Saturday saw the U12s gain a hard fought and well-deserved victory over a competitive Liverpool College side. A dominant forward performance was the platform for victory and the front row in particular (Adam Lusher, Michael Storton and Jack Worsley) can be very proud of the pressure that they exerted on their opponent's scrum giving the visitors a ready source of possession. This, allied with Matthew Clayton's dominance in the lineout, and the backrow of Alexander Douglas, Ben Smyth and Joshua Moreau turning over their opponents possession repeatedly; meant that the Arnold forwards took complete control and gave their backs the opportunity to demonstrate their skills.

A well worked individual, opportunistic blind-side try by captain Ryan Evans gave the Blackpool side an early lead and with the game being played almost entirely in the home side's half it looked like it was only going to be a matter of time until the floodgates opened.

However, enormous credit must go to the disciplined and industrious Liverpool defence who tackled bravely to keep their visitors at bay. However, Arnold were complicit in their own failure to score by repeatedly trying to overcomplicate what is in essence a pretty simple game. Whilst the boys can take great heart and encouragement from their excellent victory, they must heed the warning about trying to play too fast and loose and simply giving away possession.

As such, the visitors were grateful when, following a penalty in their opponents' 22, James Cowburn stepped up to calmly slot home the three points and make the score 8-0. A half-time debrief sent Arnold out with clear instructions to maintain their possession, and following some sensible play by Oscar Gavin, quick ruck ball by the forwards created some space for Charles Shaw. Always willing to have a go, Charles seized the opportunity to exploit his pace. Having side-stepped two men, he outpaced a third and then had the stamina to elude his pursuers as he ran in the game's second try from his own half. In fact Charles was unfortunate not to add more to his tally as he repeatedly threatened throughout the game and only some forthright defence stopped him. With Cowburn adding the extras, Arnold were now comfortably ahead and it was good to see Isaac Eastham and Jack Clayton having excellent second half performances. However, the home side were not without menace and only a try saving tackle from Robert Pickersgill and sterling defence, from Jack Worsley among others, kept the score to nil.

The game finished with Arnold camped under their opponents' posts and it speaks volumes about the resilience and determination of their opponents that whilst they were under the cosh for almost the entire second half they kept the game competitive throughout. Arnold won 15-0.

On a fine pitch, a confident Spartan team took to the field to register yet another victory. The Spartan pack gained the upper hand in the early tight exchanges and gained easy field position. Harry Kenworthy took a quick tap and he put Tom Hammond into space and Hammond made the 30 yard run-in look effortless. Harry made the tricky wide conversion even more effortless for an early lead.

Once the Spartan pack got the taste for some fine driving play it gave Alexander Fowler the freedom of the pitch as he and his runners made progress. Harry Kenworthy accepted the space on offer to secure another good 7 points. This gave the Spartans some confidence to play a bit more rugby. Declan Humphreys turned over a dangerous opposition attack and Sam Neill initiated a couple of no nonsense drives. The ball was moved wide and Sam Walton went over in the corner.

The second half continued in a similar fashion. Krishanth Vijayakumar caught the eye on debut with a number of bustling drives and Harry Kenworthy darted in for another 7 points. The best move and try of the game was saved til last. Quick ball was moved wide, Ned Whittle cut back inside and drew all of the remaining defenders before he expertly switched play to Tom Hammond in full flight for another Spartan score to complete a 29-0 win.

The U14s won yet another match in what is developing into a successful season with a 38-17 victory at home. Ellis Whorlton-Jones scored a hat-trick and Sam Royle bagged a brace of tries. Tom Riley was the other scorer as Arnold led 38-0 at half time. After a number of substitutions at half-time it was good for the entire squad to be given a chance and Liverpool deserve credit for fighting back so well in the second half with three tries.

After losing to Liverpool College by 10-8 in the Lancashire Cup just before half-term, the Arnold boys were expecting another close match and that is just what they got. It was clear from the early exchanges that the teams were very even once again but it was Arnold who struck first after an intelligent chip and chase from Alex Vowles-Bradley had Liverpool in all sorts of trouble and Tom Forster chased hard to score the opening try which Tyne Davis converted. It looked like Arnold would extend their lead but an attack down the right just 30 metres from the Liverpool line was halted and the ball stolen. A clever cross-field kick saw the Liverpool winger gather the ball and he galloped the remaining 40m to score under the posts for 7-7 at half-time.

Arnold started the second half brightly and after some good driving play by the forwards, the ball was passed right and fullback, Andrew Perry, darted over. Elliot Fackey this time added the extras and Arnold led 14-7 with 10 minutes remaining. Once again Liverpool fought back and once again it was another cross-field kick that undid Arnold and with Liverpool able to score under the posts the match was 14-14 with just 5 minutes remaining. It looked like Liverpool would snatch the win as a poor kick saw the impressive left winger make 30 yards but the crucial scoring pass out wide was not made and he was tackled and the match ended in a draw. Captain, Will Nickson, led by example in the forwards and Jordan Makepeace worked very hard in the loose with Oscar Howarth but it was Andrew Perry who caught the eye, yet again, with some mazy runs and two brilliant try saving tackles.

The U13s lost 42-0 but Ashley Wealthall had a fine match in his new role of scrum-half and the 1st XV lost 32-14. Luke Smith and Sam Crowther were the try scorers for the 1st XV, with both tries coming in the second half from set piece, 5m scrum moves. The 1st XV had trailed 17-0 at half-time but they recovered well in the second half for parity in much of the play but the excellent first half by Liverpool had left the Arnold boys with too much to do. Tom Jepson had a very good match in the backrow.