Superb seconds leave
LAST weekend saw a mixed bag. With Joe Mawdsley, Sam Cross and Jack Parker returning to action, the Firsts led the way in securing a precious win over Liverpool Collegiate but again they were upstaged by Chris Tees’ remarkable Second XV.
Probably the youngest senior side ever to have played in Southport colours, they excelled in overcoming a 22 point deficit to leave Preston thirds grass hopping in securing a 45-29 victory to go top of the table.
Jason Keating et al pulled out all the stops to get a 3rd XV out, including a proud father and son moment as Shane and Matthew Cook took to the field together for the first time.
Matthew upstaged both his Dad and older brother James in the seconds by notching two tries in a valiant but unsuccessful effort at Merseyside Police.
Southport Ladies put in a great shift too going down 12-17 at Manchester on Sunday.
This week they host Darlington, whilst the day before (Saturday) the First XV travel to Hoylake, and the Third XV host Birkenhead Park thirds, both the men’s matches kicking off at 2:15pm now that the clocks have gone back.
But the weekend starts tomorrow (Friday) evening when the Club puts on its annual Firework Extravaganza, a fantastic evening of entertainment for all the family, with a selection of bouncy castles, the bull, wipeout and assault course.
First XV captain Dan Whalen and his band ‘Outside Human’ will be performing in the club.
Food and drink will be available from both our scrumptious food court inside and outside the clubhouse.
Pre-Event Prices (available from the bar and kitchen at the club up until 3pm Friday 2 November) are U3 Free, U13 £4 U16 £5 Adult £6 Family (2 adults, 2 children) £15. You can also pay on the evening at the gate U3 Free U13 £5 U16 £6 Adult £7 Family (2 adults, 2 children) £17.
Watching the First XV these days is like rummaging through a library.
Sometimes it’s a horror story you come across, other times an all action thriller you can’t put down and you just don’t want it to end.
The Waterloo Road faithful have had both in the two games leading up to last Saturday’s game and really didn’t know what to expect.
The synopsis had all the makings of science fiction as the game was hugely important to the immediate time travels of both teams.
Collegiate arrived propping up the table having lost all their seven games so far in the ultra-competitive league.
However by way of a sub plot the closeness in most of their score lines suggested the team is better than its position portrays.
For their part Southport were smarting from a thrashing at Glossop the week before which left them hovering just above the relegation zone. So both needed an all-important win to get back on track.
So in good literary fashion the manuscript we got on the day from a Southport perspective was more a compendium beginning with an explosive paragraph to whet the appetite followed by a comfortable read as the storyline unfolded unspectacularly but nicely leading up to half time.
Then Collegiate ripped up the script to produce a shock ending. From then on the second half was hard on the eyes as Southport laboured under mounting penalty decisions against and their own mistakes until the final seconds when like all good stories there was to be a happy ending.
It wasn’t a classic and certainly one to put back on the shelf, done and dusted.
The story? Winger Tom Peacock finished off a glorious piece of flowing rugby right from the kick off with Jake Mann kicking the conversion to get the home side off to a flyer at 7-0 up, barely a minute played.
Collegiate battled their way back into contention but could only muster a penalty for their efforts but at 7-3 the game was evenly balanced, Southport were having more of the territory and threatened a cutting edge but far too often play broke down through unforced errors and the referee’s decisions.
But patience is a virtue and was duly rewarded when Chris Major chalked up his second try in successive home games, this time Mann’s conversion attempt rebounding back