Bashed by Bowdon but bring on the National!
WITH the epic encounter against Glossop the previous week having taken its toll, it was virtually a scratch First XV which travelled to leafy North Cheshire on Saturday.
With 13 players injured or unavailable from the last game versus Bowdon, well done to all that came in including four in the pack who qualify for Vets selection with club captain Colin Toohey, Director of Rugby Mike Dale and evergreens Gareth Lang and Rei Chambers all dusting off their boots.
At the other end of the scale three Colts - James Cook, Sam Lawrenson and Callum Tootle where thrown into the deep end and all acquitted themselves well with Cook marking his debut with some excellent play.
Unfortunately they came across a strong Bowdon outfit with their hackles up with the 32-17 defeat a few weeks ago in the reverse fixture still fresh in the memory.
To their credit the lads, including the likes of James Tompkinson and Laurence Abood who hadn’t played for a couple of months or so kept going throughout despite the Canutelike pattern of the play and the mount- ing score line.
A whitewash was avoided but the well worked try scored by Dylan Norbury was scant consolation.
With just two games left both away from home at Anselmians and Widnes respectively the First XV season is all but over save that planning has already started for next season with the squad in need of strengthening and improvement.
However the club is in a good position with a strong core of key players (when fit and available) and a surge of hungry talented Colts coming through.
With the successful introduction of Cook, Lawrenson and Toothill into the Firsts already and the Colts now having finished their season the seconds and thirds are also being bolstered by the youngsters coming through.
This has been especially marked in the Seconds who recorded an extraordinary 31-27 victory on Saturday at Littleborough 2s, never an easy place to go, a fourth win on the trot on the road.
Tries from Connor Ryland (two), Adam Woods and a first for Lewis Johnson are testimony to this with one for Chris Cunningham for good measure.
Mind you the acid test is this Saturday as they are again on the road this time up the M6 to seek to dent league leaders Penrith’s 100% home record.
The Thirds gave a good account of themselves at Waterloo Road against a strong Hoylake second string leading at half time before going down 10-40. But the encouraging thing again is the numbers available to make up a full squad especially in view of the knock on effect of the depleted ranks in the Firsts and the buoyant spirit being engendered. A trip to Wirral IV on Saturday is in the offing.
A special word too for the U15s who triumphed over Ormskirk to reach the Lancashire final to be played in three weeks. Another batch on the production line!
Meanwhile the scheduled final home league game of the season for the First XV at Waterloo Road against Manchester Medics on Saturday is cancelled, the opposition having pulled out of the league last month. This created a potential headache with more than 120 people booked in for the traditional Patrons Day pre-match lunch including all the great and good in attendance for one of the most looked-forward to events in the club calendar. But with the risk of something strange in the Hillside neighbourhood ie. no Saturday afternoon rugby who you gonna call? Shipwreckers! The veterans of the club raise themselves from their (sea) beds to hoist their main sail to host their touring counter parts Aldridge RFC from Birmingham on the main pitch. In fact this is a fantastic opportunity for these seasoned jack tars to promote the Southport Shipwrecks. With the focus having been on the three senior teams, the Colts and the Ladies, who have had a fantastic season at Level 3, cometh the hour as Jason Keating, Shane Cook, Jonah Jones et al find themselves as the main (or is it fatal?) attraction.
The development of regular “Friday nights, under the lights” social Vets rugby is an aspiration for the Club and this can be show boated on Saturday and with touring antics in abundance, the Grand National on the screens and the Race Night in the evening it all promises to be a lively day and maybe the club will end with a headache of its own making on Sunday morning!
Even more so if the club’s adopted horse Gas Line Boy, co-owned by one of the Club Patrons, who understandably is otherwise engaged, runs and comes up trumps in the National! Who knows both may make a surprise appearance if he wins!
On another note good luck to ‘backpacker’ Lawrence Abood whose appearance in the First XV on Saturday was his last match before moving up to international rugby with the Lebanon squad for the games against Jordan and Qatar before returning to Australia.
Lawrence has proved a popular figure during the season, never too proud to turn out for any team when available and the Club wishes him well on duty for his country before his returning to Sydney where we hope he can be instrumental in setting-up two way links between clubs he is involved with over there.