Under 14’s

Chorley 12-40 Wigan St Judes

Judes, turned up at Chorley determined and ready to give a good account of themselves. They were switched on from the start and managed to get on top early, with good strong running from Liam, who went over for 2 tries down the left edge. From 10-0 up, Chorley got back to back sets off penalties and managed to burrow over near the sticks. That galvanized Judes into a response with some strong carries and a tantalising run from Jake who crashed over to send the score to 16-6 to Judes at half time. Spirits were high, Judes struck again after a few sets of mistakes, through Jake, who broke from 30m out to go over. Judes continued to turn the screw with a perfect dummy half scoot from Cam Spear to go over and then 2 brilliantly carved tries from Dylan who stepped and weaved to bamboozle the defence and finish the game on top.  Judes were outstanding today and it was a pleasure to see a win after all the hard work they are putting in. Well done!!!

Tries

Jake Liptrot 2

Liam Ryding 2

Dylan Keller 2

Cameron Spear 1

Conversions

Leon Trafford 5

Owen Melling 1

Captains Choice....Owen Melling....best performance for a very long time. Tackled what was in his way and took some strong carries even after a knock in the back.

Coach's Choice....Jake Liptrot....all over the pitch today, at his most devastating when in the middle pushing the defence to its limits. Great defence all round, worked really hard.

Man of the Match....Dylan Keller....made a   positional change today and suited him really well. Got more stuck in with his defence and was more involved with the ball. Great work.

Under 13’s

Judes  20-24 Waterhead Warriors  

Judes came into this game off the back of winning the Lancashire Cup, so was always going to be a tough ask to get the boys up for this one.  First half the boys were outstanding and left us wondering where that first half performance was last week, as they were really strong from the starting whistle.

I don’t think 30 seconds had gone before we recorded our first points after a great kick off by Ryan was knocked on by Waterhead and Reece Stanton chased up the loose ball and took everyone by surprise by  kicking the ball into the in-goal and pounced on to score.  A great out-wide conversion by Callum Silcock, set the precedent for the first half.  Some awesome defence on show from Judes first half and repeat tackles from Kian on the edge really kept Waterhead at bay.  A forced knock on gave the scrum to Judes and a great build up to the next try as the ball shifted from right to left for Alfie Whittle to come steaming onto the ball to score his first of a brace of tries, converted by Callum Silcock.   His second coming from Judes moving the ball down the line, for Alfie to show great strength and determination to get the ball down with defenders trying their hardest to stop him.  Waterhead were caught offside and Judes work through their set and a pinpoint kick from James ran into the in-goal perfectly for Kian Barry to chase, who did well to win the footrace and ground the ball in the corner.  After Judes being pulled for offside it gave Waterhead the final say of the half when they attacked Judes end and scored a strong down the line try after finding the first gap in our defence all half.  Judes restart and are pulled for reefing the ball and put Waterhead back on the attack, but great defence deny Waterhead and finish a strong first half 20-6.

I’m not sure what happened second half, but I think a different team came on the pitch!  Judes made mistake after mistake, despite that they were almost over early, but strong defence from a determined Waterhead deny us.  Judes seemed to be fatigued this half and just let the attackers come to them rather than their steadfast defence.  Waterhead took full advantage of this by building towards the sticks, then crashing through some weak defence to score a 6 pointer under the uprights.  After a stern talking to by the coach, Judes were urged to find the energy from somewhere to get a grip of this game and put things right, but Waterhead really had their tails up and could sense the weakness in the Judes side.  Although Judes were making tackles, they just didn’t control the ball and Waterhead managed to get the ball away and scored a great individual try down the wing, finishing under the sticks.  This brought the game too close for comfort at 20-18.  Judes did try to counter-attack, but massive defence denied both our big buys Harvey and Reece from scoring.  Waterhead knew what they had to do and again kept the ball alive in the tackle and off-loaded to their centre who ran untouched to plonk down under the stick, putting them in the lead.  Judes did try everything they had in the dying minutes to salvage the game, but a good kick over was caught well by Logan, but frustratingly the ball bobbled enough to call a knock-on.  Good Judes pressure gave them the ball back and usually Judes can do what it takes to win, but today just wasn’t to be and saw Waterhead claim a historic win 20-24.

Today was certainly a game of two halves, Judes were fantastic first half, but they had nothing left in the tank second half.  It takes a lot to play well after a rugby final, even the professionals struggle, but take nothing away from Waterhead, they were the better team second half and really took their chances well.  Some notable performances today from Alfie, Kian, Reece, Kenzie and Lewis, to be fair, this team is awesome and have had a superb season, today’s game proves they are only human, i'm sure they will learn from it and come back stronger.  

Today’s Awards go to:

Outstanding Effort: Kian Barry, had his game of the season and scored a brilliant try, would have been a close call for Man of the Match.

Man of the Match: Alfie Whittle, had a brilliant first half, but frustrating second half.  Can always rely on our speedster Alfie to try and turn the game around and score points.

Under 11’s

Orrell St James 4-18 Wigan St Judes

Today we played the other OSJ team this time it was the Blues.

After quite a few losses of late, the Judes lads have been playing some good rugby but struggling to turn the performances into wins. Over the past couple of weeks, however we have started to believe in ourselves and that has started to show on the pitch.

Right from the start it was clear the lads meant business and line speed and defence would be key to conditions today.  Judes kept a tight line today and held OSJ out.  Unusually it was Judes who opened up the scoring when Lewis Banks made an opening for himself.  With the 2 sides equally matched it would take some skill to undo either defence.  A deft kick into open space near the corner fell right for Kian Stanton to collect and touch it down to give Judes a 12 point lead at the break.

The second half saw some intense play with both sides locked in a power struggle with neither side breaking. Judes could have been more in front if Alex Birch had held onto a pass close to the line. With the forwards working hard (Josh, Harry, Cody, Freddie, Daniel and Declan) the backs had some time to work at the James' line both Rohan and Lewis couldn't just work an opening and it was Deecan Snape who got low under the OSJ defence for Judes 3rd and final try. With every back defending hard (Callum, Deecan, Rohan, Jess, Lewis, Alex and Kian) there was nothing left in their tanks and on the last play of the game OSJ broke Judes defence.

This was a great game to watch as the Judes played possibly the best game for a long time and deserved the result.

Well done Judes!!

Awards this week :-

Man of the Match - Josh Mawdsley

Parents Player of the Match - Callum Siddeley

Coaches Award - Kian Stanton

Effort and Achievement - Rohan Green.

Under 11’s - Golds

Wigan St Judes Golds u11s 30-6 Widnes St Maries u11s

Today, The Golds entertained a new look St Maries side. With new players and a brand new coaching staff we didn't know anything about the team we were about to face. As coaches, we had asked the lads for more of last week's enthusiasm and style in their passing play and the same urgency in defence.

A great start saw Keegan Mobey finding touch from the off, winning the ball back with a scrum down in the Widnes half. Elton Paplekaj powered onto the ball and drove over to open the scoring. Keegan adding the two.

Great defence from Judes saw Marie's pinned in and forced to kick long on the fifth, Fullback, Austin Daniel, making easy work of the catch, returning the ball with pace and footwork that the Widnes lads simply couldn't contend with. Austin putting his foot down after splitting the defensive line and going the full length to score under the sticks. Dylan Gregory converting problem free.

Marie's pushed on showing some great passing, testing our wings and line speed. Big Mal Price stepped up at marker though and his presence alone was enough to unsettle the Marie's hooker. Scooting, with one eye on the big guy, the ball was fumbled. After forcing the turnover, Mal deserved a ball and stormed up field to score a classic 'Mal try' all long legs and power. Aaron Bolton sailing the ball over the sticks with ease.

More great defence from the kids followed with huge hits from Elton Paplekaj, Dylan Gregory and Aaron Bolton seeing The Golds stay on top in the dying minutes of the first half. On the final attack, great hands linking Malachi Price, Keegan Mobey and Austin Daniel got the ball out wide with Judes finding themselves with a heavy overlap. Austin's final pass found new boots, Ryan Sweatman. Ryan has waited for his chance to finally grab a try and finding ball in hand flying down the wing he was not letting the opportunity slip away! He dove over in the right corner to grab his first points for the Golds. The kick just sailing wide.

The kids got set for the kick off and the Marie's kicker sent the ball long and hard down field, controlling it with his feet, powerhouse Elton Paplekaj drove the ball straight back at them, managing to go all the way again, the perfect restart! Tyler Foster adding the extras.

A scoot set from The Golds saw the ball driven up field with pace and good footwork. Hooker Freddie Winnard ran his line well, conning the Marie's line with a dummy toward his runners he slipped by them all and dove over the whitewash himself. The kick sailing under.

More back to back defensive sets were awarded to Widnes but The Golds never took a backward step and showed the strength in their line. Precise and accurate tackling technique made these sets a pleasure to watch and after a good six to seven minutes of constant defence we finally had another chance to push forward...ref permitting...more accurate and well timed passing saw Judes approaching the Widnes line once more and with a hat trick in his sights, Elton took the quick scoot to crash over for his third.

With Ryan scoring today, we have now got every single registered player on the score sheet. Every one of our lads has now scored for this team since forming in February which we feel is a huge achievement.
The opposition coach was extremely impressed with our defensive game, saying that his players were met with a brick wall and that some of the shots were like being hit by a train!

All in all a great game to take us into next week's clash against Blackbrook. Like us, Brook have had an extremely successful season so we should be set for a fantastic game.
Another solid team performance, hard to pick the winners this week but a few stood out of the pack today, Dylan and Mal recognised for their contributions in defence and Elton our Albanian wonder stealing the show for a solid all round performance beyond his young years. Elton also scooping our Hitman of the week award, sponsored by Paul Gregory Removals, for impressive one on one control when tackling and forcing errors with thunderous hits all over the pitch today.

Well done Golds.

AWARDS
M.O.M: Elton Paplekaj
Opponents M.O.M: Elton Paplekaj and Malachi Price
Parent's Player: Dylan Gregory
Top Tackler: Elton Paplekaj

TRIES
Elton Paplekaj x 3
Malachi Price x 1
Austin Daniel x1
Ryan Sweatman x 1
Freddie Winnard x 1

KICKS
Keegan Mobey
Dylan Gregory
Aaron Bolton
Tyler Foster

Under 8’s - Golds

Wigan St Judes Golds v u8s Leigh Miners Golds
We managed to get all the lads from both teams playing today setting 2 pitches up and what 2 games they turned out to be with 42 tries
You can imagine what sort of games they were and played in true junior rugby spirit

Try scorers
Mason Chisnall 4
Jack Hill 4
Harrison Oakes 4
Jack Myers 2
Jack Elwick 2
Deacon Charnock 2
Tadgh Casey 1

Trophy winners in game 1
Opposition mom
Mason Chisnall
Parents award
Harrison Oakes

Trophy winners game 2
Opposition mom
Jack Elwick
Parents award
Jack Myers