breakdown; Will was replaced by the Tom Sheridan who showed that his tackling is improving with two excellent mid-field tackles; Chris Sheppard and Sam Jones both made some handsome breaks; David Lewis and Jack Vandersteen both played excellent games; but in third place, for his brilliant all round contribution and tackling was Joe Halsall, in the eyes of the coaches he has established himself as a very fine player who will be sorely missed during his six week recuperation from an ear operation in December; in second place was Josh Hall, who's body language after being told, always gives the impression that he does not want to play full-back, but every time he does he plays well, and in this game he played extremely well in both defence and attacking play; but for the second week running, Sam Clayton sweeps the board, with another breath-taking display of commitment, fitness and bravery. Well done Sam, you now lead the Spectator's table, keep setting the standard! Tries: Luke Murray, Jack Vandersteen and Ryan Kitt Return to fixtures The conditions were excellent for a game of rugby, and after previous fixtures with Macclesfield, the battlefield was ready for another closely fought but sporting encounter between two equally matched forces. Sam Jones won his second toss in a row and elected to receive the kick into (Cricket) Pavilion End .... and that was where him and his team stayed for the first next fifteen minutes (a lesson learnt for our captain - when you win the toss you either start with the kick and put the immediate pressure on the opposition half, or if the wind is strong, choose to go with the wind and only then, accept the kick). Macclesfield piled on the pressure, and were unlucky not to score, with their impressive blonde flanker knocking on an almost certain try, and with the two Sam's (Jones and Clayton) holding up a 'blue' surge beyond the Northwich try line. Northwich could not get out of their own 22, with both half backs getting kicks charged down. Maybe if Macclesfield had scored, the game might have been different, however on reflection this superb piece of defensive play with some strong tackling from the 'Stags' ended up being the difference between the two teams. Eventually the ball did get down the line to both Tom Bebbington and Luke Murray who together gained good ground into the 'blue' half, and at this point the pendulum started its swing back. The forwards cranked up the pressure and with some decent back play, Northwich found themselves camping in new territory, and then the Macclesfield team cracked under the strain and allowed Mike Collier to throw himself over the line to score his second try of the season. The half ended 5:0 to the 'Stags'. The second half stayed close, albeit Northwich had the advantage both in possession and territorially, but eventually with an excellent blind-side move Sam Jones shipped the ball to Elliot Alston who weaved his way through the opposition defence to score his second try for the club, and this time Chris Sheppard made no mistake in converting his effort. By this time the fitness levels between the two teams started to show, Macclesfield heads were dropping, the Northwich tackling stayed intense, and desperate kicking fragmented the game. With minutes to go, Jamie Hall, who 'pound for pound' must be one of the strongest player in the team emerged with the ball from the maul, and in Luke Murray fashion blasted his way over the line to score his second try of the season, with Chris Sheppard missing his second conversion of the day. Northwich kept their second clean sheet of the season, and in a day of seconds Macclesfield had no answer and finished second. 'Tango' Moment of the Day: Reluctantly so, Josh Hall is awarded this week's 'Magnum of Pop', but enters the charts in last place. Not for a piece of individual skill but for a moment that Sky Sports will include on their next 'Sporting Bloomers' DVD. As the game became stretched and Macclesfield reverted to a kicking game in an attempt to break down the incessant Northwich defence, the 'blue' stand-off kicked a high 'Gary Owen' straight towards the 'Stag' full-back. Now the textbooks tell you to ".... never to let the ball bounce ..." and Josh had obviously read that bit, but instead then of ".... get underneath the ball and ensure you catch the ball positioning your body in such a way that if you drop it the ball goes backwards ....", Josh volleyed the ball back in full. It was returned so high that everyone could hear the ice crack as it landed back in the opposition half. Not one for the coaching manuals Mr. Hall! RBS Spectators' Player of the Day: Jordan Byrne came on in the second half and rapidly drummed up some late Spectator votes with his excellent running and tackling and was unlucky not to make the top 3. Third place went to Mike Collier, who has shown consistent improvement during the last few games, and although he missed out on two tries last week at Rhyl he succeeded with one this week, but try aside, Mike's all round contribution was superb. It has been a good week for Will Mitchell, last week he played his best game of the season, on Wednesday he heard that he had made the Cheshire Development Squad, and this week he played out of his skin and 'pound to pound' matches Jamie Hall's strength, a brilliant match. In most instances Will would have won the award on the day, but there was one player who could only be described as being absolutely brilliant on the day, and that was Joe Halsall. Joe's strength in tackling is second to none, not only does he get there with speed, he also knocks his victim back with such aggression, with coaches in full agreement, the spectators could not give the award to anyone else, so well done Joe! Tries: Mike Collier, Elliot Alston and Jamie Hall Return to fixtures Next Sunday: The players from both Northwich based teams meet for their traditional pre-Christmas battle, away - kick-off 10.45am (Extract sent to the local papers). The largest squad in recent times of 27 players turned up in Caldy on a wet, cold and windy day, this included new boys: Declan Woodward and Samir Zaman who have both shown an interest to join the club. Those who played gave a tremendous performance. However the day turned out to be a really low one for the two coaches (with Steve Jones on his peace envoy duties in the West Bank). Before the game we were assured that because of the number of substitutes on both sides a second game of 25 minutes was to be played after the shortened 2x20 minute halves. Clearly the weather had a lot to do with the Caldy replacements decision to go home, rather than play, and this left the Caldy coaches both embarrassed and highly apologetic. But, this was no compensation for the seven cold and wet Northwich players that did not get any game-time at all, including our two latest new recruits. Once again a massive apology to Tom Foulkes, Steven Parry, Luke Targett, Baden Powell, Andrew Dawson, Samir and Declan, and with a big thank you to the ever present, but injured Alex Dickenson in both braving the elements and supporting the troops on the touchline. Captain Sam lost the toss again and was lucky to benefit from the mistake from Tom, the Caldy captain (remember last week:- when you win the toss you either start with the kick and put the immediate pressure on the opposition half, or if the wind is strong, chose to go with the wind and only then, accept the kick ... Sam had got both the kick and the benefit of the strong wind behind his team's back. On reflection, one would have expected the whole game to be played in the leeward half, but amazingly so, in both halves over 80% of the game was played to windward, but this was down to the 'canny' game plans from both teams when playing into wind. The only try of the game came halfway into the first half when Northwich could not hold back Caldy's intense pressure, and with Luke Murray and Matt Beesley in a 3 on 2 situation the Caldy star centre had his only chance to sparkle in the whole game, and took the try before the 'Luke Murray' cloud masked his beauty for the rest of the game. However much Northwich tried to get out of the leeward end, all down field kicks were returned brilliantly by the small Caldy fullback ... but hold out they did. Intuitively the coaches and knowledgeable spectators expected a downwind cease in the second half, but with the simple game plan agreed during the break, Northwich kept the ball close, pressurised the ball carrier when not in possession themselves, keeping all passes short and never kicking ... and with the exception of one lapse of concentration of a captain's grubber kick which nearly led to a Caldy try, the 'Stags' performed brilliantly. The game ended with Caldy camped downwind for the only time of the half, but with Northwich continuing their brave defence to stop a late second try. Last week, Caldy lost a strange cup game against Lymm, their only defeat of the season and with wins over Wilmslow, Anselmians and Sandbach under their belts, the score of 5-0 to the home side can only give confidence to the 'Stags', and that winning the Cheshire Cup is still an achievable, stretched goal for the season. 'Tango' Moment of the Day: Five minutes into the second half, Chris Sheppard was taken off after a frightening experience involving his scrum-cap and an alleged Caldy misdemeanour. Auntie Barrie was forced to switch the backs around and put the versatile 'Jinky' at fullback. As explained in above, Northwich limited the downwind kicks to a minimum, but there were still another three enormous kicked clearances. Now, if we forget the last kick that Tom knocked on to enable Caldy to end out the game in the Stag's half, the way that he dealt with the other three kicks deserves a 'Tango' mention. At the beginning of the season Tom Sheridan was still learning his trade as fullback, and on occasion was forced into some minor errors, but his decision-making was spot on in this game. Because of the wind Tom stood waiting a good sixty metres (60m) behind his backs, and like a magnet the ball bounced in his zone (demonstrating his excellent positioning). To be fair, Luke Murray, Michael Chubb and Tom Bebbington all retreated back to support him, but because of the gap, as well as the speedy attackers fast closing the 60m-void, 'Jinky' needed to buy time. One could pick any of three examples, but the Tango Moment goes to the time that Tom took the ball on the bounce, 'jinked' a few times, side-stepped two players, eventually took the ball into contact, and as he was tackled to the floor, popped the ball expertly into Tom Bebbington's hands who then continued the counter-attack to put the pull back in the leeward 22. Well-done Tom, like the Beetles, two records in the top 5 (now doesn't that sound old ... maybe should read ... two top iTunes downloads in the charts from Clubz!). RBS Spectators' Player of the Day: The game was very tight, and intricacies of the tight game were difficult to decipher from the touchline, especially viewed through horizontal hailstones 'sandblasting' the spectators' retinas. The RBS number 2 and 3 could have gone to any one of the team Sam Jones was brilliant, so too Joe Halsall, Simon Dale, Josh Hall and Sam Clayton, but third place went to Jack Vandersteen for some superb tackling and with his back-row colleagues expertly, closed down the space, always limiting Caldy's options; in second place for his tackling, heart, determination and vision goes to Chris Sheppard, who has now been cited in the top 3 for half the matches this season; however from the start, their was only going to be one RBS this week, and like Joe Halsall in the last game, Tom Bebbington was simply brilliant. He never missed a tackle, with most of his tackles being of the 'last ditched, try saving' kind, in the second half he turned defence into attack, and showed an excellent display of running and gave his adoring crowd plenty of glimpses of his 'rod-iron hand-offs'. Well-done Tom, if you were on 'Strictly Come Dancing' besides getting '8 (from Craig) + 10 + 10 + 10', Irene would have said "brave Bebbington beats the best in beautifully, brilliant barnstormer of a battling display" (not that I admit to watching such a programme, of course)! Star Player: Tom Bebbington Return to fixtures ‘Tango’ Moment of the Day: For the first time this season, a try has made the TMD charts. Chris Sheppard received the ball from Sam Jones in his own 22 and immediately shipped the ball down the line to Michael Chubb who in turn passed to Luke Targett, Luke came back in field and popped the ball to Luke Murray who broke through the opposition line, but was then tackled. As he fell he looked back to pop the ball to Chris Sheppard who had followed the play throughout, Chris was then tackled and popped the ball back to Mike Collier who almost made it to the line but was tackled two metres out. Mike presented the ball in textbook style and in came Chris Sheppard to take the ball over the line. Besides being an excellent passage of team rugby, Chris’s determination, awareness and fitness means that he once again wins a magnum of Tango-pagne, well done Chris! RBS Spectators’ Player of the Day: The spectators picked out some excellent performances from the more established players (hereafter known as ‘Stags’) but probably missed some of the superb contributions from the less experienced players (hereafter known as ‘Bulls’). So before the RBS Player of the Day, the ‘Star Bull’ award needs to be established: Michael Chubb made some great runs and demonstrated his growing confidence with some excellent textbook tackles; Tom Foulkes looked initially uncomfortable in a full-back position, but when he moved back to his more familiar position at wing he looked good with the ball and like Michael made some promising ‘hits’; Baden Powell still needs to fully unleash his strength on the pitch, but showed his growing fitness levels and played a good pack role; newcomer Samir Zaman has much to learn about the game but has already shown that he is a natural runner of the ball and has a great deal of strength to offer, as well as integrating well into the squad (welcome and well done Samir); David Lewis has developed rapidly since rejoining the team and is not far away from securing a starting place in the initial XV; it was unfortunate that Steven Parry, Declan Woodward, and Matt Beesley were absent but in training all three are showing great promise with their excellent running ability; but the ‘Star Stag’ of the day goes to Andrew Dawson, in summary his performance was brilliant, his tackling was superb, his agility around the pitch was close to that of Sam Clayton and the absent Joe Halsall, and his running with the ball was sound. For those who do not know, Andrew has recently been selected for the National Junior Sailing Squad and therefore cannot commit to playing ever week, but on this performance, when he is available, he will feature in the coaches’ minds when selecting future teams. As for the full blown RBS awards, the top three go to: Sam Clayton in third place for another solid and action packed performance; Jamie Hall enters the ‘RBS Hall of Fame’ for the first time, in second place, with an excellent performance, his direct running, tenacious attitude in the tight and brilliant display of cover tackling obviously impressed the icicles on the touch-line; and despite cold hands, and incredible love for the Welsh referee, Chris Sheppard cracked open another bubbling performance, with a nice blend of running and passing in attack and a perfect tackling display. Well done Chris you are the last ‘Star Stag’ of 2007! King Richard (of Verulanium) of the Day Award: Not many people know this, but in the midst of time King Richard made his way up Watling Street to Chester, and on his way he stopped off at Moss Farm in Northwich. Besides miles of disused mine shafts, one of the other Roman legacies to the famous salt town was its extensive Ostrich farming in a small district outside Northwich called Mossilanium. Now many people believe that the famous student of the Rugby School, Webb Ellis initiated God’s game, but in fact in 269AD, King Richard of Verulanium spun passed an Ostrich egg to his Chief of Staff at the Mossilanium Ostrich Farm (now known as Moss Farm) to initiate a sport now known as Rugby Union. This piece of local history was recently dug up in an ancient time capsule as part of the extended excavations at Chester amphitheatre. So the Northwich Under 14’s wish to revive this great historical event by initiating an award to be given after every game by the previous week’s holder of the award to a player for a notable ‘Spanner Moment’ during the game. The award will be officially known as the ‘King Richard (of Verulanium) of the Day Award’ but for short will be locally known as the ‘(King) Dick of the Day Award’. Donations are also welcome into the club, and because of the deep affection all the coaches have for their Welsh neighbours, the Welsh Dragon (bobble-less) hat will now symbolise this great man and is a fitting honour for any future spanner moments. To start this new tradition, the coaches had to make the presentation to the first incumbent, and their was a choice to be made: Chris Sheppard wanting to leave the pitch because his hands were cold; Mike Collier more worried about his broken finger nail rather than tackling the fourth try scorer for Flint; Tom Sheridan for swearing at the referee, but more importantly in ear shot of his mum (shame he missed a memorable edition of Heartbeat later that evening); but Jack Vandersteen (pictured right with his award) will go down in history as the first ‘Dick of the Day’, not for being called over by the referee once for arguing, not even for being called over by the referee twice and with the referee demanding a coach to join the discussion for attempting to knee the second Flint try scorer in the head, but being called over by the referee for a third time for being the first player in history to give away a penalty for a ‘red-mist’ stare at his opposite number. Hail the new King Richard of Verulanium! Half Season Awards: As you can see from this season’s ‘Attendance Register’, the under 14’s have had a total of 32 sessions to date i.e. either mid-week/Sunday training sessions, full-blown matches or bag-packing. Three players have achieved a remarkable 100% attendance record for attending (in full) all of these 32 sessions: Josh Hall, Tom Sheridan and Chris Sheppard - an achievement that has not even been replicated by any of the three coaches (who have all missed at least one session each this season). Well done lads … your display of enthusiasm and ultimate enjoyment, as well as all of you showing massive signs of personal improvement during ‘game-time’ is the main reason that we ultimately turn up to coach you at each of the sessions - keep the dedication up, as the game has a ‘canny’ way of paying back ‘investors’ with high ‘interest’. The choice for the most improved player was between Tom Sheridan and Ryan Kitt, and with a £20 gift voucher already in Tom’s pocket, the coaches presented Ryan with a well-deserved award. Many players have impressed the coaches this season, and three stood out for the award of ‘Coaches mid-season Player’: Joe Halsall, Chris Sheppard and Sam Clayton, and with nothing choose between them, and with Joe absent post his ear operation (speedy recovery hoped by all - maybe the cup game on the 3rd February could be a good target return-date), and Chris already flush with an award, the coaches awarded Sam Clayton the mid-season honour. Cheshire Cup Quarter Final: The long awaited Cup draw has now taken place. We have been drawn against Altrincham Kersal who are of a very similar standard to ourselves, and with one of Sandbach and Wilmslow certain to be knocked out, there is still a possibility that we could make the Final and then, who knows? … go on to win the Cup! The match will be played on Sunday 3rd February 2008 at Moss Farm. January 6th U14’s vs Chester (Away) Lost 27-12 January 13th U14’s vs Ashton-on-Mersey (Away) Won 60-0 Sixty points were scored in the game: The first try game from the excellent Sam Clayton that Chris Sheppard converted; the second but Jordan Byrne’s first of the season was also converted by Chris Sheppard; Tom Bebbington delivered a great third try; Jack Vandersteen caused an earthquake and once the tremors subsided Chris Sheppard converted; Luke Murray scored his thirteenth try of the season … this led to 5 tries and 3 conversions in the first half. With a victory clearly in sight, the coaches rotated the regulars and brought on the touch-line replacements. The first try of the second half came from Steven Parry that was topped with a Chris Sheppard conversion; Jack Vandersteen added a secondary tremor; and before being dragged off the pitch Jack Vandersteen completed his and the team’s first hat-trick of the season; captain Sam Jones was not to be left out, and with one of his best performances of the season, scored an excellent individual try; and the final try was scored by Ryan Kitt and was duly converted by Chris Sheppard … this led to 5 tries and 2 conversions. The pleasing aspect of this performance was that the half time replacements did not change the shape of the team, or the rate of the points scored: Samir Zaman’s confidence took a leap forward with a strong contribution; Baden Powell got stuck in and Tom Foulkes with Prince Michael Chubb also showed greater promise. For the record, our Cheshire Cup Quarter Finalist opposition, Altrincham and Kersal only managed to reach the forty make against the South Manchester team. ‘Tango’ Moment of the Day: and RBS Spectators’ Player of the Day: The spectators and coaches received their New Year’s present with a surprising uplift of performance levels from Steven Parry. At Chester, Steven showed that he had speed, in Ashton his confidence levels grew immensely and gave a high standard contribution in his first full game for Northwich. Steven’s hard word was rewarded with his first try, therefore both playing ‘crowns’ (as opposed to Dickie Dick’s Welsh Trophy) are awarded to ‘Parry’ … well done Steven. Also for the record, Jack Vandersteen’s three tries (but no clubhouse jug) and Ryan Kitt’s brilliance, including try, deserved their place on the podium Return to fixtures Tries: Ryan Kitt (2), Tom Bebbington and Josh Hall February 3rd U14’s vs Altrincham Kersal (Home) Won 14-10 Shortly after the final whistle was blown, with AK camped in their own 22, and although disappointed I think they realised that they had just been pipped by the slightly better team. A great spectacle, played in a superb spirit and a victory that puts Northwich in the semi-finals of the Cheshire Cup. As for the other results: Sandbach beat Wilmslow 48-0; Winnington Park’s game was postponed; and the result from the Lymm and Caldy ‘B’ game has yet to be published. The semi-final must be played before Sunday 30th March which is the weekend after Easter. Clearly this is a bit of a worry, as this is in the middle of the early Easter break and some of you may have already booked holidays! ‘Tango’ Moment of the Day: Some of the first half kicks from Northwich were extremely poor, but early in the second half when AK were in danger of tipping the game’s momentum, Chris Sheppard kicked a ball from his own half, with the wind and it bounced twice and hit the AK five metre line. From this point the Altrincham Kersal team stayed in their own half, and the momentum had tipped, and only one team was going to win from this point onwards. Well done Chris! RBS Spectators’ Player of the Day: The conditions were hard for good flowing rugby, but there were many good performances: if the referee had a vote he would have voted Ryan Kitt for an excellent display, but third place went to Will Mitchell who produced another superb display of hooking and rucking, with Rob Mitchell sharing the award for his touch-line coaching; second place went to last weeks villan, Jack Vandersteen, and this week’s hero for his tackling and front-line leadership; and a mile ahead with an awesome performance was Chris Sheppard, his contribution can only be described as brilliant. Well done again Chris! Extract from Altrincham Kersal’s newsletter This was a game that AK should have won. From the first play of the match AK were the dominant side with a sweeping backs move from a scrum in centre field resulting in a line out deep in the Northwich 22. The backs looked in good touch and it was no surprise when Loughrey was given enough space to score an uncoverted try in the corner. Northwich cam back strongly, but AK were stout in defence with Webster again to the fore as he had been in the previous week. From a turnover, Northwich attacked and Kitchener made an outstanding tackle on the line. But Northwich bundled their way over moments later for a 7-5 lead. AK came back strongly and were awarded a double penalty inside the Northwich 22. A quick tap from McCaffrey; some quick passing to Smart who broke through three tackles to score. 10-7 to AK at half time. The wind picked up in the second half, and some excellent defending from AK on their own line denied Northwich what seemed a certain score. But AK plotted their own downfall with some poor decisions at crucial moments. A kick through from the Northwich centre led to confusion between Moss and Bailey and the centre picked up a soft try, which Northwich converted. Depsite some valiant attempts AK couldn't quite find the fluency of the first half and finished the game close to their own line. This was a disappointing result not least because the team had the game to beat the opposition, but a series of errors let the opposition take victory. Tries: Chris Sheppard and Sam Jones ‘Tango’ Moment of the Day: It will be hard for anyone to top Chris Sheppard's Tango tackle against the Wilmslow star, but after scoring his first try, Tom Bebbington with his famous hand-off's and power was left with one man to beat. In full knowledge of his support, Tom drew the man turned his back and popped the ball to Mike Collier to score his try. Mike got the five points, and Tom go the message, that selflessness and confidence in the greater team, that simplicity and awareness, is sometimes more fruitful than singular effort. Will not top the shephard's taming of the wolf, but goes very close, well done Tom! The semi-finals of the Cheshire Cup has been drawn: Northwich have been drawn at home against the winner of Winnington Park and Ansellmians (match to played Sunday; and Lymm will play Sandbach. This Sunday's match could be a dress rehersal against Lymm, so its time that we rally the troops with a few truths ... Winning is everything. The only ones who remember you when you come second are you wife and your dog. Or as Bill Shankly famously said that some people think football is a matter of life and death ... I can assure them it is much more serious than that. We can be the dreamer of dreams: For each age is a dream that is dying. Or one that is coming to birth ... and then the other Bill on Harry spiritly raising his army with: The game is afoot: Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge cry 'God for Dickie! Northwich and St.George. Last Wednesday the U14's took on the U16's and the special ingrediant that always appears to be lacking even when weaker teams like Marple are brushed aside suddenly appeared between the halogens ... spirit and courage, with an overwelming desire to show their elders how far their rugby has come. As coaches we were immensely proud of you. Guys, if you can rekindle this lost ark from your mixed hormones the prize no longer becomes an aspiration but a crystalised reality. Sunday is you safe playground for everyone to overturn the potential finalists and set the seed of doubt in Lymm and start the process of labour by giving birth to your dreams. Tries: Chris Sheppard, Ryan Kitt, Luke Murray, Sam Jones, Tom Bebbington and Mike Collier |