Saddleworth Under 16s Play Out Draw
With a match report on Saddleworth Rangers Under 16s’ thrilling draw with Orrell St James over the weekend, here’s Alan Bolton:
Saddleworth Rangers U16s (picture: Alan Bolton)
“Saddleworth Rangers Under 16s knew they had a tough game on their hands from the current league leaders, Orrell St James. The Rangers lads hadn’t played much rugby because of frozen pitches and more recently waterlogged pitches, so it was with relief that after switching the game to Shaw, the game was allowed to continue.
“Saddleworth made their customary shaky start, knocking on from the kick off and gifting the ball to Orrell. Despite a clear knock on from Orrell, they were allowed to continue their move and caught the Rangers defence waiting for the whistle and scored in the corner.
“The referee continually penalised Rangers for numerous offences resulting in Orrell dominating possession. When Rangers finally did get the ball in the Orrell half they showed what they are capable of with a great move out to the wing, going through several pairs of hands before Lewis Galbraith sprinted through to score, the conversion hit the post, making the score 4-4.
“Another harsh penalty awarded against Rangers again gifted possession to Orrell which they duly capitalised on, scoring in the corner, again unconverted. Rangers were immediately on the attack and started to build some good pressure, Chris Bolton just failing to score in the corner. It was Scott Booth who eventually scored after some more good ball handing to draw the scores level at 8-8.
“The later stages of the game were tough with both defences working hard to keep their opponents out, five minutes from the end of the game, Jay Claridge suffered a suspected broken arm, the game stopped whilst the ambulance arrived, fortunately for Jay it looks like a soft tissue injury or bruising. The game finished with Orrell looking for a drop goal, but the Rangers line speed made this difficult, making the final score 8-8.
“It was a great defensive performance from the lads, but we did have to defend too much, with a penalty count in double figures against us and only two awarded against Orrell, it was always going to be difficult.
“Best Defence went again to Ashley Webb, Coaches’ Award went to Dom O’Connor who made a great impact when he came off the bench and Man of the Match went to Lewis Galbraith who gave one of his most disciplined performances of the season.”
Many thanks to Alan for that report. And if you’d like to spread the word about your local club, society or event, please get in touch by clicking Contact at the top of the page.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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