Southport Senior Colts triumph in Plate final
SOUTHPORT’S Senior Colts travelled to Gordon Street, the home of Eccles RFC, to play Davenport RFC in the Halbro North West Plate U18 Final.
This was the first meeting between the two clubs and was eagerly anticipated; with the rain pouring down, defences were on top in the early stages of the game and some great tackling by Sam Cockwill, Joe McAdam and Zak Day-Johnson in the middle kept the game scoreless.
Southport thought they had broken the deadlock when Jake Lawton’s pass put Ed Sinclair through a gap, only for the referee to rule a forward pass. However, Sinclair was to not be denied minutes later, as yet another flowing backs move allowed a pass for Sinclair to break the defensive line and just beat the covering tackle to open the scoring.
At half time, Southport held a 5-0 lead.
An attacking and direct start to the second half saw Southport camped out on the line of their opponents, resulting in Lewis Fusco going over from close range. Ollie Benford converted, extending the lead for Southport to 0-12.
The conditions continued to worsen, and not for the first time this season, the resilient Southport defence was called into action.
With Jamie Brown and Ollie Benford covering a significant number of high balls in the tough conditions and returning kicks superbly, they were able to push Davenport back into their own half.
A high amount of penalties going against Southport allowed Davenport to gain possession that resulted in them scoring a well deserved try to make it 5-12.
Nerves were getting to Southport, however they managed to hang on to secure victory and lift Halbro
North West U18 Plate.
It was a great game to conclude an excellent season for Southport. Player of the match was awarded to Zak Day-Johnson.