WIGAN ST JUDES ARLFC - MATCH REPORT - ROUND UP

1^st Team

In a tight and uncompromising local derby game St Judes travelled the short distance to Ince Rose Bridge and despite the losing score of 35-26 Jude's really gave a good account of themselves and with a bit more patience and execution could have won this cup game. It was Jude's who opened the scoring as early as the 3rd minute when Gavin Rodden broke on the left and put his winger Baz Rothwell away who just got tackled short of the line but he still got his pass away to hooker Nathan Bevan who scored wide out. Bridge hit right back when a clever kick for their tall winger played off in the corner. Jude's quickly responded with a great attack involving Paul Pendlebury, Dave Carney and Gavin Rodden but it broke down and Ince Rose Bridge great fully accepted to score a try. Nathan Bevan, Tom Owen, Luke Barrett, Scott Robinson, Oly Oladele  and Brett Taberner were heavily with everything good about Jude's and on 23 mins Jude's set up another attack when Paul Pendlebury hit Dave Carney on a good line who put up a high kick to the corner were Gareth Thomas leapt higher than his opposite winger to take the ball and despite being tackled short of the line he still managed to get the ball down for a great try, but for all his efforts he had to leave the field of play with a bad injury. Replacement winger Dave Fagan came on for Gareth and was soon in the action when a Jude's attack on the right with Pendlebury and Robinson saw him take a pass on his boot laces only to and go around under the posts to score a great try, Robinson slotted the two over. Then minutes later a similar attack saw Paul Pendlebury go in for a peach of a try beating several players with excellent footwork. Jude's were now getting on top and when Dave Fagan scored his second try wide out, of a Nathan Bevan pass Jude's looked good for a win but alas it didn't last long. Bridge got field position when a Jude's attack broke down and their winger scored a good try, this was followed with a drop goal and a dive over try all this was in a 5 minute spell which knocked the stuffing out of St Jude's and earned Bridge a relieved win.

MoM …Nathan Bevan…getting back to his best.

Top Tacklers.

1st.Nathan Bevan.32

2nd.Paul Pendlebury.27

3rd.Brett Taberner.26…with 10 min in the bin.

Completion Rate.

1st Half.15 sets…completed…8…..53%

2nd Half. 18sets…completed…7…..39%

Hit ups. Darrion Ball 16

Penalty Count…For 11…Against. 8

Under 15s

Shevington 44-16 St Judes

St Jude's found themselves on the wrong end of a 44-16 score line in their NWC Premier Division clash away at Shevington Sharks. The score line by no means justified the effort that St Jude's had put in to this game nor did it justify some of the fine rugby they had played, all be it patches, but it was unforced errors and ill-discipline were once again the undoing of the maroon & gold’s.  St Jude's started very much the livelier with the strong running Saul Mills signalling their intent with a well taken try with just under 3 minutes on the clock. Jack Mills converted. A series of errors and penalties then followed and allowed Shevington to take a stronghold on the game hitting St Judes with 4 unanswered scores and giving the home side a commanding 24-6 lead with minutes to go until the half time break. However, with ball in hand, St Jude's looked dangerous, and on the stroke of half time, a superb passage of play that saw the ball passed through several pairs hands to the on running Ike Eastwood, who duly finished to send the teams in at the break 24-12 in favour of the Shevington side, but ensured the game would remain a contest.

The second half unfortunately did very much follow the pattern of the first. The effort in defence was clearly there to see, however at times the handling errors often made it feel like the St Judes side were taking one step forward and three steps back, and a team like Shevington will only revel in so much gifted turnover and possession. This ultimately proved case in point as the home side went onto register a further 4 tries. Conciliation however of the away sides efforts did eventually arrive by way of a trade mark Tom Faulkner try minutes from time. Faulkner’s try that saw him bury his over from close range, was reward for a fine individual passage of play from half back Jack Mills.

44-16 to Shevington was the Final score in a game that could have and maybe should have been so much a different story.

The heroic efforts and extensive work rate of second rower Saul Mills was noticed by the Shevington coaches and deservedly earned him the man of the match award, although the fine efforts of Adam Holt, Jack Mills, & Lewis Belshaw, cannot go without a very worthy mention.

Under 14’s

St.Judes 22-26 Kippax

Tries: Kier Gordon (1), Aaron Pimblett (2), Jacob Dugdale (1)

Conversion: Peter Moore (3)

Half Time 18-10

Can't fault the effort of every one of you today. Unlucky lads, let's learn from it and kick on for the rest of the season.

Under 12’s

Thatto Heath Crusaders 12-28 Judes

What a tough encounter drawing Thatto Heath for our Semi Final of the North West Counties Cup and the game was certainly a nail bitter!  Thatto took the lead early as Judes defence was slow to begin with and Thatto found the gap and exploited it to record the first points.  They were soon 12 points to the good when awarded a penalty and opted for the kick.  Whilst Judes were still having their team talk they kicked a goal that ricochets off the post and Thatto were first to react and were gifted with the 6 points.  This would be their only points of the match though as Judes forced their way back into the game and were soon racking up their first points courtesy of Harvey Makin crashing through the defence to score a relieving try, converted by James Richardson.  Great defensive pressure from Judes force a Thatto knock-on on half way.  Then after a penalty for a high shot, Judes were set and Richard Nsemba went on a barnstorming run to break the defence and run round the fullback to score and with a successful conversion from Callum Silcock it was all square at 12 all at half time.

 An exciting second half was on the cards.  Judes ended their set with a great kick and chase and trapped Thatto Heath in the in-goal area, but the ref decided it was a Thatto 20m restart, so Judes un-rewarded for good attacking pressure.  Judes soon repeated the move and this time got the correct decision with a drop-out.  After good work up the middle again Richard Nsemba comes crashing onto the ball and there’s no stopping him from close range as he pounces over the whitewash to put Judes ahead and turn the game in our favour.  A fantastic restart from Ryan touches the Thatto player and goes out for a scrum in a good position, but bombed our chance to clinch it with a knock-on.  Thatto were soon down the other end and put in a good kick on the last, which bounced kindly into Leon’s hands.  Junior set off on a good run again, but loses possession as the ball is stripped, but again the decision goes against us.  Superb defensive pressure from Judes turned into attack with a fantastic strong try from Harvey Makin who powered over the line with defenders all over him to record his second and put us in full control of this game.  Junior used his strength and headed for the line again to seal the game; he crashes through and plonks the ball down over the whitewash, but apparently was held up?  We were awarded a penalty though for offside and Callum Silcock stepped up and took the 2 points.  Another great restart from Ryan eludes 2 attackers and runs dead for a drop out, but a rushed attack and good defence from Thatto saw the ball go to ground.  Thatto were desperate to score and with time running out try to fling the ball around, but a great read by Regan Hunter who put in a super intercept and sped off to finish the game under the sticks and with a good conversion from James Richardson Judes come away with an emphatic win and book their place in the Final………… get in!!!!!

After a bad start to the game Judes showed fantastic character and spirit to win this one against a quality team.  Both teams gave it their all and put on a superb semi-final exhibition.  What a performance from the squad to pull this one back and get a well-deserved win for the lads who have waited almost 7 years to play in a cup final.  Well done lads an enthralling game especially for all our rugby Dads, Happy Father’s Day!

 Today’s Awards go to:

Outstanding Efforts:       Outstanding performances in both attack and defence from Eliot Peposhi & Leon McIntosh, awesome in defence and both getting clean breaks.

Assist Award:     Callum Silcock a game changer today with his kicking game took control and turned the game in our favour.

Top Tackler:        Ben Freeman, massive hits for a little lad, always first off the line and forced loads of errors with his defence today.

Man of the Match:          Richard Nsemba came on the pitch and was devastating, scoring almost immediately and made a massive impact on the game.

Under 9's

Leyland Warriors 7 - 11 Judes

Today Judes travelled to Leyland Warriors for the father’s day match.

Judes started in defence and coming off a couple of losses they were hungry for a win.

Leyland came at Judes hard and strong but couldn't break a determined Jude’s defence.

Judes then drove the ball at Leyland hard, always looking for the offloads and backing each other well. This was the story of the 1st half.  End to end Rugby and some great skills on show from both teams.

2nd half saw Judes take control, driving the ball harder n harder at the Leyland line, making half breaks and full breaks from most plays.

Once Judes got close to the Leyland line they didn't want to come away empty handed and the destination showed from all Jude’s players.

Final score came to Leyland 7 - 11 Judes. 

A special mention to Sam on scoring his 1st try.

Massive well done to all the team today. Great Effort from all involved.  Superb game to be involved in and to watch.

Today's tries came from

Sam 1

Findlay 3

Jack 1

Alfie 1

Lucas 2

Ryleigh 3

Today's Trophies went to

Parents Award.  Lucas

Top Tackler.  Ryleigh

M.O.M. Findlay

Most Improved. Sam

All Round Effort. Jack

SUPERB EFFORT FROM EVERYONE!!!!!!

Under 8’s – Maroons

Thatto Heath swords 5-15 Wigan st Judes maroons

Judes made the short trip St. Helens in an earlier than normal KO. From the start it was evident Judes where still asleep and the 1st 10 mins saw both teams trading try's ending the 1st 10 mins 3-3. As the game went on Judes began to pull away with the score line although the game lacked our usual high standard in performance the boys did enough to come through. The boys have come a long way over the last couple of years but for me the score line is never the focal point and it were clear today there is still much to work on from a coaching point. However it is important to remember they are kids and are not going to perform 100% week in week out, despite the high standards they have set themselves this season. Well done to the kids lots of positives from today, this game is behind us and we will work hard in training this week on the few minuses from today.

Tries today

Callum 1

Sam 1

Danny 2

Cam 2

Liam 3

Zac 3

Ty 1

James 2

Under 7’s

Judes 11-2 folly lane

Both sets of kids joined together for a mins applause for Ronan Costello

Captain of the day was Finley Whelan who won the coin toss and decided to start with the ball

1st quarter

Judes managed to get a few runs before Luke Brussels got in for our first try

Then Judes had to defend a full set of 6 with Ellis Corfield (top tackler) was on top form in defence and all the other lads followed his lead which was good to watch

Judes turn with the ball with Ellis Corfield getting his reward for his great defensive work with scoring our 2nd try

Then again it was Judes turn to tackle with our defence working really well then it was Jack Myers to turn to side step through the full folly lane team and score our third

2nd quarter

Seen 7 lads go off and 7 come on with fresh legs

It was folly lanes turn to start with the ball but our 7 fresh lads carried on our great defensive work keeping them out again

Then it was Harrison Oakes turn to take a run and scored our fourth

Our defence again kept folly lane out for another set of 6 with Jack Worthy doing some brilliant tackles

Jack worthy got his rewards for his great defensive work with a his first of his hat trick

 3rd quarter

seen the first 7 come back on with Judes starting with the ball and the lads were asked to throw the ball about like we had done in training yesterday which worked really well with Luke Brussels getting his 2nd, Aston Bailey getting his 1st and Finley Whelan all scoring through good hands and then our defence slipped slightly letting folly lane get in for 2 try's but a fantastic 3rd quarter from the lads in attack and defence

4th quarter

Again the other 7 lads came back on and started off where they left off with great defence

Jack Worthington getting another try from picking up a loose ball from our passing and scoring in the corner

Then we saw Harrison Oakes score with a brilliant run

Then a great pass from Jack Elwick put Jack Worthington in for his hat trick

Massive achievement for us as coaches to see our u7s passing the ball about and working as a team at such a young age really proud of them all great team work guys

Man of the match Harrison Oakes

Top tackler Ellis Corfield

Most improved Ethan Ridyard

Try scorers

Jack Worthington (3)

Luke Brussels (2)

Harrison Oakes (2)

Jack Myers

Finley Whelan

Ellis Corfield

Aston Bailey 

(Pictured Below Under 7's)