KIRKHAM  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL RUGBY RESULTS – 3 DECEMBER 2011
v WOODHOUSE GROVE

U15A XV
Won 24-14

Despite the wind, cold and rain, Kirkham started the game with a mission.  Some determined runs from Wilfred Rhodes, Connor Wilkinson and Daniel Radford.  Connor Scott and Daniel Broughton both took advantage of the domination of the forwards and scored.  Tries were converted by Josh Powell.  Kirkham leading 24-7 at half time.  In the second half, Wood house Grove came back strong, scoring a try ten minutes into the half.  Strong tackling from Ellis Clarke, Scott Collins and Alex Whalley prevent Woodhouse Grove making progress.  Kirkham had plenty of possession but unfortunately were unable to convert pressure into points.

U15B XV
Lost 47-0

The U15B team struggled against a very large pack and were always on the back foot. To their credit they never gave in and were well led by Jamie Baldwin, Jack and Harry Welch but were not able to convert their effort into tries.

U14A XV
Lost 24-7

In what must have been the worst weather conditions all season, with temperatures around zero, and driving rain, coming down sideways..! The U14’s battled hard against a tough and determined opposition pack. This wasn’t a bad performance at all; the boys tried their absolute best in very difficult conditions. At times it what was difficult to distinguish the ball from the thick mud.

Woodhouse Grove played 10 man rugby keeping the ball within the forwards, which to their credit they did very well. Woodhouse opened the scoring with a driving maul from a set piece. Kirkham equalised soon after when Todd Roper ran over to score a good try, after innovative play by George Carter and James Seward. The Kirkham forwards worked hard to win possession, Charlie Abbott, Ollie Kitchen, and Nick Coleman had excellent performances. The first half with a driving wind in the team’s faces was certainly a test, and the team did well to come off at half time, only 14-5 down. Unfortunately on the stroke of half time, we lost the stand-off Roper through injury, which was a loss.

The second half with the driving wind at our backs, Kirkham started well, with Seward at 10, and Edwards and Thomas working hard to get over the gain line, but despite a lot of early possession, we couldn’t score, and the longer the game went on the more mistakes were made by both sides. Woodhouse scored a third try late in the game which they did deserve, through a very well drilled pack. Kirkham tried relentlessly to get the ball out to the wings and allow Burt and Crankshaw the opportunity to run at their defence, but this proved almost impossible with the cold wind and rain.
On the final whistle the Kirkham team were grateful to get out of the artic conditions.
Man of the match; (Dual award) Charlie Abbott, and George Carter.

U14B XV
Lost 26-20

The U14B team narrowly lost in an end to end game, on a wild blustery day in Yorkshire.  Playing against a strong gale in the first half Kirkham competed evenly with both teams scoring two tries each leaving the score 14–10 to the home side at half time.  With everything to play for in the second half, the teams battled it out for supremacy.  Kirkham were caught napping when the opposition took a penalty quickly and scored under the posts.  A few missed tackles then let the opponents score again, leaving the Kirkham boys too much to do.  Josh Keelan returning from injury scored 4 tries and was the outstanding player for Kirkham.  Edward Tong had his best game yet for the B team, almost scoring a try in the closing minutes but unfortunately knocking on at the crucial moment.  With a little more urgency and killer instinct, this was a match that should have

U13A XV
Lost 45-14

Kirkham were extremely unlucky in that the score did not at all reflect the true picture of the game which was essentially a game of two halves with a howling wind blowing straight down the pitch. Grove had the wind advantage initially but still found Kirkham hard to break down as the visitors enjoyed a lot of possession. The forwards, in particular Harry Balmer and Jack Culver made huge inroads In the Grove defence as the pack found dominance. However Grove kicked well and when they managed to pen Kirkham into their own 22, scored on every occasion. A 0-17 deficit at half time did seem harsh, full back Alex Mayhall dealing heroically with several high balls, but Kirkham knew they could get back into the game with the wind advantage.

The start of the second period could not have been worse as sloppy tackling saw the Grove winger dance through to score under the posts. This seemed to galvanise Kirkham as Henry Pearson, in his unaccustomed role as fly half, began to make breaks with Chris Walker in close attendance and it was the former who made two incisive breaks from 40 metres to score two fine individual scores. At this point Kirkham knew they had a chance and rose to the occasion smelling an unlikely win. Kirkham were dealt a big blow with 10 minutes remaining as Captain Jack Culver had to go off after a nasty bang on the head and this really seemed to affect the visitors. Grove, again after poor defence, scored three more tries against the wind to put the game to bed. A wholehearted effort from Kirkham who despite good possession were let down by some poor concentration and at times defence.

U13B XV
Lost 40-14

Despite the heavy rain of recent weeks the pitches at Woodhouse Grove were in fantastic condition. The conditions though were not conducive to running rugby with showery interludes and high winds running straight down the pitch. The boys were for long parts starved of possession with Toby Gilmore and Anthony Hudson defending manfully. In fact Kirkham stayed in the game for the first 15 minutes with strong running from Akinyinka George-Taylor, he showed his speed and strength with some long runs and some crunching tackles.

Sadly for a period in the middle of the game Kirkham's defence became ragged, the boys lacked some luck at times with the bounce of the ball but poor defence contributed to our downfall. After a promising display at Manchester Grammar this was the only disappointing game of the season so far. I hope the boys will rediscover their composure in time for the next fixture. We must remember that our performance starts in our pre match preparations.