Borough boys kick off season in style
LITTLEBOROUGH’S Under 13s kicked off the season in style when they travelled to North Yorkshire at the weekend to take on Cleckheaton, returning home victorious.
The side, managed by Paul Deacon, Gary Keegan and Kevin Deegan, tore into the opposition and produced a clinical, scintillating display of ball handling and possession rugby.
Billy Blake, alongside Taylor Hulme, picked up plaudits for men of the match displays that helped Boro to a 17 tries to 6 win.
A special mention to new boys Joe Linton and Charlie Garrett on impressive first appearances. The former scored his first try on a debut to remember.
Ten miles down the road, the next two Boro age groups (U14s and U15s) were showing Huddersfield YMCA a clean pair of heels.
The Under 14s’ first game at 15-a-side rugby was a joy to watch for the spectator. Despite early dominance, Boro were on the back foot and quickly found themselves trailing by a score of 19-0.
The boys rallied and battled back superbly and by the end of the first quarter the score was 19-15 to YMCA.
The three Boro tries were scored by Brad Chrimes, Ben Willocks and Ben Crabtree.
Another close second quarter followed as the visitors managed to come out on top, with two converted tries to one. A second of the afternoon from Willocks followed a Jake Coupe effort. The half time score now sat at 29-26 to Boro.
Much like the first quarter, YMCA re-took the lead but, undeterred, the Boro boys rallied well again to finish the quarter by scoring two unconverted tries via Thomas Kelly and another for Chrimes. That left the score at the end of the third quarter 39-33 to Boro.
The final quarter was always going to be a tight affair with both teams desperate to land the knockout blow. It was Boro who scored first to extend their lead with a hat-trick try from Willocks, who also scored the conversion.
A frantic end saw YMCA score with the last play of the game making it 46-38 in Boro’s favour.
Playing just a 100 yards or so away, Littleborough’s Under 15s picked up from where they left off last season with a crushing 48-7 victory.
In a dominant attacking display that saw them make countless line breaks, tries came from Reece Oldham, Tom Braisdell, Charlie Frost, Nyall Hensby (2) and three from fly half Jack Bennetta.
Littleborugh’s Juniors continued their perfect record with a 53-5 victory over Derbyshire outfit Glossop.
They scored seven tries in total, including braces for Charlie Holmes and Ben Stott (his second in consecutive matches) as well as strikes for Will Mayoh, Kai Sumner, Nick Mayan and Brad Watts, ensuring that the home side sit pretty at the top of the tree. Watts also continued his good run with the boot, knocking over 70 per cent of his attempts in tricky wet conditions.
Littleborough senior ladies executed their hard pre-season preparation to the highest level with a sensational 50-5 victory at Bury for their first win in the league this campaign.
There were impressive displays from Jess Chadwick and Summer Harris – who both scored their first league tries for the seniors – and Olivia Turner. All three were making their first appearance for the seniors since moving up from Under 18s level rugby.
More tries followed from captain Jess Frain and Georgina Quinn, while Rebecca Harrison crowned an impressive display on the wing with an intercept try.
Improved ball retention from the pack of forwards laid the foundations for victory with Samantha Brazier, Claire Jones and Harriet Widdup being the pick of the forwards. Full back Claire Sutcliffe also broke her own personal record with five successful conversions.
Littleborough Ladies never let up the pressure on their opponents and ran out easy victors in the end with a 5-50 point win, putting them top of the league after round one.
An impressive feat in only their second season in the league structure. Next up is a home game against Ormskirk Ladies at 2pm this Sunday at Rakewood.