The rugby matches against Kirkham GS were as tough and hard fought as is usually the case but it was wonderful to see all the teams playing once again after so many weeks off. Some of the teams from both sides had not played any competitive rugby since the end of November. Kirkham deservedly won all of the encounters but there was quality from both sides in all of the matches.

The Arnold School 1st XV had the difficult task of taking on one of the strongest 1st XVs in the North of England and, not surprisingly, this brought out the best from the visiting Blackpool boys. With the forecast wind and rain arriving just in time for kick-off, the quality of open, running rugby was certainly going to affect this local encounter. Facing a much heavier pack, Arnold were intent on closing down the opposition, forcing the error and building field position. As it was, the Arnold pack achieved their goal in the opening minute, forcing a penalty almost immediately from the kick-off. The subsequent kick was coolly slotted from 40 metres by Sam Crowther for a 3-0 lead. However, with Arnold unable to secure the re-start, they put themselves under immediate pressure, and provided the first sign that the Kirkham pack was going to be a dominant force in the game. Poor defence close to the breakdown, resulted in a soft try being conceded as the home team took the lead.

With the next phases of play strewn with errors by both teams as they tried to adapt to the conditions, Arnold made excellent use of an attacking scrum. Having attacked open the previous three set pieces, James Aird neatly fed scrum half Ben Blake down the short side, whose initial acceleration put him clear of the back row, as he raced 35metres for an extremely well taken try. As Crowther added the extras, Arnold regained the lead 10-7.

Despite a number of excellent clearance kicks by Crowther, well supported by the chasing Harry McNulty, who had a fine all round performance, and centre pairing of Ben Perkins and Tom Wright who tried hard to break the gain line, the pack were unable to prevent the Kirkham driving mauls from dictating play, and two further tries were conceded. Nonetheless, as the Arnold back row continued to scrap and contest possession in the loose, a second penalty by Crowther kept Arnold in contention with a 17-13 deficit at half-time.

The second half saw the condition of the pitch deteriorate considerably, and with both backline defences cancelling each other out, the outcome of the match was confirmed as Kirkham used their well organised driving maul to secure three further tries and a 32-16 victory. The much lighter Arnold pack worked tirelessly both in the set piece and in the loose and great credit must be given to the resolute performances of Buckley, Mortimer and Cleaver-Ross in the front row, whilst Aird, Armfield, Smith, Jepson and Garrod contributed greatly to the effort of the team.

At scrum-half, Ben Blake gave a man of the match performance, not least for his individual try, but his all-round covering and defensive play. Whilst the defeat was frustrating, the manner in which the team worked and contested against far bigger opposition in extremely testing conditions was most commendable and should give great confidence for the remaining fixtures of the season.

The 2nd XV Spartans saw their winning run brought to an end in difficult conditions at Kirkham. Despite some enterprising play from Andrew Walkden and Harry Kenworthy, the home side ran out winners by 44-0.

The U15 match at Arnold had the added twist of also being a Lancashire Cup tie. The weather was poor but the pitches were excellent under foot and both sides, despite numerous errors, contributed to a good encounter. Arnold played with the wind at their backs and the kicking of Richard Whiteside and Mitchell Bolus kept Kirkham camped in their own 22 for much of the first 10 minutes of play. Early drives by Declan Humphries, Matthew Radley and Charlie McLaine were all prevented by some excellent Kirkham defence right on their try line. Arnold continued to press and press but the try just did not materialise and two penalty attempts from wide out sailed past the posts. As is often the case, the side under pressure then broke out and Kirkham made one foray into the Arnold 22 and some intelligent close play saw their no.8 drive over for a well taken try and a 5-0 lead. Arnold fought back immediately but Kirkham were resolute in defence once again.

The second half was just as tight as the first half and, with the elements in their favour, Kirkham now enjoyed the better territory. They scored two tries in the last 10 minutes from kicks being poor fielded and this completed the scoring and a 15-0 victory.

The U14s lost another bruising encounter at Kirkham by 19-0. Tom Forster, Tyne Davis, Matthew Garrod, Alex Vowles-Bradley, Elliott Fackey and Sean Jagger all had very good matches. The U13s and U12s both lost out to far bigger opponents. Ellis Whorlton-Jones and Tom Riley both notched tries as they went down by 41-10 in the U13 match and a Kyle Preece penalty was the only Arnold score in the U12s' loss by 54-3. Josh Radley, Max Walker and Callum Preece all worked tirelessly throughout.