The lads looked up for it from the start with great line speed setting the intensity. The first try of the game came from a planned set play that we’ve been working on all year. Riyaz Khan sent out the ball to Zaine Peers, switching it back inside to Will Cobley who went in under the sticks. Logan Welsh added the extras.

The lead was short lived as Heysham pulled one back but failed to kick the two. 6-4 to Jude’s.

With little between the two sides, the ball was sent out to Alfie Walsh who rounded the Atoms defence to go in at the corner. It finished 10-4 at the break.

There were some massive efforts from the Judes pack today. Kian Halliwell, Archie Unsworth and Jack Needham were relentless. Ethan Cozens and Jenson Gale were everywhere in defence.

The second half didn’t start great as Heysham went over, kicking the two to make the scores level at 10-10.

With the game in the balance, judes went down to 12 men for the rest of the game. It’d be a test of character to see if we could pull this one out of the bag.

The ball went out to the right edge. Cody Cunliffe kicked over the top and Will Cobley caught the ball to go in for the judes, scoring his second of the day. Logan Welsh added a belter from the sideline. 16-10 to judes.

The game was far from done. It took a lovely chip over the top from Riyaz Khan to separate the sides as Logan Welsh pounced to give the boys the victory.

There were many standouts today. We had several lads on 10+ tackles including Cobley, Gale, Unsworth and Cozens. Zaine Peers stood out and was a beast in defence, picking up top tackler for the second week running.

Welsh, Unsworth, and Kian Halliwell all starred, with Halliwell picking up the man of the match. Opposition man of the match went to Alfie Walsh.

I also want to pay credit to our bench today. Harry Melling and Elliot Gradwell made important contributions in defence and George Ford tackled his heart out when Halliwell was off for a breather.

Well done to everyone today. Great win

Tries: Cobley 2, welsh, Walsh
Kicks: welsh x 2

Sunday, 19 October 2025

12's - Maroons - Ashton Bears Home 42-4
Really proud of the boys today, it was our last game of the season and the team have been working hard this week aiming for a strong finish to a fantastic season.

Judes started the game off strong running in four unanswered trys in the first half and backed it up with some solid defensive efforts.

The second was very similar to the first with judes not stepping off the gas, throwing the ball around well and backing eachother up in defence. Ashton managed to get over in the last couple of minutes with their never give up attitude.

Man of the match Jacob Pickering
Top tackler Zach Meacham
Opposition man of the match Leighton Hock
Special recognition award Jake Hall

14's Waterhead Warriors Home 18 - 22

St Jude’s U14s closed out their season with a narrow 18–22 defeat at home to a big, physical Waterhead Warriors side.

The lads showed real determination and grit throughout, going into halftime 12–10 up after a strong first-half display. Despite having to do plenty of defending in the second half against a powerful opposition pack, the team battled right to the final whistle and can be proud of their effort and commitment.

Try scorers:
• Trent Baybutt – diving over from acting half to open the scoring
• Jacob Daven – finishing brilliantly in the corner for the second
• Jayden King – chasing down a clever kick from Billy Bridge, who spotted the full-back out of position

Conversions: Loui Skellon (3/3)

Awards:
• Man of the Match: Harry Wiswell
• Best Defence: Freddie Davies
• Outstanding Effort: Manny Sharrock
• Opposition Coaches’ Men of the Match: Tommy Shaw & Loui Skellon

A tough, hard-fought game to finish the season — the lads have shown real progress and teamwork throughout the year.

12's - Golds Halton Farnworth Hornets Reds Home 20 -0

We welcomed the Hornets down to the Meadow for our last game of the season. The conditions didn't allow for free flowing rugby but what followed was a classic!

We received the kick off and Ronnie took it well. We tried to move the ball early in the set but a slippy ball led to a knock on. From the scrum the Hornets tried to move the ball but a forward pass was given, leading to another scrum.

From the restart we strung a couple of runs together before a knock on and another scrum. The visitors saw a few tackles through and made some gains but ultimately knocked on, leading to another scrum (the story of the day!). Soon after we returned the favour from a play the ball.

We invited some pressure on to us with some penalties for high tackles but we defended resolutely. This included our right edge shifting an attacker into touch after a tackle.

Following the restart we made our way up the pitch with good runs from Ronnie and Mason, before we ended the set inches from the visitors line.

Our strong defence pinned them back in their 20 before Jacob recovered a kick. We advanced on their line before Ronnie put Jacob in, who was stopped by a high tackle. From our restart Mason crashed through to open the scoring. We didn't add the extras.

The restart from Mason went long resulted in a drop out for the visitors. We moved the ball well after Ronnie recovered the kick, leading to Sam popping Mason in to a gap for another try. Zaine added the extras.

The kick off caused problems once again and resulted in a knock on. From the scrum we moved the ball out from one side to the other. The set ended with some good play through hands from Harry D to Oliver and on to Ronnie to finish the move off.

The half finished off with us defending our line following a knock on but our right side forcesd the visitors out once again.

We started the second half with the kick off which was returned by the visitors. We continued to move the ball but gave away a knock on. The visitors returned the favour shortly after as the conditions took hold again.

We moved the ball up through a break from Leo before a short injury stoppage before both sides gave away a series of knock ons followed by scrums.

We defended for each other as Halton tried to get back in the game before Jacob picked up a loose pass to relieve the pressure on our line.

We continued to defend well and keep the visitors out. There was a break in play and afterwards we kept the pressure up forcing a knock on. Mason broke the line to get us away from our line. Zaine then moved the ball to Sam who but Fin through a gap and he didn't look back to score in the corner. Zaine added the extras.

We tried to pin the visitors in from the kick off before they kicked early. Oliver recovered well before a knock on from a later pass. We defended the attack well before the visitors turned the ball over. We saw the game out with a drive from Mason.

We wrap up the season with a superb home league record and a team full of players who've worked for each other all year.

Players of the match
Coaches
Ronnie for a great defensive display and some brilliant kick returns and carries

Oliver for some strong full back play, putting himself on the line for his team.

Opposition
Mason for an all round great performance with the ball and in defence.