SponsorBank Lancashire Cup

1. Halton Farnworth Hornets Under 10's for their fantastic ball-boys who's alertness kept the game flowing by always being ready with a fresh ball.
   
   
2. The RFL's Danny Parkinson and his team of volunteers who worked tirelessly to get everyone in the right place at the right time and helped us almost sell all of our programmes on the day (we had about 10 left!!).
   
   
3. Halton Borough Council & the Staff of the Stobart Stadium for facilitating such a superb venue for the player's to display their skills (and for keeping them all fed).
   
   
4. The RFL's Niel Wood & Carol Savage who helped arrange the sponsorshp and superbly coordinated/arranged all the administrative details and tickets etc.
   
   
5. All 3 sets of the the North West Counties league's official's who pulled together in unison to ensure the smooth running of the day and, in particular, a mention to Jackie's husband Duncan Clowes who, having worked all night, then spent the entire day tirelessly helping out rather than going home to get some well deserved sleep!!
   
   
6. To our photographers and video cameraman. Geoff Owen, for his eagerly awaited DVDs, if they are a patch on those we had last season for the NW Counties 13-15's Cup Finals then the players and parents are in for a treat. To Steve Jones of KT8 photography (www.kt8photography.co.uk) who took some phenomenal action photos on behalf of the 13-15's and which are available for all to see in the gallery on his website and to Steve Bostock who similarly took the photo's for release to the media.
   
   
7. Finally, to the Players, Coaches, Officials, Mums & Dads, Grandmas, Grandads, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts, Uncles and anyone else who made their way down to cheer and support and who made the day feel so special for all those involved.
   
   

Bold Miners 38 vs Ince Rose Bridge 6

Bold Miners under 13’s were worthy winners in the SponsorBank Lancashire Cup final against Ince Rose Bridge at Widnes’ Hobart Stadium on Sunday.

The Miners were quickest out of the traps and raced into a 12-0 lead after just five minutes thanks to converted tries from captain Kurt Riley and full back David Hewitt.

Their lead was increased on thirteen minutes as Riley and Hewitt combined once again with the captain sending his full back through a gap in the defence with a superb wide ball.

Ince thought they had bought themselves a lifeline as the first half drew to a close, when stand off Nathan Seddon smartly intercepted a loose Bold pass to set up a period of sustained pressure. A clever kick penetrated the Bold defensive line but the ball wasn’t grounded, so the try wasn’t given.

The Miners wasted no time in re-asserting their authority on the match, moments after the disallowed try, a burst of pace from Hewitt sent him through the Ince line once again to complete a first half hat-trick.

Just before the break Bold added to their first half tally with Hewitt involved once again. His clever offload sent Matthew Duggan over the line to make the score 26-0 at the break.

Both teams enthusiasm was plain to see at the start of the second half as the players took it upon themselves to begin the second half with the referee still in his dressing room.

Order was quickly restored and Bold started the second half where they had left off. Kurt Riley scored his second try of the match as the ball was switched from left to right and an overlap developed.

Ince refused to give up however and their persistence was rewarded with a try of their own. A long kick on the last tackle was chased down by centre Robbie Valentine and he got to be ball in front of the full back to score a well deserved try under the posts.

As fatigue set in Bold scored the final try of the match to seal the victory. Hewitt and Riley were involved again as an inside ball sent Riley over to complete his hat-trick and earn himself the man of the match award.

The match was more closely contested than the score line suggests, Ince should be proud of their never say die attitude but they just came up against a better side on the day.

Under 15's Winners - Portico Vine

Portico 12 – Wigan St. Pats 10

Portico managed to hang on to their first half lead to see of Wigan St. Pats and win the Lancashire Cup under 15’s final.

Defences were on top in the early stages; both teams were putting in big hits and driving each other back towards their own line.

However, St. Pats managed to break the deadlock with a converted try by Chris Doran. Shortly after, Portico’s stand off Jack Jones looked to have picked up a serious injury and had to be replaced.

Portico struck back however, scoring two tries of their own before half time through Chris Webster and Tom Rigby, both were converted making the score 12-6 to Portico at half time.

The second half was as closely contested as the first, with both teams cancelling each other out.

The Wigan side got themselves within one score of taking the lead after a well worked try as Billy Atherton worked the ball wide for Chris Doran to score in the corner and set up a tense finale.

St. Pats through everything they had at Portico in the closing minutes but Portico were able to hang on and take the cup.

Portico’s imperious second row forward, Hayden Jones was awarded man of the match for his tough tackling and strong running.

Once again a huge thanks to everyone involved !!!

mick doyle wrote:Who deleted my original post on this thread and why ?