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U16’s Match Reports 2007-8 Northwich played into the wind in the first half and the first 5 mins saw both sides adjusting to the pace of U16’s rugby and the more stringent application of the laws by the referee. After several mistakes by either side, Northwich settled down and began to work their way up field through some tight forward work. Stockport were sucked in to stop the drive and it looked certain that all Northwich had to do was to pass the ball wide for a certain opening score. However a touch of white line fever developed and Northwich kept plugging away in the tight, eventually leading to a captain Phil Williams crashing through the Stockport defence to open the scoring. With the conversion going wide, and only 5 points on the board, Stockport began to come back into the game and most of the rest of the first half saw Northwich working hard in defence, achieving a breakout and then giving away a soft penalty to allow Stockport back into the attack, the half ended at 5 – 0. With a large squad to work from the coaches made 4 halftime changes, including recent migrant Matthew Parkinson, who relished having the ball regularly kicked to him by the opposition as he stood at full back. His gave him ample opportunity to show what he can do running at defences! Northwich tightened up their game in the second half, with fewer penalties, came more continuity and again they started to dominate the visitors. The forwards again showed their power and Dutton blasted through for the opening score of the second half, Parkinson converting. Stockport tried to respond and got within 2 metres of the Northwich line. A blindside break from a ruck looked certain to unlock Northwich’s defence, but Scrum Half Houghton put in a shuddering tackle which stopped the movement in its tracks. The ball was turned over and Dutton made the most of his big boot and cleared to touch way down field. Northwich now sensed that they had the winning of this game and started to try and work the ball into the hands of their flyers; several times the final pass just would not stick. However eventually Hale made it into the corner and again Parkinson added the extras from a wide out position. This was followed up by a darting run from inside centre Devaney, who stepped and weaved his way over the line, but failed to convert his own try. The whistle went with Northwich again 5 metres from the Stockport line and whilst a great win, Northwich left many opportunities to go begging today and will need to tighten up the basics if they are going to go far this season. Return to fixtures Just as it looked to the Blacks that they had everything sewn up, Bowden struck back with a turnover near halfway, their 14 stepped Hale and burnt off Parkinson in a race for the tryline, everything looked covered though as Sparks tracked across for the tackle, however, the attempt lacked conviction and Bowden got points on the board. This spurred on the team and vengence came in the shape of 3 more tries (1 converted - Parkinson) from Hale, Holt and Redfern, who completed a first half hat trick. Wholesale changes at half time by Northwich did nothing to weaken their side and in short order Blears and Philips had joined the list of try scorers. Devaney converted both tries. When Ben Jones skated in under the posts, the points difference exceeded the 50 margin and the referee offered Bowden the option of retiring. However, the plucky Bowden team would have non of it and stayed on the pitch. Sadly their chances for improving on their own scoreline were few and far between and even when they threatened the Blacks just closed up shop and kept them out.They resorted to trying to run the ball from everywhere in an effort get out of their half and their 14 took on the attackers by running across his dead ball area in order to get around the attackers. He looked to have succeeded until Ben Jones put in a spectacular tap tackle which felled him on the spot. The try count continued to rattle up for Northwich at a reasonable pace, Redfern added a fourth, DJ got on the scoreboard and Holt added a second from the unusual view point of the wing. The referee rightly got more pedantic with Northwich in the second half, but even that was not enough to stop three more scores, the most audacious from birthday boy Sparks, who returned to the right wing and spotted a loose ball on the Northwich 10 metre line. Toe poking it forward he set off in chase, out paced the now tired Bowden defence and scored under the posts. Retreiving the ball, he stepped in front of the sticks and calmly added the conversion with a drop goal!! - Cheeky! The ref called it a day at 98 - 5 and put an end to Bowden's misery. The game was obviously a mismatch in ability, however, the game had been played in good spirits and the hosts never stopped trying. We wish them good luck for the rest of the season. Return to fixtures Wimlslow tried to respond, but some good territorial kicking from Underhill and Devaney soon had them pinned back. Pressure told and a penalty for failing to roll away in the tackle gave the Blacks a chance to stretch the lead. Unfortunately the kick shaved the upright and so 5 - 0 was the halftime score. In the second half the blacks tried to move the ball more in the backs and within moments of the second half kicking off, Refern had scampered in for the first of his tries. Despite dotting down in the corner (when he could easily have got under the sticks) Parkinson added the extras and the lead went to 12 points. Northwich then seemed to relax a bit and Wilmslow sensing the change in attitude redoubled their efforts. This eventually lead to them being awarded a much disputed try in the corner, the conversion going wide. This seemed to wake the Blacks up and once again they went on the attack. Receiving a penalty just inside the opposition half, the lads decided to run it and Dutton collected the ball at full pace, the impact with the tackler was fierce, Northwich recycled the ball and were moving wide towards the tryline when the ref blew up to allow the tackler to receive treatment. The Blacks had got their heads back up and fresh legs joined the fray, desperate to prove that they were worth a starting berth. Chances were created and despite 2 or 3 good chances being fumbled, eventually Redfern skated in for his second try of the game, Parkinson again adding the extras. 19 - 5 the final score, a very tough game, played in great spirit by two fine teams. The Northwich lads enjoyed a crowd near equal in size to that which had supported the first teams win the day before, a factor that no doubt buoyed their performance. Return to fixtures However, the rain ceased and the sun came out before kickoff and a good game was in prospect.The coaches elected to start players that either didn’t get a start against Wilmslow or ones that didn’t get significant game time. From the off Northwich made their intentions clear and for most of the first half they occupied the opposition half of the pitch. However, a series of largely unforced errors saw them failing to convert possession and territory into points. Eventually Redfern managed to skip his way through the opposition tackling and open the scoring. The only other scoring opportunity fell to Northwich when Leigh conceded a penalty in a very kickable position. Pleasingly, the Blacks saw the opportunity to advance the score, however, the kick shaved the outside of the posts and the half time score remained at 5 – 0, a score that flattered the hosts and reflected a general lack of cutting edge from Northwich in the first half. After a stiff talking to at half time, the Blacks started the second half far more brightly. Elliott received the kick off and soon the ball had been worked through hands and fed to Redfern, who scampered in for his second, this time the kick from Devaney was good. This early score seemed to galvanise the Blacks and they started to believe in what they could do. Leigh put up good defences, however, Dutton was the next on the scoreboard, powering into the corner, bouncing off tacklers as he went. Leigh tried to respond to these scores, however, despite several penalties going the home sides way, they were unable to string any solid attacks together and following a loose kick, Crozier found himself with the ball, space and the line at his mercy and he made sure with a “splashdown” just wide of the sticks, Devaney added the extras. Redfern completed his hat trick for the day shortly afterwards and having converted Redfern’s try Devaney wrapped up the day with a score under the posts, which he converted. So a much stronger second half and a good result was achieved overall, however, the lads need to question their first half performance and the way they left so many scores still on the pitch. Greater accuracy will be required in the future. Return to fixtures Caldy apologised upfront for the stand in ref, who had kindly given up his Sunday morning to officiate the game, after the original ref let them down late last night. We were very grateful for his attendance as it allowed the game to be played, however, his interpretation of some of the laws of rugby left both sides somewhat fluxmoxed! Northwich kicked off up hill and into the biting wind and instantly put Caldy under great pressure and Northwich should have opened the scoring, but again wrong options were taken and chances went begging. In fact against the run of play it was CAldy that managed to break a tackle out on the wing and force their way into the corner for the first score, which the kicker narrowly missed. Again Northwich tried to command the game up front, but Caldy proved resilient. Cold hands were evident across the pitch as ball was fumbled too often. Northwich coaches were determined to get all of the squad some meaningful game time and began to ring the changes late in the first half. Whether this was significant is hard to tell, but a couple of missed tackles allowed Caldy to get in under the posts and make it a 12 - 0 lead. Northwich spurned 2 obvious penalty chances electing to hit the corners instead of getting a score on the board and failed each time to capitalise on the moves. Therefore it remained 12 - 0 at the break. With wind at their backs and the benefit of the slope, Northwich began to force the game back into Caldy's half, but lack of precision and quick action meant that they got drawn into a kicking game that was not effective. Eventually they worked their way deep into Caldys 22 and from a scrum scrum half Houghton put winger Hale in for Northwich's first score. Parkinsons kick was solid but just missed. The score lifted Northwich who then hit right back from the kickoff and a series of good interplays had Underhill in by the posts almost immediately. Bizarrely, Parkinsons kick went wide, and Northwich were left wanting 2 more points for the draw and 3 for the win. Caldy dug deep and tried to come back into the game. As the tempo came up a series of unfortunate injuries ensued, Houghton and the opposition winger going for the same ball collided leaving both in a heap, but the worst was Phillips who was temporarily rendered unconscious following a collision. Northwich were awarded a penalty on Half way and elected to kick but the shot went wide and following consternation at the refs determindness to award a scrum back where the kick was taken as the ball had gone dead, the ref blew for time, leaving Northwich still 2 points shy. However both teams are destined to meet again in spring as they are both off to the same tournament in Ireland, where an all English final is hoped for. January 20th U16’s vs Warrington (Home) Won 17-3 Warrington were a real unknown as last season they didn't have an U15's side, so it was difficult to know what to expect. It was not long before Northwich found out, as the referee awarded the visitors a penalty barely inside the Blacks half. Without hesitation their inside centre stepped up to the kick and blasted it high over the posts. Post match, it was discovered that the kicker was Luke Emmett ex of Lymm RFC and Cheshire's U16 goal kicker, a fine addition to any squad. However, Northwich stuck to their task and soon realised that they had the domination in the forwards. A kickable penalty chance was spurned in favour of a kick to the corner. A choice that proved correct when the Blacks gathered their throw and drove the vistors over their line for Sam Connell to dot down. Devaney was unable to improve on the score. Northwich started to dominate possesion, but found the defence hard to break down. Kicking was not always the smartest option as often Warrington would return kicks with interest. Deep into the first half, No.8 Williams picked up from the back of the scrum and made a good break. He held his Cheshire team mate Emmett with a lovely delayed pass to Houghton who scampered around the remaining defence and under the sticks for the second try. This time Devaney added the extras. Just before the break Northwich started to use their bench as they had quite a few guys all looking for game time, but none of the many changes made during the game seemed to adversly affect Northwich's play. Warrington continued to kick well out of hand in the second half although 2 penalty shots were sent wide. Northwich tried to run the ball more and eventually this paid off when Dutton thundered through the defence for the third score. Northwich also had one likely looking try adjuged held up. 17 - 3 was the final score, the visitors showing that they were a useful outfit and once this relatively new side has bedded down, they could be a force to be reckoned with. For this time, Northwich's forwards were just too powerful for the visitors and effectively starved them of usable ball. Next week the U16's travel to Macclesfield. Return to fixtures The game was over as a contest quite early with firstly Crozier and then Refearn crossing the Marple line and Parkinson converting both tries well. Soon after Holt finished well and again Parkinson converted. Jefford, joining from the U-15's, then helped himself to a brace with Parkinson converting the first but only hitting the post with the second. Annoyed with missing what was a difficult kick, Parkinson then helped himself to a try which he duly converted, making it 40-0 at half time. It was decided we should play slightly less than an hour for the second half (Chris…it's a joke!!) and due to time constraints, all the substitutes being used and the game getting unnecessarily scrappy Northwich could only add a further 2 tries to their total. The U-15's once again showed their worth with first Vaughn finishing well from the base of the scrum and then Jefford completing and excellent hat trick. Parkinson converted the first to make the final score 52-0. It was good to get a game in and it gave several of the players the chance to get some game time under their belts. Whilst not really much of a contest and despite the score, it did show that there are plenty of areas that need to be worked on before the big game against Lymm and the all important tour. There is no doubt we have got numerous good players, some of whom obviously could not make it at the weekend, but it is important that they work hard, believe in themselves and most importantly develop as a team if they are going to make the most of their undoubted potential. A final couple of thanks from me. Firstly to Dave, the coach of the U-15's who agreed to manage the team for the day. He also ensured that due to the nature of the game, everybody got plenty of game time. Secondly, to Chris Hart who picked the starting team (not an easy task with people turning up late) and then refereed the game well making it flow whenever possible. Return to fixtures April 27th U16’s vs Caldy (Home) Won 23-6 Despite the light rain, the day was mild and for once, there was little wind to contend with.The first half saw Northwich with much of the possession but Caldy defending well. Parkinson tried his luck with an early penalty that just shaved the outside of the upright and it was not until about halfway through the half that Northwich finally managed to outflank the visitors defence and send winger Hale in for the opening try. Caldy struggled to get a foot hold in Northwich territory and when they did they were quickly repelled back into their own half. The second try was made when Skinkis came from deep on a scything angle and broke the first line of defence, it looked like the rear guard had got him, but he showed his great strength to fight through the defence and into the try zone. Parkinson failed to convert this try also but made up for it a little while later when he slotted a penalty a little later. Caldy made 2 penalty kicks of their own, both from nearly straight in front, but a good distance out.The 2 teams turned around at half time 13 – 6 to Northwich. In the second half, Caldy came out all guns blazing and for the first time in the math tested the Northwich defence. An impetuous defensive charge by one Northwich defender saw the Caldy 9 dive through the gap and nearly up to the tryline. Only highly committed defence kept the visitors at bay. Whether Northwich had slackened off or Caldy had redoubled their efforts is hard to tell but Caldy seemed to be in the ascendancy for much of the early part of the second half. This was not helped by flanker Jones being sin binned for persistent infringements. Eventually though the home side started to reassert themselves and started to again look threatening, although much precious possession was kicked away fruitlessly. Amongst a number of changes, Dutton came into the second row and almost immediately sparked a break and poking the ball through he gave chase, the ball sitting up nicely on the bounce, but the catch eluded the speeding 2nd row who knocked on. However, having laid siege to the Caldy line, Northwich pressed home their advantage. The ball was moved from side to side and although they faced stern defence they eventually moved the ball almost the entire width of the pitch before Jones came cutting back against the drift and powered his way through the defence. Another well hit kick slid wide of the posts, it just wasn’t going to be Parky’s day. With the game winding to a close and all substitutes used, there was just one twist left. Caldy tried to run the ball from just outside of their 22 and set up a nice 2 v 1 on the wing, however, rather than worrying about how to tackle 2 players, Redfern backed himself and picked off a beautiful interception and scampered done the 5 meter channel to add the 4th score. So the game ended 23 – 6 to Northwich who completed a good close to the having only suffered one 5 point loss on tour and not having been beaten since then. This game was the last game for Sam Connell who will be departing for Kent in the summer. He completed another great performance today and even appeared in the back line for a short time. We will miss Sam’s dedication to the cause, but we wish him well in his new team “darn souf”. Good luck to our opponents today who face Anselmians in the Plate final next Sunday. |