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

Rishworthians Minis v Littleborough & Skipton

Rishworthians have a good morning at Littleborough & Skipton

Match reports Sunday 24th February
A change to the fixture schedule saw the under 9's travel to Skipton and the remaining squads making the short journey to Littleboro. 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 trained this Sunday with preparation for next weeks visit of Huddersfield YMCA under 6's who will join in a training session and play some matches. Numbers moving across to the under 7's continue to grow as they reach their 6th birthday and learn to play competitive matches. Several of the squad are already making an impact running in tries and picking up the man of match awards.

Under 7's The Young Guns
A fantastic turnout of 15 players, on a not too pleasant a day, allowed Rishworthians to put out two sides against a seven man Littleborough squad. Both teams were a mixture of more experienced players with less experienced players.

Rishworthians Reds 9 Littleborough 6
Up until half time this was a very even contest with both sides scoring 4 tries. Kian Sutcliffe grabbed a first half hat-trick with Corey White scoring the other. In the second half Rishwothians proved too strong for the oppositions stretching away to score a further 5 tries, Littleborough only managing two second half tries. Man of the match Kian Sutcliffe ran in a further three tries, taking his individual haul to six, with George Sutcliffe and Gearge Wannan adding one apiece.

Squad: Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White, George Sutcliffe, Joe Barratt, Henry Hilton, George Wannan, Kieran Brocklehurst.

Rishworthians Blues 3 Littleborough 4
Corey White played as an eighth man for Littleborough against an eight man Rishworthians side. This was a very even contest throughout with some good open rugby and sound defensive tagging. Carrick Keighley-Payne scored a brace and the tie was level at 2-2. Corey White then scored for Littleborough with man of the match Alex Oldroyd levelling the scores at 3-3. Corey White then nailed a final try for the Littleborough side sending his teammates to a creditable 4-3 defeat.

Squad: Carrick Keighley-Payne, Daniel Haigh, Finn Sutcliffe, Jack Mallinson, Alex Oldroyd, Reggie Herd, Oliver Brian, Tom Stott

Rishworthians Reds 3 Rishworthians Blues 3
With the players cold and tiring rapidly this was a very even contest with both sides scoring alternately. Kian Sutcliffe scored a further two tries for the reds with Corey White adding the third. New boy Tom Stott opened the scoring for the blues with Jack Mallinson and Alex Oldroyd also grabbing one apiece.

Thanks to Mark Oldroyd and Neal Mallinson for coaching the two sides. Thanks also to the parents for their continued support and ensuring an excellent turnout in poor conditions.

Grahame White

Under 8’s The Raiders
Another good performance by the Under 8’s saw them sneek a 15 – 14 win away to Littleborough on Sunday.In cold wet conditions, the team once again demonstrated their attacking skills with some fine individual runs to evade the defensive line.

Littleborough 14 - 15 Rishworthians
Will Symms covered plenty of ground to score a first half hat trick as did Callum Bell who crossed the line twice. Kallan Jamieson also scored 2 first half tries as he dodged his way through the despairing lunges of would-be defenders. As the half time whistle blew the game was all square at 7 tries a piece.

In the second half the Rishworthian defence struggled at times to stop some very straight and determined attacking runs by the Littleborough team, who rushed into an early second half lead. However, the speed and agility of the Raiders once again paid dividends with James McHugh scoring a send half hat trick, and Bell (2), Jamieson and Symms also scoring valuable tries. In the dying seconds of the game with the score poised at 14 – 14, Will Symms made a characteristic dart across field before straightening up to storm down the touchline to score in the corner (his 5^th of the match) and win the game for Rishworthians.
Coach Dave Puddephatt awarded the effort award to Callum Bell with James McHugh winning the Man of the Match Award.

Dave Puddephatt

Under 9's The Reds & All Blacks
It has been a stuttering few weeks for Rishies, what with flooding and frozen pitches putting paid to some weekends, howling gales at others and a variety of half term holidays spoiling the squad’s continuity. So, blustery rain aside, it was a welcome trip to Skipton for a fresh and full challenge from the reigning Yorkshire Cup holders. Skipton must surely also have been looking forward to the opportunity of getting revenge for their defeat at Copley in November.

Game 1 Skipton 0 - 35 Rishworthans
Perhaps the Reds had made a secret pact to lull Skipton into a false sense of security – they certainly had their supporting fans looking very nervous as the team lined up at kick off looking as if they were waiting for a bus. Had the lack of consistent match practice numbed them? Were some of the team still sleeping off a late night watching England’s victory? But no, the whistle blew and they were off! Skipton were taken aback and the ball spilled loose. Will McDonnell dropped to secure good ruck ball and Jacob Bower moved into the scrum half position. Sensing that Skipton had over committed to the ruck, Jacob Bower picked up and sped down the blind side. The Reds were 5-0 up and the game was very much alive.

Rishies kept up the momentum and good pressure off a scrum, combined with excellent ripping of the ball gave Will his own chance from scrum half. It looked as if cover would block him, but a nifty side step opened up the defence and Will was through. Throughout the morning, the team showed how much they have developed in moving the ball away from the ruck area and into space. Thomas Cockroft was an early one to take advantage, taking a crash ball and bursting right up to the Skipton line. The ball spilled loose and Thomas Creasy, following up, just missed out but the scramble to defend gave the Reds a penalty for killing the ball. The first penalty move was blocked by Skipton but not without giving away a second penalty and this time Jacob Bower took the direct route, striding over the line imperiously to make it 15-0.

Rishies continued to dominate the game, both in territory and in mindset. Thomas Sweeten made an excellent break and went to ground perfectly to recycle ball. Fine rucking piled the pressure on Skipton who were again forced into giving away a penalty. This gave the opportunity for Will McDonnell to add to his tally, again breaking from scrum half and speeding over. Rishies must give credit to Skipton as it would have been easy for the home side to capitulate. As it was, Skipton came out from the restart determined to break through. It looked as if a try was on, but excellent cover from Will McDonnell took the Skipton winger into touch. Thomas Creasy collected from the lineout and made steady progress up to half way and so cleared the lines for the half time whistle.

Half time Skipton 0 - 20 Rishworthans

These were not the best of conditions, but the full team showed excellent control with their passing. From the restart Charlotte Siddall showed tidy handwork to feed the ball onto Jack Davis and give him the momentum to close in on the Skipton line. Possession looked to have been lost, but, taking advantage from a knock on, Thomas Sweeten gathered the ball and balanced himself well to make the try look easy. It was more fine handwork that gave Rishies perhaps the best try of the day. Will McDonnell was in the thick of action and, before being swallowed up by the Skipton defence, he spotted Dan Byrnes who had placed himself perfectly to support the move. Dan kept moving forward, sucking in three Skipton defenders, but crucially he too looked for the pass back to Will looping behind and now with an open run to the line.

More positive work after the restart, this time from Gregory Day as he made it to the ruck first and, putting aside the temptation to pick up the ball, drove well through the ruck securing possession for the team. Sam Brant slipped the ball deftly to Jacob Bower who in turn slipped the ball to Thomas Cockroft for a break which only just failed to make it all the way. Such flowing rugby will always bear fruit. And so it was, for Thomas Cockroft himself took the ball moments later at stand off and crashed over to put the Reds 35-0 ahead.

There is always a sense of pride if you can hold your opponents to no score, but in the dying moments it looked as if Skipton would deny Rishies the pleasure. Indeed, Rishies have let the pressure tell before when they have a lineout close to their own try line. Not this time as Jack Davis fed out to Dan Byrnes who displayed the coolness to take the ball forward, dummy a pass out and then stretch his legs to gain enough territory to make the ball safe. A last ditch break by Skipton was thwarted by Thomas Sweeten, another player who stepped up his game this week with some tremendous tackling, and the whistle blew for full time.

Scorers: Jacob Bower (2), William McDonnell (3), Thomas Sweeten, Thomas Cockroft

Game 2 Skipton 10 Old Risworthians 10
Charlotte Siddall, captaining the side for this second leg, won the toss and many would have been looking for the Reds to make an early mark on the scoresheet. Not so, as Skipton stepped up a gear to regain pride for the home team. It may not be pretty, but a driving maul can be highly damaging. Skipton clearly had the better body position and it was only a deliberate pulling down that brought the move to a stop. Skipton moved the ball wide from the resulting penalty but encountered George Radcliffe and his crunching tackle. Dan Byrnes collected the loose ball and, as is becoming his hallmark, took flight up the wing to make 20 yards and give respite to the Reds’ defence. Huge credit must be given to the full team – the tackling was superb with a number of players, Charlotte Siddall, Nathan Cooper and Lewis Hilton among them - committing themselves to bring down the player. Not only does it contain the attacking side. It gives your team mates a surge of confidence when they see what you can all do.

Skipton would not lie down though and came back with a fresh wave, this time the ball spilling loose and into touch to give an attacking lineout on the Reds line. Quick thinking at the front of the lineout gave the Skipton prop a chance to charge over the line and put Skipton into the lead at 5-0. The Reds, up against a double size squad, were beginning to tire, but Thomas Creasy found the legs to slide through a raft of defenders and then feed Dan Byrnes who had again placed himself so well to keep up the momentum. It looked as if he would surely go over, but steadfast defence denied him. Skipton could not break out of their own half though and Thomas Creasy again squeezed through the Skipton tackling to inches short of the line. Perhaps referees will need to start checking him for grease on his shorts because the tackles did not stick. Either way, he could have felt aggrieved at the final tackle which prevented him scoring. There are moments, putting aside the howling gale at Baildon, when you can be forgiven for thinking there must be another Force at work: within a minute, Thomas found the ball sitting over the try ine and with a number of defenders simply looking at it. It may not have been the try he originally wanted, but it would do just as well.

The final half saw a continuing battle between a resurgent Skipton and a defiant Rishies. The Reds had dominated the mauls and so it was ironic when Skipton pulled one out and found that Rishies had over committed. With no defence down the blind side it was an easy score and brought Skipton back into the lead at 10-5. Who was more eager for an equalising score, the players, the parents or the coaches? Very hard to say, but Will McDonnell so nearly made the line. Again Thomas Creasy made it to barely inches short, as did Thomas Sweeten. Finally, and fittingly, Will McDonnell had a sliver of a chance to let his legs do the work and sprinted cross field to make it in at the corner. A huge collective sigh of relief and the final whistle confirmed the draw – a fitting end to a very tight game.

Scorers: Thomas Creasy, Will McDonnell

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

Man of the match: William McDonnell
Effort award: Dan Byrnes

Hugh Creasy

Under 10/11's

Game 1 Littleborough 54 - 0 Rishworthians
Rishworthians were well below par, despite fielding a strong team on paper. The result was their heaviest defeat of the season against a side that played well as a team, but were not by any stretch, the toughest opposition that Rishworthians have faced this season. The Maroon and White's struggled to contain Littleborough's one speed merchant who ran in a hat-trick of tries. Too often the Copley men made good ground only to knock the ball on or lose the ball in contact. At full-time the team were disappointed by their performance and keen to make amends against local rivals Huddersfield YMCA in their next match.

MOM: Harvey Keighley-Payne
Effort award: Tom Hammond