Rishworthians v Cleckheaton

Minis blow away Christmas cobwebs

Match report Sunday 8th January
After several weeks break the minis got the second half of te season of to a good start.

Under 6's The Micros

Meanwhile the m icros trained in the warmth of the Rishworth School Sports Hall. 22 players had a great session.

Under 7's The Young Guns
No Game Cleckheaton unable to raise an u7s

Under 8's The Sharks and Tigers
Rishies come back strong after the festive break

After a seemingly interminable layoff, the U8s once again returned to action against Cleckheaton. Copley 3 was in reasonable shape after the rain of the last few weeks, and the weather unseasonably mild. The opposition seemed impressive, with a couple of players who looked like they may be a handful when the shackles come off next season. With a few players missing we decided to play their 8's over two ten minute halves with a combined Sharks and Tigers team using rolling substitutions, before our U7s also had a crack at them

Game 1: Rishworthians 11 - 5 Cleckheaton
After losing the toss, the boys found themselves on defence for the first play. Cleckheaton scored relatively easily causing a few boys to realise that the festive hangover had to be rapidly forgotten. This led to the implementation of plan A - pass ball to steady banker Jon Baker to equalise. A scramble for a loose ball which was recovered by Rishies then allowed Ethan Grogan to put the side ahead. Cleckheaton came back strongly with two unanswered tries, the second of which had a number of players questioning what had happened, as a deceptively uncatchable member of the opposition slipped through some implausible gaps. Felix Jackson was rewarded for unstinting support of the ball carrier, and allowed to dot down a simple try, before Benedict Freeman repeated the trick and left the boys ahead as the whistle blew.

Half Time Rishworthians 4 - 3 Cleckheaton

The intensity rose noticeably after the break, and the aggressive tagging of Jon and Ben led to a number of other players raising their games, forcing opposition turnovers, hustles into touch and dropped balls. The net result of this was that the home side eased away to well deserved margin of victory. Oscar Pollard set the ball rolling with a strong canter across the park. Ben then slipped passed a number of would be taggers to notch the score of the day and set the tone for a solid second half hat trick. William Boom snaffled the ball after a moment's hesitation from Cleckheaton and ran it back nearly the length of the field for a try. After revelling in his role as 'enforcer', unceremoniously stopping the progress of the opposition's strongest player, Felix Jackson again troubled the scorers with a trademark rumble. It was left to Mr Elusive himself, Ethan Grogan to close the game out with another scamper for the line.

Thanks as ever to coaches and parents for their support. Despite a month away it was noticeable that all players had made tangible gains. Perhaps a period of quiet reflection away from game play had benefitted everybody, and this augurs well for the second half of the season.

Scorers Jon Baker (1) Benedict Freeman (4) Ethan Grogan (2) Oscar Pollard (1) Felix Jackson (2) William Boom (1)

Sharks and Tigers squad: Jacob Smith, Ethan Grogan, Jon Baker, Felix Jackson, Will Boom, Benedict Freeman, James Wadsworth, Thomas Westgarth, Oscar Pollard and Francis MacKenzie.

Man of MatchBenedict Freeman
Top Tagger Jon Baker
Effort Award William Boom

Rod Freeman

Under 9's The Rams and Rhinos
Rub of the green on Cleckheaton's side in a great 40 minutes of rugby.

An absorbing 30 minutes of rugby to open up the new year with. Cleckheaton had improved a 100% since the last meeting at Wharfdale in the district festival back in October and really took the match to Rishworthians in the first 15 minutes.

Game 1 Rishworthians Rams 25 - 25 Cleckheaton
Strong running by their 3 big forwards and some nifty footwork by Cleckheaton's number 4 kept Rishworthians on the backfoot for most of the first half. Cleckheaton went 2 tries up very quickly winning ball from the maul whilst Rishworthian's were man watching rather than ball watching. A well worked try from Toby Laurie made the half time score 10 - 5 to Cleckheaton.

The second 15 minutes saw a marked improvement in play from Rishworthians with the forwards Emma McHugh, Bobbie White and Thomas Doyle taking the ball forward and starting to win ball in contact situations. This in turn allowed Ben Collins and Ben Gianoti to work the ball wide to Toby Laurie, Adam Woodcock and Alfie Connors to run at the smaller Cleckheaton players and make good yards. Futher good runs from Jack Lumb A great brace of tries from Toby Laurie and an even better score from Alfie Connors levelled the score at 20 - 20. A furher score from Alfie Connors put Rishworthians into the lead for the first time in the match. Cleckheaton scored another try and the last 2 minutes was all about Rishworthain defense and with the ball at the bottom of a ruck the referee blew for time in agreement with the Cleckheaton coach with the clock on 15 minutes and 45 seconds. A great comeback from Rishworthians in all aspects of play. With Toby Laurie and Alfie Connors showing what great threats they are after the others have done the donkey work.

Game 2 Rishworthians Rhinos 0 - 10 Cleckheaton
In a quick fire 10 minute match to give all players a run out Dylan, Oscar and Patrick were keen and enthusiastic to work hard and impress and in doing so took the match to Cleckheaton. In total in the second match 8 minutes plus was spent with active mauling taking place, a great show of strength and courage from both sets of players. Cleckheaton managed to work the ball free on 2 occasions to deny Old Risworthians a victory.

Squad: Toby Laurie, Emma McHugh, Bobbie White, Lewis Paxton-White, Ben Gianotti, Dillon Hilton, Rafe Dolan, Alfie Connors, Patrick Rhodes, Ben Collins, Killian Smith, Max Knowles, Adam Woodcock, Jude Whitelaw

Tries: Toby Laurie 3 Alfie Connors 2.

Man of MatchAlfie Connors and Toby Laurie
Effort Award Dillon Hilton

Under 10's The Meercats
Cats open 2012 with a good win over strong opponents

Rishies started the New Year in fine form with a good win against a strong Cleckheaton side down at Copley last Sunday. The terrible winter weather which prevailed over the New Year period finally eased giving rise to a fine mild morning with great conditions in which to play rugby.

Game 1: Rishworthians 50 - 40 Cleckheaton
Rishies seized the early initiative and with the pack of Jack Marsden, Reece Barraclough and Owen Witchell working well together, the home side were able to secure the ball and gain a greater share of the possession. This enabled Rishies to release their back line to good effect with some good passing and running from Tom Georgiou and Henry Hilton in particular.

It was the home side who took the lead with tries from Tom Georgiou, Will Adams and Reece Barraclough before Cleckheaton pulled one back. The next phase of the game was much closer with both teams scoring two tries each before half time. Once again Tom Georgiou was able to cross the line and this was closely followed by a fine individual effort from Nick Crane.

Rishies were able to push home their advantage after the break with a hat full of tries from Jack Marsden (2), Nick Crane (2) and Tom Georgiou before Cleckeaton countered once more with a try of their own. Tired legs and a shift in personnel saw Rishies take their foot off the gas and several missed timed tackles allowed Cleckheaton to score three late tries in the final stages of the game.

However, overall it was a fine team effort that got the under 10's off to a winning start in 2012.

Try Scorers :Tom Georgiou 3, Will Adams, Nick Crane 3 Jack Marsden 2 and Reece Barraclough.

Squad : Jack Marsden, Owen Witchell, Haydon Faulkner, Oliver Brian, Will Adams, Gabriel Moore, Alex Sharpe, Brandon Savage, Tom Threlfall, Edward Whitwam, Oscar Powell, Billy Smith, Thomas Atkinson, Nick Crane, Joe Wright, Henry Hilton, Tom Georgiou.

Man of the Match The Squad
Effort Award:
Top Tackler:

Under 11's The Destroyers
No Game

Under 12's The Raiders
Raiders brush off Christmas cobwebs with a fine win

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Game 1 Rishworthians 26 - 0 Cleckheaton
A promising start by the Rishworthian Raiders resulted in a try, coming from a good attacking move by the back division. The ball was moved through the hands out to left wing Ben Wright who was tackled 5 meters from the try line. Connor Friend was quick to the breakdown and cleared out the Cleckheaton defence, leaving Number 8 Morgan Smithies to pick up and dive over the try line.

Cleckheaton then got into their stride and began to enjoy plenty of possession, although some dogged defence by Smithies and 2nd row Phillip Tattersall prevented them from scoring. The Raiders lived on scraps for much of the first half and when possession did come their way, silly errors prevented them from really creating many more scoring opportunities. Just before half time winger Sam Puddephatt stepped in off his wing and presented clean ball when he was eventually hauled down. The ball was recycled quickly and moved wide by scrum half George Wright, with Patrick Smallman beating the last 2 defenders to score.

In the second half the Raiders got into their stride and some abrasive tackling by Morgan Smithies in particular stopped any Cleckheaton attacks before they could gather momentum. The Raiders started to use their forwards taking short drives from quick rucked ball to tie in the Cleckheaton defence and this tactic resulted in the third try. Prop Nathan Hales and 2nd row Alex Tull both took a short pass from George Wright and made good yards up the centre of the pitch. The ball was then sent wide to right wing Sam Puddephatt who showed a good turn of pace as he stepped inside and then accelerated down the touch line to score in the corner.

Rishworthians finished the game the much stronger of the two teams and the forward unit were able to clear out at the ruck giving scrum half George Wright plenty of time to pick his pass. The forth try came from a typical flowing team move with good support play and players running onto the ball at pace. Full back Will Symms offloaded in the tackle and outside centre Ethan Pollard ran onto the pass and cut though the defence to score. With George Wright converting three kicks the Raiders eventually ran out 26 - 0 winners.

Tries: : Smithies, Smallman, Puddephatt, Pollard.
Conversions: Conversions: G. Wright (3)

Man of the Match
Effort Award:
Best tackle: