Rishworthian Minis v Huddersfield Minis, match report, Rishworthians put in some excellent performances against Huddesfield

Rishworthians Minis v Baildon & Littleborough

Copley buzzing as Rishworthians host a 3 way tournament

Match reports Sunday 11th November
Copley was buzzing this morning as Rishworthians hosted their first 3 way tournament of the season with well over 100 players enjoying a mornings mini rugby. Thanks to all the players, parents, coaches, volunteers and match reporters who made it a successful morning.

Under 6’s The Micros
The under 6's numbers keep on growing with 16 micros training. Neal Lumb and Darren Grogan taking the session. After a training session the players were split into 2 teams and played a game of tag rugby. They are coming on well and starting to get to grips with the game. Once they reach their 6th birthday and understand the game they can join the under 7's squad and play some competitive games. Jack Mallinson has now reached his 6th birthday and made his first competitive debut with the under 7's and came away with the man of the match. Well done Jack.

Under 7's The Young Guns
Littleborough had no under 7's squad but brought over a mixed squad of under 7's and 8's to play in the 3 way with ourselves and Baildon. The under 7's putting in a good performance against the older Littleborough squad.

Game 1 Rishworthians 3 - 5 Littleborough
After observing two minutes silence Rishworthians kicked off the first match against Littleborough. Rishworthians took an early 2-0 lead through tries from Carrick Keighley-Payne and Corey White. Rishworthians then gave away a lot of ball and went behind 3-2 before Kian Sutcliffe levelled the scores at 3-3. Rishworthians continued to make some basic errors allowing Littleborough to score two further tries and run out 5-3 winners.

Littleborough then beat Baildon by the same score.

Game 1 Rishworthians 7 - 3 Baildon
In the final game Rishworthians tightened up their game and after a tight start with the scores level at 2-2 Rishworthians then scored 5 tries on the bounce to lead 7-2. Baildon did get a late consolation try to end up losers by 7-3. Alex Oldroyd bagged a couple of tries, Corey White and Kian Sutcliffe scored one a piece, leaving man of the match and newcomer to the under 7’s, Jack Mallinson, to score a hat trick on his competitive debut.

Thanks again to Mark Oldroyd for taking charge of the team on the pitch. Once again rugby was the winner with all three teams playing the games in an excellent spirit, the most important factor being enjoyment.

Squad :Carrick Keighley-Payne, Daniel Haigh, Kian Sutcliffe, Finn Sutcliffe, Corey White, William Harker, Henry Hilton, Jack Mallinson, Alex Oldroyd

Man of match Jack Mallinson having reached his 6th birthday, joined the under 7's from the micros squad and ran in a hat trick his competitive debut.

Grahame White

Under 8’s The Raiders
Old Rishworthian’s Under 8’s hosted Baildon on Sunday morning. The teams fought out two closely contested games after Littleborough failed to raise an Under 8 side in the scheduled triangular fixture.

Game 1 Rishworthians 7 - 8 Baildon
The first game saw Rishworth Raiders storm into 4 – 2 lead at half time with some outstanding team defence and tries from William Symms, Ben Riley and two from Kallan Jamieson. A strong fight back from Baildon though saw them score 6 second half tries. Rishworth added 3 more scores through James McHugh, Symms and Jamieson, although the home team couldn’t quite match the Baildon tally, eventually losing 8 – 7.

Game 2 Rishworthians 9 - 7 Baildon

The second game however was a different story. Another superb first half performance saw the impressive Symms cross the whitewash no less than 3 times. James ‘snake hips’ Senneck weaved his way through the Baildon defence for an outstanding individual try and Alex Scoley also bagged a try to give the home side a comfortable 5 – 3 lead at the break. The foot wasn’t taken off the gas in the second half with two tries for birthday boy Sam Puddephatt and a further 2 scores for the impressive Will Symms. This took his individual tally to 5 tries and also secured a man of the match award, along with the superb all round display from Kallan Jamieson. The Old Rishworthian ‘Raiders’ eventually ran out 9 – 7 winners and now look forward to an away fixture against Wharfedale next weekend.

Dave Puddephatt

Under 9's The Reds & All Blacks
Initial disappointment that neither Baildon nor Littleborough could field an U9 side turned to joy as Rishies produced another excellent mornings rugby turning over both clubs’ U10 teams with strong team performances.

Game 1 Rishworthian Reds 10 - 5 Baildon

Jack Davis gave Baildon an early taste of the sprit of the Rishies’ determination with driving tackles right from the off and it was not long before the ball was moved to debutant Thomas Creasy, whose weaving run took him clean through the Baildon defence to put Rishies 5-0 ahead. It was not long before Jacob Bower too worked his way down the wing, cleverly stepping back inside at the corner to put Rishies 10 points clear. Oh that Mark Cueto had shown such balance last month!.

Both sides kept up the tackling, but neither managed to drive over the ball in the ruck, prompting coach Steve Cockroft to use the half time break to urge Rishies to show the skills they had practised earlier in training. Certainly the team listened to his advice and, as the match moved on, Rishies began to clear out the rucks and secure good possession. The team showed Baildon and their excited supporters on the touch line that they did not fear their older opponents. Thomas Sweeten showed speed in defence, catching Baildon with the ball and forcing a knock on. Jacob Bower too was in his element, tackling fiercely but fairly with Thomas Cockroft amongst those in the team who kept a solid maroon line. Only a lightening break up the touch line by Lee right at the close gave Baildon a score.

Scorers: Thomas Creasy, Jacob Bower
Man of the match: Jack Davis

Game 2 Rishworthian Reds 20 - 15 Littleborough

Perhaps it was as well Rishies had picked up confidence against Baildon, as the Littleborough squad had a clear size advantage over Rishies. Again, Rishies wasted no time in showing that this would be no pushover for the visitors, George Radcliffe this time having the honour of driving in the first tackle. Jack Davis too was in no mood to be bossed by the bigger team, with a trademark 30 yard drive. Jacob Bower fed William McDonnell who sprinted to the corner to open the scoring.

As we had seen in the earlier match, Littleborough were given no space to attack, with Thomas Sweeten racing in to close them down. Littleborough tried to work the ball wide, only to find Nathan Cooper ready to drive them into touch. Now it was Thomas Sweeten’s chance to show how to attack with a carving run over 20 yards to put Rishies 10-0 up.

Rishies seemed to have found a groove, solid tackling from the whole team frustrating Littleborough, then showing speed and determination with the ball. It wasn’t until the first half was almost over that Littleborough made a clean break, closing the gap to 5 points. Moments later, Jacob Bower took the restart pass. Breaking an early tackle, he leapt back to his feet and cantered home to put the score 15-5. Jacob then kept his head and his try saving tackle kept the 10 point margin into the break. Little did we now at the time how crucial that tackle would be in giving Rishies two clear wins this fine morning.

Rishies were uncharacteristically nervous at the start of the second half. There was neat passing around the team but little forward momentum until Jack Davis took the ball and started pumping his legs. Held up just short of the line, the ball was worked right to William McDonnell who would never be caught as he cleared the line for his second try of the match. Clearly still full of energy, it was immediately William’s turn to show speed in defence, denying Littleborough in the corner. Thomas Dalziel and George Radcliffe then worked well to find space and make valuable ground.

Resilience from Littleborough though brought them a score through the middle, with an interception over the line in the dying seconds closing the score to 20-15.

Scorers: William McDonnell (2), Thomas Sweeten, Jacob Bower
Man of the match: Jacob Bower

Squad: Charlotte Siddall, Jack Davis, Nathan Cooper, Thomas Sweeten, Thomas Cockroft, Thomas Creasy, Thomas Dalziel, Dan, Lewis Hilton, Gregory Day, Jacob Bower, William McDonnell, George Radcliffe.

Hugh Creasy

Under 10's
The 11^th November 2007 saw the under 10’s competing in a three way fixture with Baildon and Littleborough at Copley. Firstly the Coaches, Players and Parents would like to send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Max Dawes who has broken his leg in a riding accident.

The squad: Matthew Harris, Matthew Walker, Sam Moore, Toby Cowell, James Stott, Dan Cooper, Kyle Jamieson, Dylan Wannan, Alex Ratcliffe, Harry Robinson.

To describe the atmosphere as electric would be an understatement when our under 10’s lined up for a 3 way fixture with Littleborough and Baildon on Sunday. After a warm up, some exceptionally slick practice moves and words of encouragement from coaches and parents the squad faced Littleborough for the first fixture.

Game 1 Rishworthian 5 - 25 Littleborough
This match was always going to be an epic encounter with old trans Pennine rivalries and some personal scores to settle. Unfortunately Dan Cooper was sidelined for this match as it was to be a strictly under 10’s fixture.

From the whistle Rishworthians attacked hard in what has become characteristic of their playing style, with Alex Ratcliffe, Kyle Jamieson and James Stott gaining exceptional ground and driving the play deep into the Littleborough half. These attacks were thwarted metres from the line and the lost possessions from the resulting rucks allowed Littleborough to run in a couple of quick tries. Rishworthians were not downhearted with incredible amounts of vocal support coming from the sidelines. In fact for some players the support was so great it appears that they have their own fan clubs.

As usual the lineouts were excellent with Matthew Harris’ accuracy being second to none, from one such lineout Dylan Wannan was able to feed the ball to Alex Ratcliffe who produced a full pitch run which was stopped centimetres from the line by what appeared to be the entire Littleborough team. The resulting supporting drive by the Rishworthians forwards and subsequent going to ground left the crowd wondering whether a try had been scored and if so who had scored it. Upon peeling layers of Littleborough players from the mêlée Alex Ratcliffe was awarded the try, however Kyle Jamieson and James Stott also had hands on the ball. From the restart Littleborough produced an impressive drive, which was thwarted on two occasions by the ferociously agile tackling of the Lion Hearted Toby Cowell. Unfortunately the Littleborough onslaught overwhelmed our defence and they finished the half leading 15 to 5.

Half Time Rishworthian 5 - 15 Littleborough

From the start the forwards continued with their pressure and immense work rate. The scrummaging was ferocious in its nature with Kyle Jamieson, Matthew Harris and Alex Radcliffe unleashing a drive on the call to “engage”, the impact of which could be heard on the sidelines, that gained exceptional ground and allowed Dylan Wanan to feed the ball to Sam Moore, Matthew Walker and Harry Robinson who in a text-book display of open rugby ran the ball almost the full length of the field only being stopped by some solid Littleborough defensive play. Unluckily against this relentless ORRUFC pressure Littleborough capitalised on a couple of loose balls to eventually run in 25-5 winners.

Game 2 Rishworthian 15 - 30 Baildon
The next game was a mixed team and saw the welcome return of Dan Cooper to the fray.

As with the Previous match the Rishworthians pressure on the opposition was colossal, with our front row of Kyle Jamieson, Matthew Harris and Dan Cooper winning a play that allowed Dylan Wanan to feed the ball to Toby Cowell who sprinted 30 metres, dodging tackles before passing to Harry Robinson who drove into the Baildon defence before going to ground. The ensuing ruck Dan Cooper to demonstrate what the spectators christened “The Cooper Swoop” where he drives over the ruck with arms outstretched clearing 2 or 3 defenders as he goes. This allowed Matthew Walker to scoop up the ball, offload it to Sam Moore who sprinted for the line before producing a pass of the highest quality to James Stott who was able to ground the ball over the try line to Give Rishworthians the lead.

From the restart Baildon produced an exceptionally quick drive, which despite the defensive tackling of Toby Cowell, Matthew Walker and Harry Robinson produced an equalizing try. The match continued with both sides gaining ground and both sides being thwarted. Unfortunately a couple of unforced Rishworthians errors allowed Baildon to end the half leading 15-5.

Half Time Rishworthian 5 - 15 Baildon

At the start of the second half Keith Atkinson mentioned that the Baildon Coach had complained that Dan Cooper had been a little bit rough with one of their players, it should be pointed out that rugby is a contact sport and the old dictum “Volenti non fit injuria” springs to mind. Another arrow straight lineout throw by Matthew Harris deep in the Rishworthians allowed Dan Cooper to drive forward before passing to Matthew Walker who rather than running for touch himself spotted that Dylan Wannan was in a better position so fed the ball out to him allowing Dylan to produce an almost full pitch run carving the Baildon defence like the proverbial hot knife through butter for the second Rishworthians try.

From the restart a quick Baildon drive cut the Rishworthians line and even some monumental tackling by Toby Cowell, Harry Robinson and Matthew Walker couldn’t stop them driving over the line for a 2 score lead. Rishworthians retaliated with another session of relentless driving with James Stott, Sam Moore and Harry Robinson gaining good ground allowing Dan Cooper to score leaving Rishworthians 1 try down.

Alas Rishworthians could not sustain the pressure and coming to the end of 2 bruising encounters they unfortunately had become battle weary and the fresher Baildon squad ran in 2 quick tries to win the game 30-15.

Game 3 Rishworthian 5 - 25 Littleborough
Having thought that their monumental efforts were over it was announced that the Littleborough under 11’s/12’s had not had a game. It was decided to play a 20-minute match, which was to be refereed by a professional player who was rumoured to be a Fijian international. By this time all the other matches were coming to a close and our squad were left to play on an almost deserted field. You could almost hear the long forgotten heroes whispering, “Play up, Play up and play the Game”

The game started with an impressive Rishworthians drive with Alex Radcliffe and Dan Cooper producing good gains, however the fresher and bigger Littleborough team produced 2 exceptionally quick tries and although Toby Cowell, Matthew Walker and Dylan Wanan were tackling much older (in some cases 3 years) players with their usual fearless manner the difference in size was just too much of a mountain for our defensive stalwarts to climb.

With all the support from the sidelines Rishworthians were not going to give up and from the restart an inspiring Dan Cooper drive backed up by Alex Radcliffe, Kyle Jamieson, Matthew Harris and Toby Cowell saw a blatant attempted haymaker punch land squarely on Kyle Jamieson’s chin this he shrugged off with contempt, unfortunately this was not seen by the referee. The ensuing Littleborough drive produced another score.

At the restart Rishworthians rallied and a quickly fed ball to Kyle Jamieson allowed him to charge the line. At this point the whole team backed him up producing a driving maul that allowed him to ground the ball under a sea of black, yellow and green, finally allowing him to lay some of his ghosts to rest. The restart allowed Littleborough to gain ground from a big drive, however this was thwarted by our fearless defence who were able to feed the ball to Alex Radcliffe who ran the full length of the pitch only to be thwarted in his efforts by a wall of Littleborough players.

Half Time Rishworthian 5 - 15 Littleborough

The second half was brutal in its nature with Rishworthians attacks being blocked with bone crunching tackles and in return the Littleborough attacks were met with the proverbial immovable object. Unfortunately the days efforts had left the Rishworthians squad fatigued and another pair of Littleborough tries left them 25-5 winners.

The Man Of the Match was awarded to Alex Ratcliffe. The effort award went to James Stott on his debut

Although this was a losing performance the squad have improved immeasurably since the beginning of the season thanks to the tireless efforts of the coaches Keith Atkinson and Andy Day. Thanks also to the support of the parents who’s encouragement from the sidelines only serves to rally the players into greater efforts. The whole team gave 100% and produced some strong and valiant performances. It is only a matter of time before their efforts and those of the coaches are rewarded.

Andrew Harris