Match Reports - 17th, 18th February 2018

18 Feb 2018 in Club News

Match Reports - 17th, 18th February 2018 Match Reports - 17th, 18th February 2018

Match Reports - 17th, 18th February 2018

Wigan St Judes ARLFC – Match Reports

 

A Team

Sunday, 18 February 2018

St Jude's A 36-20 St Pats

St Judes A Team claimed the spoils in the first part of the 'Battle of the Borough Double Header' against local rivals St Pats, with a superb 36-20 win over St Pats A.
Despite a solid start that saw Scott Robinson open the scoring with a try within the first 5 minutes, much of the afternoon would prove frustrating for the home side, as the game took an ill-tempered turn and would see them harshly punished and penalised throughout the game.
Despite at one point being down to 10 men, it was the superior rugby ability of the St Jude's side that saw them in touch and very often in control the game for long periods, with ultimately this being the key factor in the games final quarter.
In the end the maroon and gold would go on and out score their opponents by 6 tries to 3, with further St Jude's tries from skipper Dean Hunt, Robbie Horton, Daryl King, Ash Marshall & Tom Hunter.
Scott Robinson was faultless with boot, converting all 6 attempts.
Best for St Jude's in a superb all round team performance were Michael Gibson, the returning Tom Gallagher, and Tom Hunter.

Under 15’s

Sunday, 18 February 2018

Wigan St Judes 50-0 Cadishead

 

It had been a long off season for the boys and 4 months of hard work and dedication had finally got them to this point.  No fewer than 6 boys made their debut for the team today, such a great sight to see. The game started with a good strong defensive set, let down by a sloppy ruck penalty. The boys worked hard to manage it though.  Judes managed to get on top through strong and fast runs.  Structure was evident and it paid off with a 32-0 half time lead.  The message was simple, stick to the plan and practice more plays. They tried, but seemed to get caught up with getting over the line.  The second half contained a few more unforced errors, but on the whole was all good.  Massive shout out to Matt and Lewis Banks, who on their debut, played 10 minutes for the opposition so we could complete the game after a couple of unlucky injuries. A huge 50-0 win to start the season off. Great work lads.

 

Tries

Jordan Wilkinson 2

Liam Ryding 2

Connor Dalton Roby

Nathan O'Brien

Kyle Roberts

Morgan Dobson (1st try for team)

Lewis Melling

Declan Gregory

 

Conversions

Leon Trafford 5

 

Awards

Captains Choice -  Wilkinson awesome game on debut, 2 tries, solid all over, well done.

Man of the Match - Lewis Melling had a strong game, performed well and managed to get over for a try on his birthday. Good Work Lewis

 

Under 14’s

Sunday, 18 February 2018

Thatto Heath 10-26 Judes

 

Our first league game of the season saw us away to Thatto Heath Crusaders.  Our opponents started strongest and were first on the score sheet, after an attacking set saw them held up in one corner and scoring off a pin-point kick on the other.  Both teams turnover possession and put Judes on the attack.  A strong run from Junior saw him almost stretch over  to score, but put us in a commanding position to whisk the ball out to the wing, for Leon McIntosh to find a cheeky gap and dart over to score, bringing it level at 4 all.

 

Judes were too keen to score on every set and tried one too many off-loads, turning over possession.  It nearly came to back to bite them when Thatto were in a position to kick wide again, but thankfully this time it was far too deep.  Judes counter attack and are also forced to kick from far out, but what a superb kick from Callum Silcock who hoofed it over right into the corner and out of nowhere came Alfie Whittle steaming down the wing and won the footrace to dive on the ball and record another 4 points.  Callum really punished the opposition with his boot and with accurate kicking from both him and Ben, forced repeat sets after trapping Thatto in-goal and forcing drop outs.  Thatto did soak up our attack though with some decent defence and unfortunately the clock beat us for time, ending the first half 4-8 in Judes favour.

 

Judes restarted the second half and a massive hit from Harvey really set the tone for the next 20 minutes.  Judes really put a stint in, in defence, pinning Thatto back.  Harvey Makin continued his strong performance by scoring a brace of tries, first one after back to back penalties and whenever Harvey gets close enough to the line, there ain’t no stopping him!  His second one saw our prop turn winger, as he broke the Thatto line and set off down the pitch, everyone held their breath as he was chased strongly, but Harvey pinned his ears back and motored to that try line un-touched, scoring a superb solo effort.   Judes were awarded a penalty in their next set, but unfortunately didn’t make touch with the kick, putting Thatto back on the attack and ran strongly through our defence to score their final 6 pointer.

 

Judes came back strongly as a team and off the back of some good team work, the ball was sent  out to Reagan Sumner who created space to dive over and score.  Excellent conversions this half from Callum Silcock, the last one taken brilliantly from the side-line.  Judes were hungry to rack up more points and a good break from Alfie set up the platform for another try, another great kick over for Ryan to chase, unfortunately was called offside and the try chalked off.  A bit scrappy last few minutes with penalties and knock-ons, but strong defence from Judes really nailed this game, in the dying seconds Thatto attacked our half, but great sliding defence pressured Thatto and stopped them in their tracks by forcing them over the side line, to end the game with an emphatic 26-10 first win of our 2018 campaign.

 

A great hit out for our first league game, which really set the platform to build on and improve throughout the season.  An overall fantastic squad performance.  Nice to see our new boys getting stuck in and a big Judes welcome to Ambrose Kibula and Theo Bishop.  Well done lads and keep up the hard work!

 

Today awards to:

 

Outstanding Effort:       Reagan Sumner and Leon McIntosh, great partnership on our left wing, both having impeccable games and both scoring brilliant tries.

Man of the Match:         Harvey Makin, chosen by Thatto, but was clear favourite for this award.  He changed positions during the game and still followed instructions to the later.  A very strong performance throughout the game and scored himself a brace of tries to!

 

Under 12’s - Maroons

Sunday, 18 February 2018

Ryland Sharks 24-10 Wigan St Judes

Today was the first game of the season for the Judes. 

With some new faces and some old faces returned, a short in numbers team took on a strong Rylands side. 

It was a tight first half with a good 10 mins before any side broke the deadlock and it was Rylands who crossed first.   A stand out debut try from Layton Cottom levelled it at six apiece before Rylands crossed again before the break and the half finished 10 - 6 to Rylands. 

The second half saw the Judes open up the scoring after soaking up a lot of pressure when Kian Stanton collected the ball from the scrum for Judes to level the score.  As the game went on the 13 Judes players started to run on empty and Rylands started to stretch the score line. At the end it was 24 - 10 to Rylands. 

The score line doesn't reflect the game as this was a good game of rugby by a Judes team full of commitment and the rest of the season is looking promising

Award Winners this week :

Player of the Match - Layton Cottom

Parents player of the Match - Alex

 

Under 12’s - Gold’s

Sunday, 18 February 2018

WIGAN ST JUDES U12S GOLDS 30-12 GOLBORNE PARKSIDE PIRATES

The Gold’s were ready to go after months off! Due to pre-season and first match postponements, this was our first run out as an under 12s squad and all the kids were raring to go.
With Oliver Wadeson out ill, two of our three new players managed to make their debuts. Tom Hill and Oliver Wright pulling on a Judes top for the very first time.
New boots Oliver kicked off the game with a powerful, long kick. The Gold’s chased down the ball and managed to pin Golborne in their own half. Turning over on halfway, The Pirates could do very little to contain our Albanian wonder, Elton Paplekaj, who smashed through the Golborne line to score our first try of the season.  Converted by Keegan Mobey.

More fierce defending followed with great marker play from Judes. Parkside's huge prop making damaging runs but our lads just managing to bring him down. Parkside pressured our line, kicking it high and causing Gold’s fumble but Judes fought hard in defence and managed to keep out back to back sets and regain possession. Big Mal Price drove us to half way before Full Back, Austin Daniel showed his pace and agility, weaving in and out the Parkside defence before hitting a gap and sailing down field to score under the sticks. Aaron Bolton adding the 2.

Golborne fought on and hit back from the kick off, breaking our line they looked certain to score before Austin Daniel managed to track back and stop them just before the try line. Knowing his team mates were clambering back, Austin lied on for just a touch too long and the referee gave Golborne a fresh set of 6, taking their chance on our try line they ran the blind side and scored in the corner. Converted.

Golborne worked hard to contain us in our next set and we found ourselves defending once more just metres from our line, great marker play and a devastating tackle from Elton saw Parkside knock on and Judes breathe a collective sigh of relief.  Forward Mal Price took the ball from under our own sticks and stormed down the field, knocking off any attempted tackles that came his way and scoring a trade mark full length under the sticks. Converted by Austin Daniel and going in at half time.

We spoke to the lads at half time about their tackling, we had fallen off a lot of tackles and needed the line speed to improve. We had seen very little of our forwards on the ball and asked for much more force and effort when driving the ball in the second half.

The Golborne kick off was collected with ease and, just as we had asked, Elton Paplekaj ran hard onto the ball and set off down the wing from his own half. He handed off four defenders to continue his run and bagged himself a well-deserved try. Converted by Oliver Wright.

On a roll from Elton's great second half start, the lads put in hard tackles to force the knock on early from the restart. It was then Oliver's turn to bag his first Judes' try on his debut, executing a plan that we had practised repeatedly in training, Oliver drew the line with Big Mal Price on his shoulder he showed the dummy to Mal then slipped through the gap himself. Oliver put his foot down determined to crash over the whitewash and seals his first match with a try. Converted by Dylan Gregory.

Falling to sleep for a moment, the next try went to Golborne with Judes allowing a very soft try through the middle.

Disappointed with this lapse in concentration, the kids really stepped it up a gear for the last ten minutes and showed the packed touchline just what they were made of. Wonderful passing saw the ball cross the pitch from one side to the other with ease and confidence. Quick play the balls and good communication saw Austin break once more, seeing the overlap he whipped a quick ball to Oliver Wright who, under pressure, managed to flick the ball on to a supporting Aaron Bolton who with pace and confidence,  dove over in corner for a beautifully worked try. The kick just sailing below the posts.

More hard, committed tackling saw a quick turn over and Judes having the final say of the game. Hard drives from Tyler Foster and Malaki 'Paddy' Cullen saw Judes in great field position for the fifth and last, Keegan Mobey put in a precise cross field kick that seemed to hang perfectly in the air for the oncoming Judes attackers, Oliver Wright dove high into the air above the scrambling defence to crash down for his second of the game. Austin Daniel adding the final 2.

Today's game was just what the lads needed to get back into the swing of things. Although we had some sloppy patches, overall it was a great display showing skill beyond their years. Now playing a full pitch, they spread well and kept structure in their line for a huge majority of the game. Their support play was outstanding and their attitude and discipline second to none.

Aron Fleming, Paddy Cullen, Ryan Sweatman and Malick Niang kept the wings really organised and forced the Golborne side to run at our huge pack centre field. Daniel Nanyn adjusted well to his new position a little further out field and Dylan Gregory looking good on his first turn out at loose forward, a good tackle count and constant communicating. Tyler Foster showed huge progress in his tackling game and looked great on the ball too.
We could not have asked for better debuts today, Tom Hill took three huge knocks whilst throwing everything into his defence but powered on determined to make a great impression on his debut, he looked great at number 9 today with good decisions and some great fast scoots too. Oliver Wright equally as impressive bagging two tries after concentrating and repeatedly practising drills during training and taking them into the game, communicating well throughout, tackling hard and putting in a fine kicking display to boot. Well done lads! We are so happy to have you with us!

Mal Price and Elton Paplekaj put on a defensive master class today, hitting clean and powerful tackles and forcing the opposition to knock on multiple occasions. Malachi just beating Elton to Top Tackler but Elton taking The Big Hitter Technique Award, sponsored by Paul Gregory Removals, for his impressive individual effort today. The Parent's also recognising Elton with their trophy today for his passionate, clean performance. Austin Daniel impressed the Opposition coaches with his cover tackling, fast feet and decision making. The Player's voted for new boots Oliver Wright for an impressive debut and the coaches, unable to split the two performances, opted to split the M.O.M award today between Malachi Leo Price and Austin Daniel for stand out performances throughout.

The perfect start to the season! West Bank away next week!

Tries:
Elton Paplekaj x 2
Oliver Wright x 2
Malachi Leo Price x 1
Austin Daniel x 1
Aaron Bolton x 1

Kicks:
Aaron Bolton
Keegan Mobey
Oliver Wright
Dylan Gregory
Austin Daniel x 2

Awards:
M.O.M: Austin Daniel & Malachi Leo Price (Split)
Opponents M.O.M: Austin Daniel
Top Tackler: Malachi Price
Parent's Player: Elton Paplekaj
Player's Player: Oliver Wright
Technique Award: Elton Paplekaj

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