1^st Team

Saturday 21^st April 2018

At last the sun shone on the Meadow and it was like Jude’s had solar panels on their backs as they opened up with so much energy and vigour the visitors Saddleworth just couldn’t hold them as Judes racked up 16 points in 15 mins and it was this which laid the platform for the 48-28 win. Jude’s first try was as early as the second attacking set when Connor Parkinson scored wide out on the right. 2 mins later a Nathan Bevan break from dummy half created room for Joey Brady to score under the posts, Ben Fisher goaled. There was allot of action around the tight 6 defenders with forwards Tom Owen, Olumide Oladele, Dave Fagan , Luke Barrett and Gavin Rodden carting the ball in with intent and backs Ben Fisher and Gary McMahon trying to create, unlock Saddleworths defence. Jude’s got over again when top centre Connor Parkinson broke free on the right to score by the posts, Fisher goaled. St Jude’s indiscipline played a part in the visitor’s first try when they took a quick tap dive over. Debutant Declan Hidden got on the score board when he crashed over from close range , Ben Fisher did the rest with the boot. Right on the stroke of half time Saddleworth scored again to keep Jude’s on their toes for the second half. And it was Saddleworth who opened the scoring in the second period, Judes knew they had a game on their hands now at 22-18. But then came the try of the Match when fullback Baz Rothwell took a downfield clearing kick by Saddleworth on his own 25mts line to dodge, swerve, sidestep and break free to go on a 75 mts run down the left and go right under the oppositions posts, Fisher added the two. Forward Luke Barrett’s hard work paid off when he crashed over on 61 mins, Fisher slotted over the two. St Jude’s left edge was always dangerous with Gavin Rodden, Scott Robinson and Joey Brady  giving the Saddleworth Defence something to think about and on 75 mins Gavin Rodden broke free to put winger Joey Brady away for a great try, Fisher did the rest with the boot. Not forgetting the right edge as well with Paul Pendlebury, Connor Parkinson, Dave Fagan and Tom Hunter right up there with a great defensive stint. Gary McMahon, Rob Fenney and Ben Fisher were impressive with ball in hand and it was Ben Fisher who put Dave Fagan in for his try under the posts and Fisher completed the Jude’s scoring with the boot. St Judes had won 48-28 with at times some scintillating rugby but at times paper thin Defence .

Man of the Match - Nathan Bevan.

A Team

Saturday 21^st April 2018

Manchester Rangers 42-16 St Judes

St Judes unbeaten start to the season came to an end as they were beaten 42-16 away to Manchester Rangers in their NWML Division 2 clash played at the Etihad Community Stadium.

St Judes certainly had their chances in the first half and despite 2 early Rangers converted scores, St Judes were holding their own and very much in the game right up until the latter stages of the first half when the fast pace ,hot conditions, and loss of key players caught up with the visiting side, with Rangers taking full advantage running in 3 further unanswered tries to take a 28-0 lead into the break.

The second half did however see St Judes spring back into life and show the form of previous weeks and with tries from Chris Pimblett and two from Adam Lavin, at 32-16, the comeback did look to be on. Unfortunately it was not to be as a late rally from Manchester dashed any hopes St Jude’s had of pulling of an unlikely victory. Two further tries saw the Manchester side close the game out at 42-16.

Despite the defeat spirits remained high and valuable lessons were learned all round.

Ironically there were many St Judes players whose efforts are well worthy of a mention, non-more so than Daryl King who was outstanding all afternoon, supported well by the likes of Brett Taberner, Dean Hunt, Jason Holland, and debutant James Ward.

Under 18’s

Sunday 22^nd April 2018

NO MATCH REPORT RECEIVED

Under 16’s

Sunday 22^nd April 2018

Woolston Rovers Gold’s 4 – 62 St Jude’s
Try scorers: Aaron Pimblett, Peter Moore (2), Cameron Reilly (2), Adam Lavin, Lewis Bolton, Ciaran Lowe (3), and Adam Hunter.
Conversions: Peter Moore (10)
Half time score: 4-50
Man of the Match: Cameron Reilly
Well done lads, great performance with a depleted team and some lads playing carrying injuries.

Under 15

Sunday 22^nd April 2018

Portico 36-10 Wigan St Judes

Our last group , cup game saw us take the trip to St Helens for a local derby. The game started with a good intensity from both teams in muggy conditions. It was nip and tuck for 10 minutes , with the only points coming from a Judes penalty. Then Jude’s line speed started to show and mistakes crept into the Portico team. A booming kick downfield saw Dylan Foster race onto the ball to pinch it from under Portico noses and go over line for a superb try. Portico hit back with a couple of tries, before Judes took a penalty to take the game to 8-10. But just on the stroke of half time Portico went over through slack defence to go in at half time 14-10. 
The second half was a completely different game, Judes seemed to switch off and forget all the work done in the previous half. Portico went on to score 22 unanswered points in a half littered with mistakes and poor discipline from either team. There are positives, but we also have a lot to work on.

Tries
Dylan Foster

Conversions
Leon 2
Kyle

Awards
Captains Choice - Declan Gregory
Most Improved - Leon Trafford
Parents Choice - Liam Ryding
Man of the Match - Leon Trafford 

Under 14’s

Wednesday 18^th April 2018

Clock Face  4-32 Judes

Mid-week Lancashire Cup Match against Clock Face.

Try Scorers:

Ryan Wood  -  1

Lewis Pinder   -  1

Reece Stanton  - 1

Alfie Whittle  -  1

Junior Nsemba  -  2

Conversions:

Callum Silcock  -  4

Today awards to:         

Special Mention to Josh Clarke who had a superb match and only just missed out on an award.

Outstanding Effort:       Ambrose Kibula, new to our team this season, made his mark in the team this week and had his best game so far.

Outstanding Effort:       McKenzie Davies, this lad is improving every week.  He changed positions today, didn’t moan just got on with it and had an outstanding game.        

Man of the Match:         Lewis Pinder, not been well this week, but came on the field and gave an outstanding performance.

Under 13’s

Sunday 22^nd April 2018

NO GAME

Under 12’s - Maroons

Sunday 22^nd April 2018

Wigan St Judes Maroons 4-10 Orrell St James Golds

Today's cup game was against a team who are a division above Judes.

The first half saw Judes play the better rugby and didn't look out of place against OSJ, unfortunately OSJ forced a long pass out to the right wing that caught out the Judes defence. Judes didn't drop their heads but raised their game! It wasn't long before Judes were back in it with Scott Finney going over line. With all the players stepping up it was clear that OSJ were going have to work in this game. At the break there was only 2 points separating the teams at 4 - 6.

The second half was as the first, with Judes looking strong and OSJ getting frustrated. The cracks were showing with OSJ with them giving away penalties for questioning the ref's decisions.  Judes just couldn't convert pressure into points however and another move on the right saw OSJ just edge out in front.   At 4 - 10 the game was still within Judes reach only for time to beat them and it ended 4 -10 to OSJ.

Today saw Judes play the best rugby all season and any neutral would not of been able to tell which team was the higher division one!

Well done to each and every one of you!!!

Award winners this week : -

Player of the Match - Josh Mawdesley

Parents Player of the Match - Muhammad Abbasi

Coaches Award - James Molyneux

Effort and Achievement - Harry Stokes

Next week we are away to OSJ Blues in a league game.

Under 12’s - Gold’s

Sunday 22^nd April 2018

WIGAN ST PATRICKS U12S 6 WIGAN ST JUDES U12S GOLDS 32

Today the boy's travelled just down the road for a local derby against Wigan St Patricks for our third and final group stage cup game. Both us and Pats needed the win to secure our spot in the NWC  knock out stages of the Cup and with Pats being an entire group above us, the odds were stacked against the Golds from the off, but the kids were well up for it and were in high spirits going into the game.

The Golds started very well with great line speed and hard hitting tackles, pinning Pats into their own half and not allowing them to put anything together. This hard work paid off and saw the turn over just metres out from the Pats try line, Jake Hare spied his chance and went over quickly to open up the scoring. Converted by Keegan Mobey 0-6

Oliver Wright kicked well again today, each of his kick offs causing Pats all kinds of trouble and with great pressure from Ryan Sweatman and Dylan Gregory during the chase, the Pats lads began to fumble from the play the ball. Once again earning us the ball back in good field position. Hooker, Keegan Mobey spotted his chance on the 5th and sailed a dangerous kick across the field to the left wing. Under pressure from Malaki 'Paddy' Cullen and Oliver Wright, the Pat's fullback allowed the ball to bounce. Oliver took no time in punishing this mistake and grounded the ball with ease for Judes' second. The kick hitting the crossbar! 0-10

Like many teams that play us, Pats had clearly worked on stopping the big guy, Malachi Price, often putting the whole team in front of him to stop him in his tracks, but, being such an incredible all-rounder, they couldn't hold him off forever and after another great defensive set, Austin hit Mal from well in to our own half and he took it the length of the field to score under the sticks. Oliver Wright adding the two 0-16

More great defence from marker by Tom Hill and Oliver Wright saw Pats stuck once more in their own half, just as we thought Pats had found a gap, Elton Paplekaj made a huge, powerful tackle to force the knock on and give us possession back once more. A quick scoot set in the rain saw us work up field quickly with the final scoot coming from Elton himself who sailed over for our fourth. Converted by safe boots, Dylan Gregory. 0-22

With half time looming, the big guy wanted another try in the bag so after another ferocious defensive set, Mal powered straight through the middle of a wary Pats pack, going end to end to score his second and our fifth, The kick just sailing wide. Sending us in at half time with an unanswered 26 point lead. 0-26

The second half was a much slower affair with us falling to sleep and getting drawn in leaving our wings wide open for Pats to get over for their only try of the game6-26

The ball was wet and slippery and the mistakes and penalties came thick and fast in this half. The boys managed to finish on a high note with a great scoot from Tom Hill leaving us just yards out, Elton finished the job going over for our final try. Tom Hill putting the ball over the sticks for the final points of the game 6-32

Again the wings were strong today, particularly with Aaron Bolton, Aron Fleming, Tyler Foster and Freddie Winnard looking sharp and alert throughout the match in defence.  Oliver Wadeson got his highest tackle count since starting with us just a couple of months ago and Elton Paplekaj and Malachi Leo Price hit hard over and over again, the sheer power of these shots causing the ball to pop out on multiple occasions. Malick Niang, Sam Cunliffe and Jake Hare also having great counts but Oliver Wright hitting the top spot today for fantastic marker play, really getting in the faces of his opponents and refusing to let anybody pass him by.

Today was Malick's best game yet for the Golds and he deservedly bagged M.O.M for his efforts. Another great show from the boys, showing that even when it's not our best attacking performance we can still ground out a crucial win and keep teams at bay with our fantastic and determined defence.

#defencewinsgames

TRIES:

Elton Paplekaj x 2

Malachi Leo Price x 2

Oliver Wright x 1

Jake Hare x 1

KICKS:

Dylan Gregory

Tom Hill

Austin Daniel

Oliver Wright

AWARDS:

M.O.M: Malick Niang

Opposition M.O.M: Elton Paplekaj

Top Tackler: Elton Paplekaj

Player's Player: Tom Hill

Parent's Player: Elton Paplekaj

Big Hitter (Technique Award Sponsored by Paul Gregory Removals): Elton Paplekaj

Under 11’s

Sunday 22^nd  April 2018

Judes were at home in The Meadows today taking on Rochdale.
Rochdale turned up low on numbers and in the spirit of sportsmanship 3 Judes players changed sides and played for Rochdale. I'm sure everyone will agree all 3 , Jack , Harry n Shea played very well for Rochdale. 
This made it 11 a side with no subs for either team and all 22 players left it all on the field.
Judes started strong and scored on the very 1st set . This continued throughout the match with Judes dominating both in attack and in defence. 
Rochdale pushed Judes when in attack and got within touching distance of a try and many occasions, 1 of which got over the line , but Jude’s great defence kept it out with a special mention to Nathan for putting his body on the line n holding it up . 
Judes weren't broken in defence at any point but some sloppy tackles let Rochdale move up the field . 
Rochdale kept coming at Judes and never gave up right to the final whistle .
In the end Judes proved far too strong and organised for Rochdale side but some great rugby was played by both teams.

Trophies went to
M.O.M - Alfie N 
Coaches Award - Jaiden 
Top Tackler - Alfie N, Reece , Ry 
Parents Award - Alfie N 
Sportsmanship Award - Jack , Harry , Shea
Tries scored by

 
Harley 3
Ry 1
Jaiden 2
Callum M 1
Alfie N 1
Alfie L  1

Conversions kicked by 
Ry 1
Callum M 1
Aaron 1
Jaiden 1
Alfie L 1
Nathan 1
Callum D 1

Great Game by Judes who are in dominating form at present. Well done to Rochdale who gave everything and played right to the end.