Crosfields ARLFC

The excitement of being asked to perform under the lights at Halliwell Jones, did not affect the young players from Ince Rose Bridge or Crosfields, it was a great success, both sets of players were worthy ambassadors for their respective clubs, the game was played in the usual good spirit, smiling faces all over the pitch. The result favoured Crosfields who won by 5 trys to 0 (20-0), however the result could have been reversed, these future stars attacked with vigour, fell back to defend as if they had been playing for many years, Martin did his usual excellent job of refereeing, but was not asked to make many decisions, these players can feel rightly proud of themselves, the Parents who turned out in force, were allowed to witness a great game of Rugby, and their voices echoed their pride, the coaching staff from both sides could not have asked for more from players or supporters, thank you.

Were you at the match? We would appreciate your views on the team’s performance, a non-biased report can perhaps help with future player development, so let us know what you think.

The Start

In full flight

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Under 18s – Alliance Pitch – 12.15pm – Close Car Park

Under 17s – Conference Pitch – 12.15pm – Staff Bar 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Under 15s – Conference Pitch – 10.30am -

Under 14s – Alliance Pitch – 11.00am – Staff Bar 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Under 12s – Alliance Pitch – 10.00am – Staff Bar 11am – 12.00pm – Open Car Park

Under 11s – Modified Pitch – 10.30am – Staff Bar 12pm – 1pm

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Mayfield Mustangs 8 Crosfields Cobras 28

After what had seemed a lifetime the Cobras were finally back in action after the Winter break.  Crosfields faced the long trip to Rochdale to reopen their campaign.  Having driven in horrible wet conditions the team arrived to a cold yet dry morning on what was a surprisingly firm surface for rugby.

Crosfields won the toss and decided to kick off.  The game got underway and you could see the Cobras had some energy to get rid of after the break.  Good tackles from Ben Dixon and Josh Little drove the home side back.  With the ball back in possession the visitors looked to move the ball with great strong running from Callum Southern and George Brailey only to come up short. 

The Mustangs had the ball back and looked to gallop away but Kyle Brown and Alex Tinsley were having none of it and they stopped the threat with good defence.  The game had gone into a little slump with a few handling errors coughing up possession for both teams.  After more strong defence from Lloyd Halpin and Joe Hands a scrum was awarded.  Callum Talbot fed the scrum and with a smart dummy fooled the home side and then raced away half the length of the field to score.

More defence was called for and Thomas Davis and James Kenny both put their shoulders in again to regain the ball.  Good hands from the Cobras almost got Danny Robb in at the right corner but he was denined by the sliding defence.  Another mistake regained the ball and Daniel James and Sam Martin took the challenge to make yards.  Kicking early Callum Talbot saw the gap and the cross field kick was gathered in by Alex Tinsley to score a well worked try.

The game was a challenge now for the visitors would they switch off and allow the home team back in ? With this in mind great defence from Thomas Davis and George Brailey again won the ball.  On the next set good runs from Danny Robb and Lloyd Halpin on the fifth got the field position and Josh Little put up a great bomb which fooled the home side but not Ben Dixon who carried on running to dive and score a great try.

With time running out in the first half the home side were not going to let their heads drop and on the last set good defence from Callum Southern and Sam Martin came up short.  The Mustangs number 2 saw his opportunity and jinked his way around the line to score in the right hand corner.

HT4-18

The second half was a much better defencive display by both sides and obviously the cobwebs had been blown away.  With the ball in hand the Cobras were running hard, good drives from James Kenny and coach’s award winner Callum Southern gained good advantage.  Callum Talbot ran at the line from pivot and spotted the gap which allowed him chance to open up and score a good try and seal his man of the match performance.

On the next set the Mustangs were met by tackles from Ben Dixon, Kyle Brown and Thomas Davis who all looked like they were up for the battle, with  Ben Dixon later collecting the top tackler award.  As the game drew on the home side were looking more dangerous and the big number four took his chance from good field position and despite good attempts from Sam Martin and Danny Robb he went in to score a well deserved try.

The game was almost at an end but not before  Daniel James and Joe Hands made good yards.  Quick play the balls allowed Alex Tinsley to drive at the line and hit and spin releasing a ball for Lloyd ’DISCO’ Halpin to dance his way to the line beating almost the whole oppostion team and scoring on the right hand side.

The game showed what a good weeks training can do.  All the TEAM trained really hard this week and with this sort of display the team will be successful more often than not.

FT8-28

Try’s – Callum Talbot (2), Alex Tinsley, Ben Dixon, Lloyd Halpin

Con’s – Callum Talbot, Alex Tinsley, Ben Dixon, Lloyd Halpin

MOM – Callum Talbot

Coach’s Award – Callum Southern

Top Tackler – Ben Dixon

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After a 9 week enforced break, SOAP returned to action against our visitors from St Helens. The opposition had also not had any games for a considerable time, but the pitch and weather contributed to a close keenly contested game played in great spirit throughout and well refereed by the young official.

SOAP started well, getting into the armwrestle early and containing  Brooks early forward momentum and after gaining field position were unlucky not to take the lead when Jepson lost the ball with the line at his mercy and a potential 6 point lead. Back came Brook, SOAP generally containing  the opposition for their first 4 tackles on each set, but when they moved the ball through hands into the wider channels our sliding defence was slightly exposed. Brook raced into a 12 point lead, but SOAP responded in great fashion to reply in the last minute of the half. After a spell of pressure in the Brook 20m zone, a smart kick from Clutterbuck was pounced on by Spedding to leave the score at the break.

Crosfields 4 – Blackbrook 12

The second half was a lot closer and SOAP needed to score first to put a squeeze on Brook, but after a spell of pressure a try was conceded out wide extending the oppositions lead to 12 points. Back came SOAP and after a break by Spedding, a penalty and at the end of the set a knock on, from the scrum Spedding went close and following a quick PTB, Radley plunged over. Tails were up at this stage and SOAP took the game to Brook, but Brook proved their resolve and class to ride the SOAP STORM, responding with another try wide out. For the last few minutes SOAP continued to strive for the win and were rewarded with a smart try in the corner for Comer following another excellent crossfield kick from Clutterbuck to leave the final score.

Crosfields 12 – Blackbrook 20

In summing up, although defeated today, all 18 lads gave their all against a well drilled, well coached and individually talented team from St Helens who we wish all the best to in their quest for 3 trophies this season.

Team:

Perrin, Whittaker, Little, Spedding, Thomason, Radley, Taylor, Jepson, Clutterbuck, Millington, Owen, Stapleton, Chilton, Comer, Jennings,Rice, Sinton and Williams.

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Warrington Wolves won the challenge cup last season beating Huddersfield Giants in the Final at Wembley.

Crosfields begin their assault on this years competition this Saturday against Rochdale Mayfield with a 1.30pm kick off. It would be nice to get a good turn out for this to support the soap boys in there queast of meeting one of the pro clubs who come in; in later rounds.

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Under 17s – Conference Pitch – 12.15am – Staff Bar – 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Under 15s – Alliance Pitch – 12.15am – Close car park

Under 14s – Alliance Pitch – 11.00am -

Under 13s – Conference Pitch – 11.00am – Staff bar 12 noon – 1.30pm

Under 12s – Conference Pitch – 10.00am – Open car park – Staff Bar 11am – 12 noon

STAFFING BAR

Those teams that are down to staff the bar require 1 or 2 volunteers from that team to serve behind the bar whilst there team is getting changed and having there after match food

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Today we entertained an unbeaten Halton side that have never lost in 18 months and they showed why that is the case.

This game had it all strong running, great tackling, well deserved tries and very good skill level all played at a tremendous pace and not forgetting the most pleasing sight, the players smiling faces at the end.

The first half was end to end and was played with very few errors which is credit to both teams and their coaching staff. With tries being exchanged and the score 2-2 Halton stepped up their efforts in defence and held out the Cobras on numerous occasions before grabbing a couple of well deserved tries before the break with some strong direct running to go in at half time 2-4 in front.

The second half was another bruising encounter for both sides but the kids just took it on the chin and were all smiling throughout the game. Tries were again exchanged before Halton took advantage of the now tiring Cobras defence to stretch their lead even further. The Cobras started to passed the ball and off loading in the tackle which was brilliant to see at this age group to try and get back in the game but all credit must go to Halton who stood firm with a solid defence.                                                                                                                                                                        

The Cobras never gave in all game and gave as good as they got in what was a excellent match to finish off the first half of the fixtures. Even though the score line went in favour of Halton, everyone can be proud of the display BOTH teams put on and both sets of coaches should be proud of their players effort and skill level that was on display. The Cobras can take a lot out of the game especially the passing and off loading which made the Halton defence work overtime.

Both sets of players were deservedly applauded for a fine display of Under 8’s rugby league by both sets of supporters.

Tries: Luke Little (3), Tyler Roberts (1)

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Players Back Row- Luke Little, Joe Kohe-Love,Dean Beddal,Sam Belton,Ryan Farrell, Raviar Shidu,Tom Burns.

Players Front Row- Marshall Jones,Tyler Roberts,Ben Lomax,Joel Lynch,Joshua Hobden,Alex Burns.

Coaching Team- Phil Burns,Darren Roberts,Martin Pitt,David Taylor.

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                                     Luke Little

Luke has had a excellent month which has seen him come top of the tackle charts and top of the parents player of the month chart as well with 33 votes during November. He also came joint 4th in the try scoring averages.  This is an amazing achievement as Luke has the highest goals in the team to achieve due to his performances last season and that makes this achievement even more special.

Pushing him all the way was Tyler Roberts who came second behind Luke in the tackle and parents chart with only 6 tackles and 5 votes in it. He also came joint 4th in the try scoring too.

Coming 3rd was Alex Burns who had some fine displays leading the team forward in the hardest part of the pitch, down the middle.

Well done all the Team of 2020.

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