Higginshaw Eagles U12 - 36
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 0

The Giants' defence failed to cope with some direct and fast running from the enthusiastic Higginshaw Eagles. This was the Giants' first game under the change to rules at under-12s and was a steep learning curve. Higginshaw's defence and markers were up to the challenge presented, with Giants' support play occasionally lacking.

Appalling conditions in the first half resulted in numerous 'knock-ons' from each team with Higginshaw taking advantage from these being in the Giants' half to cross the line. The contrasting sunshine in the second half saw Higginshaw's speedsters run through some ordinary Giants defence.

Where sets were completed by Giants, possession was returned to them on occasion by some good kick-and-chase work forcing errors. Some clever use was made of scooting from dummy-half by Giants for territorial advantage. Giants' Steven Darbyshire and Joe Keenan took the ball up well and worked particularly hard in defence. Back to top

01/10/2006 v West Bank Bears (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 6
West Bank Bears U12 - '30'

Latchford Albion started this game well, completed their first set of six and scored on the last tackle through Joe Keenan, after some excellent work from Ryan Hickman. This was convereted by Joe Cholmondley. That unfortunately was the highlight of the game, as the Giants struggled to compete on an individual and collective basis against one of the best sides in the competition. The Giants struggled to keep up with the speed and accuracy of some of the passing of the West Bank side. The Giants' cause was not helped by poor decision-making to attempt to offload on the first and second tackle and subsequently handing over easy possession to the opposition in their own half. As the first half wore on, the Giants' team morale suffered and they were glad to hear the half time whistle.

The second half was marginally better, although the power and stepping ability of the away side were still too much for the Giants to match. Hardly any of the Giants' players deserve credit in what was probably the worst collective performance of the last 12 months. Jack Harvey did work hard for the team in the second half, although Lewis Appleton deserves the MOM, as twice he was inches away from scoring a deserved try for his individual efforts late in the game. Back to top

15/10/2006 v Oldham St Anne's (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 26
Oldham St Annes U12 - 24

What a difference a fortnight makes! The Giants produced what was their best performance in 12 months to win this closely fought game played in a good spirit against a well-equipped Oldham side. Despite losing two players through absence 20 minutes before even the kick off, the remaining players showed how attitude and endeavour win games. The main aim of the team before kick off was to complete continuous sets of six tackles, and they applied themselves superbly. As the game wore on, the confidence throughout the team was evident and some of the kicking by Joe Chomondley and Ryan Hickman was faultless. Jake Millington produced what was an outstanding debut performance and, at times, took the Oldham St Anne's defence on by himself.

The difference between the two sides though was the speed and evasive running of Lewis Appleton and particularly Steven Darbyshire. Both were constant thorns in the side of St Annes and scored 2 and 3 tries respectively. Every player on the Giants' team deserves praise for what was a superb, industrious 'team' performance against a very good Oldham St Anne's outfit. Towards the end of the game, the away side scored a couple of late tries, although fatigue was beginning to catch up on the Giants' players due to the amount of work put into the earlier part of the game. The Oldham coach did not have enough praise for the Giants' team and acknowledged the effort and attitude of the home side whilst selecting Steven Darbyshire as his player-of-the-match. The Giants' coaches though could not decide, as each player had been outstanding from start to finish, and settled upon a 'TEAM' award. Back to top

22/10/2006 v Wigan St Patrick's Warriors (away) Lancs Cup 2nd Rnd

match conceded Back to top

29/10/2006 v Culcheth Eagles (away)

Culcheth Eagles U12 - 26
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 16

Latchford Giants allowed the home team to score a couple of early tries in this game, which unfortunately proved to be the difference, against a spirited Culcheth side. Despite only having eight players, Culcheth leant a couple of theirs to the team to allow a more even game to be contested. The Giants, though, are fast becoming a "Jekyll and Hyde" team, with some fantastic attacking rugby league tainted with some extremely poor team defending. After going behind 14-0 against a somewhat direct Eagles style, the Giants then woke up and scored what can only be described as the best Giants' try of the season where almost every player had the ball in hand, before Ryan Hickman touched down close to the posts. Unfortunately, they could take the emphasis into the next set of six, as the referee blew for half time.

The second half started well, although the Eagles were first to score after the break, which left the Giants trying too hard to get back into the game and some soft knock-ons handed Culcheth easy possession, although the Giants' cause wasn't helped by some bewildering decisions throughout by the debutant referee. This said, the Giants left themselves too much to do because of their inability to make first tackles count and, despite scoring late on, it wasn?t enough and the Eagles were creditable winners.
Birthday boy Ryan Hickman was outstanding yet again and people are surprised when he does not have a good game. Lewis Appleton did not put a foot wrong and scored a superb try out wide, whilst he put his diminutive frame on the line on numerous occasions for the team. His overall contribution won him the man of the match award, although Ryan Hickman and captain for the day Jake Millington pushed him close.

Try scorers: Ryan Hickman, Lewis Appleton, Martin Forde
Conversions: Ryan Hickman, Joe Chomondley Back to top

05/11/2006 v Wigan St Patrick's Bulldogs (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 12
Wigan St Pats Bulldogs U12 - 18

In what was a very even game between two well-matched sides, the Giants can take a lot of heart from their performance, particularly in the second half. The game was unusually littered with handling errors despite the dry conditions, even so the Giants gave a spirited performance although they committed too many errors, particularly in the visitors' final 20, which proved crucial.

The Giants started the game extremely well and showed a lot of improvement in their defensive qualities as a unit and individually. The visitors though scored two tries midway through the first half and a third in the latter stages, although the Giants were still in contention throughout. Despite losing a try in the last seconds of the first half, the Giants never gave up hope and were rewarded early in the second half when Billy Grimshaw fed Steve Darbyshire who ran virtually the length of the pitch to score a deserved try, which he duly converted. Despite losing another try shortly afterwards, on the back of some extremely poor referring decisions, the Giants constantly pressurized the visiting defence, although they couldn?t find the final pass out wide and further handling errors let the visitors off the hook.

Martin Forde scored a deserved late try for his strong running, which Ryan Hickman converted, although they were running out of steam due to their overall efforts and the final whistle came just too soon. Whilst every member of the team gave 100%, the MOM went to the outstanding Jack Harvey who was a constant thorn in the Bulldogs' side, with some superb attacking runs from the dummy half position and also worked his socks off in defence. However, Jake Millington and Ryan Hickman didn't take a backward step throughout and deserve special mention. The whole Giants' team can be proud of all their efforts though, as they never gave the game up, till the last seconds. Back to top

12/11/2006 v Crosfields Cobras (away)

Crosfield Cobras U12 - 28
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 14

Latchford Albion gave another good team performance despite being four players down to the opposition's squad and being on the receiving end of some unnecessary over-aggression from the home team. Despite results going against the Giants over the last few weeks, the difference in team morale and confidence is there for all to see and all the parents have commented on the difference in the team's play week by week.
The overall team game and development has improved and what appears to be the main reason for losing games is the team running out of steam during the second half.
Latchford's first half display was outstanding in this game, epitomised by Joe Cholmondley who kicked off and then followed his kick to flatten their prop forward on receipt of the ball. Latchford opened the scoring through Steven Darbyshire, although he missed the conversion. This seemed to wake the home side up, and they scored two quick tries to lead 10-4. Lewis Appleton then went on a typical mazy run and then raced out wide to open the defence up and won a penalty, which led to the Giants' second try.
Jake Millington received the ball in a slightly central position and virtually carried three Crosfield players with him as he scored over the line near the left hand corner to make the scores 10-8, although Crosfields scored another try before half time to go in 14-8.

The second half started off tough and the home side continued to give the visitors some rough treatment in the tackle. The home side scored a couple of breakaway tries as the Giants' legs become weary although, but for a poor selection of play on the 5th tackle on the Cobras try line, the Giant's could have put more pressure on the home side. The Cobras scored again to put the game out of reach although the Giants' reslience again became evident and they scored a breakaway try through their speedster Steven Darbyshire, which Joe Cholmondley duly converted. The final whistle came and each and every Giants' player had given their all, and both Giants' coaches commended the team for their efforts in the 'difficult' circumstances. It was not easy to pick an outstanding individual from the team, although Steve Darbyshire, Jake Millington, Joe Cholmondley and Ryan Hickman led the field, whilst the coaches felt Ryan deserved it for his intelligent running and overall play.

Respect is the key word these days and the Latchford coaches know that their team adhered to the philosophy fully, which will stand them in good stead for the future. Not all teams in the town have received their pack through yet it seems but we can make it available upon request - ed. Back to top

19/11/2006 v Woolston Rovers (home)

Latch ford Albion Giants U12 - 20
Woolston Rovers U12 - 34

Latchford Giants today proved what a Jekyll and Hyde team they can be. The first half performance by this team was nothing short of outstanding, in both attack and defence.
They pressurized the Woolston defence into errors and had the visitors on the back foot for long periods throughout the first half. The Giants went two tries in front early on, but they failed to keep the visiting side out and paid the price as Woolston began to find their rhythm, and scored three quick tries in succession. Latchford came back with a couple more tries for speedster Steven Darbyshire. Player-of-the-match, Steven Darbyshire scored four first half tries during the first 20 minutes, converting one himself whilst Ryan Hickman converted one of his other efforts. Latchford failed to keep out the visitors just before the half time due to some poor organization and defending, and the teams went in all square at 20-20.

The second half was, for some reason, abysmal from start to finish, with poor decisions to offload the ball, dreadful defending and knock-ons at critical times. The visiting could sense the opportunity and seized it with both hands, scoring almost at will down the Giants' right hand side. A couple of poor refereeing decisions for both sides had both touchlines baffled, although the referee could not be blamed for the total lack of cohesion and adherence to the Giants usual game structure. A lack of discipline allowed 10 metres to be gained by Woolston and they capitalized yet again. With Woolston having the benefit of three substitutes, fatigue began to slow the home side's enthusiasm, although the biggest difference by far was the lack of ability to be able to tackle and defend. Some of the tackling was awful and allowed the visitors to steadily build on their lead throughout the 2nd half, and they finished 34-20 victors, although the home team coach would like to commend a couple of the Woolston players who were gracious in victory, sensing the effort put in by the home team, particularly in the first half. Steven Darbyshire ran his blood to water in attack and defence, and won the MOM by a country mile, although Ryan Hickman (The Giants' "Mr Consistent") and Jake Millington can hold their heads up high. Despite being bitterly disappointed today, it shows the development and strides taken by the Giants, that we are unhappy to accept a defeat like this, despite the Woolston team just dropping down from Division A, and who last season beat virtually the same Giants? team 52-0 and 46-22. The Giants are developing fast and once we have a couple of key players back in their familiar positions, then the squad will become stronger still. Back to top

03/12/2006 v Widnes Moorfield (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 8
Widnes Moorfield U12 - 12

The Giants went down by two conversions in this close and enjoyable encounter. Both teams showed early that they had speedsters that would exploit gaps but the very heavy conditions were always going to make the forwards key in this match. Latchford opened the scoring after a strong kick cleared their lines, robust defence secured a turn-over and good approach work took them to the opposition's 20m line. Good work through hands took the ball to Joe Cholmondley whose well weighted kick found Ste Darbyshire's welcoming embrace on the try line. The kick was narrowly missed from out wide.

Moorfield exploited a scrum from a Latchford mistake to use the possession to step through on the right hand side and make an easy conversion close to the posts. This gave a half-time score of 4-6, which reflected poorly on the territorial advantage the Giants had held.

A determined Latchford side ran the ball in hard on the return and was rewarded when Ryan Hickman skittled a number of would-be tacklers before barging over for a try to end a barn-storming run. The conversion was just wide.

Further robust tackling kept Moorfield at bay and Latchford looked likely to add to their score. However the Giants conceded a penalty to the visitors on the Latchford 20m, which they felt had resulted from the retaliation being spotted whereas the original offence was unseen by the referee. Perhaps Latchford were dwelling on that apparent injustice rather than focusing on the action, as a barge over try from that penalty gave an easy conversion to Moorfield.

The visitors held out some last-ditch attacks from Giants leaving the two conversions the difference between the teams.

This was a tremendous Giants performance by just 11 players who worked hard throughout against a team who could rotate 3 substitutes in the heavy conditions. Great credit goes to the efforts of each of them. Man of the Match was Joe Keenan, returning from an enforced lay-off to great effect. Coaches' Award could have gone to many but Ryan Hickman's non-stop action and try shaded the vote. Back to top

10/12/2006 v Westhoughton Lions (away)

Westhoughton Lions U12 - 34
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 6

They say a week is a long time in politics. For this Latchford team it is sufficient time to replace memories of an excellent team performance and a close loss with dignity by some embarrassing displays of poor behaviour.

On a very cold and wet Sunday morning, the Westhoughton Lions' grassland more closely resembled a hippopotamus habitat and the game plan focused on keeping the ball tight and ensuring continued aggressive defence. Latchford's initial foray into Westhoughton territory displayed good pressure, resulting in a repeat set of six from a scrum. Cholmondley's last tackle kick's bounce managed to raise its head above the mud for Darbyshire to be awarded the 'benefit of the doubt' grounding and open the scoring. Hickman's conversion attempt was marked as a score by the home team.

The Lions then took the ball to Latchford with some aggression and the Giants' defensive efforts were generally focused far too high on the body to stop momentum. Two quick scores, with one converted, set the Giants behind and their reaction was very disappointing. Team spirit largely evaporated and cohesion was lost, resulting in disjointed attacking and open gaps in defence.

The Lions smelled the easy kill and continued to make inroads into the Giants defence in the second half. As points against them mounted, the Latchford team generally preferred to point their fingers at alleged foul play, alleged poor refereeing and at each other, rather than address their individual shortcomings. Well before the final whistle, some players had made it clear that their sole priority was preparing to leave the field for shelter and leaving their team-mates to do their work.

Previous match reports have noted the 'Jekyll and Hyde' nature of this team. This match showed an aspect of character that cannot be repeated. Some players need to return with a change in attitude or simply to find another activity in which they will not compromise team-mates' efforts.

It is important that some endeavours shown are noted and Hickman's non-stop work and refusal to drop his head earned Latchford's Man of the Match award. There were other pieces of good work too. Each player must ensure that these become the general standard for which they work, rather than the rare highlights within an overall forgettable day Back to top

07/01/2007 v Westhoughton Lions (home) NWC Development Cup

Latch ford Giants U12 - 10
Westhoughton Lions U12 - 42

The hope that 2007 might be a fresh start for the Giants' team did not last long in what was a good tempered match played in heavy conditions. Westhoughton went over for an early try and benefited straight away from receiving the ball from the subsequent kick off.
This was pretty much the story for the first half, as the away team made the most of having 'ball in hand' whilst some tired and poor home team defending gave them the incentive, which they never looked like giving up in a poor first half performance from the Giants.

The Lions had built a significant lead by half time, although whilst the Giants struggled to find any rhythm, their second half performance was better than the first. The Giants received the ball and made good ground against some tired Westhoughton defence, although a handling error handed the Lions possession and a couple of poor tackles later, the away team were in under the posts again. The Giants never gave up though and there were a few good individual performances, although the Giants needs to start attacking and defending as a team, in they are to continue their good improvement and progression shown at the end of last season and the beginning of this campaign.

Some of the line defence especially was very poor, although the movement and tackling from the marker positions particularly from Danny Thorpe and Jack Harvey in the first half was excellent. Steven Darbyshire scored an superb individual try running from the dummy half position in his own half, to run three-quarters of the length of the pitch to score under the posts, to give some consolation, and he added to this with almost the last move of the match to score in the corner, although the conversion was missed.
Steven Darbyshire was player of the match, and captain Ryan Hickman and Jake Millington gave their all as usual, although Joe Keenan won the coaches award for an excellent display in his first match back after a long absence through illness. Back to top

28/01/2007 v Blackpool Scorpions (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 20
Blackpool Scorpions U12 - 10

Latchford produced a monumental defensive performance to take the spoils in this hard fought game against Blackpool Scorpions. Conditions for playing rugby were difficult as the wind threatened to affect ball handling throughout the game. The first half saw the Giants produce their best defensive performance to keep a tenacious visiting side to nil.
Lewis Appleton scored a try from close range, which Ryan Hickman converted, with Steven Darbyshire adding an excellent brace prior to half time, although Joe Cholmondley only converted one of the subsequent kicks.

Spirits were high and every Giants player should be proud in the fact that they would not let the visitors make any decent yardage from the ruck, as they produced some outstanding movement and tackling from the marker position. The visitors were not going to be denied though and after raising their physical approach in the second half, they eventually got across the try line, after some weak tackling allowed them to run through the centre of the Giants defence. Shortly afterwards, there was a skirmish after a Latchford play-the-ball, and a player from each side was dismissed due to punches being thrown, although probably due to mistaken identity, the instigator stayed on the pitch from the Scorpion side. Another try after some sterling work from Joe Keenan, gave the Giants more daylight between the scores, although the Scorpions never gave up and battled through for a well deserved 2nd try. Billy Grimshaw, Jake Millington, and Joe Keenan all had arguably their best games for Latchford, although it would be unfair to single out individual performances, as the team effort won this game, by their willingness to defend their line, and work as a team. Back to top

04/02/2007 v Eccles & Salford Juniors (away)

Eccles and Salford Juniors U12 - 6
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - '36'

Latchford Giants fully deserved their second consecutive win with a fantastic display of tough defence and attacking play. There was no doubt the home side were weakened due to late absences, although the Giants gave another superbly disciplined display and it proves how far they have progressed that they were disappointed in letting the opposition score!

The Giants began the game in confident mood and Lewis Appleton was first to cross the whitewash with some great running, after superb forward play from Jake Millington, Ryan Hickman and Joe Keenan. Lewis went in again for his second shortly after, with Joe Cholmondley putting him in the corner and having another good confident game for the Giants. Every player gave a good account of themselves and some of the defence shown was nothing short of ferocious as the visiting side refused to allow a try to be scored, even when the home side pressurised the Giant's try line. The Giant's forwards continued to punch holes in the Eccles defensive line, and they make countless yardage against what was becoming a very tired home side. Joe Keenan ran a try in virtually on his own, to increase the score, whilst a couple of conversion misses helped the Eccles' cause. The Giants kept the opposition to nil for the first half for the second consecutive game, which is a credit to each and every player on the team, and the effort they are now putting into every game.

Billy Grimshaw played his best ever game for the Giants, and played some sublime rugby, with his running and positioning, and particularly the pass which put Steven Darbyshire in for the first of his two tries. Lewis Appleton completed his hat trick, which was fair result for some excellent running again, ad Ryan Hickman scored a good individual effort. The Eccles team had come out in the second half to try and gain some respectability, and they never gave up, which showed good spirit, and they gained a late try for their efforts, although Danny Brennan wrapped the game up with his first try for the club in the last minute, after good work from Joe Cholmondley again. The Giants are growing in confidence, and whilst the opposition were under strength, the Giant?s were disciplined throughout and fully deserved this result for their hard work.

MOM: Billy Grimshaw
Coaches award: Lewis Appleton
Try scorers: Lewis Appleton (3), Steven Darbyshire (2), Joe Keenan, Ryan Hickman, Danny Brennan
Conversions: Joe Cholmondley (3), Ryan Hickman (2) Back to top

18/02/2007 v Crosfields Cobras (away) NWC Development Plate

Crosfield Cobras U12 - 20
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 16

Latchford were disappointed to lose this closely fought encounter with the Cobras, despite some patchy defending in the game. They went behind to some an early Crosfield's try out wide, but fought back to level through Martin Forde, after some clever running from dummy half. The Giants then went in front through another clever try from Martin Forde, running from dummy half again to score just inside the left hand corner.
The Cobras hit back with another try of their own, there was some doubt whether the ball had been knocked on, although the referee gave it immediately. The position of the kick though, meant another conversion was missed from out wide. Unfortunately, the Giants then had two Jake Millington tries disallowed, when both appeared over the line, whilst the referee indicated the attempts had been held up concuring with calls from across the park. The Cobras went to the other end of the pitch with a try under the posts after some poor tackling and they converted successfully. Joe Keenan scored a good strong individual try to almost level things up, although Joe Chomondley missed the difficult conversion.

The teams went in at half time 14-12 and it was clear the Giants were going to have to live up to their name to brave the physical onslaught demanded of the Cobras from their the coaching staff. The added aggression clearly designed to to try and ruffle the Giant players and knock them out of their stride worked to an extent, although again the Giants' players were honest throughout and took most of what the Cobras threw at them. Lewis Appleton scored another superb individual try after linking well down the left hand side, and the Giants were hopeful of a successful conversion to put daylight between the two teams, but a missed conversion gave the Cobras the incentive to try and come back at them yet again. They took their opportunity with another poorly conceded try after some woeful Latchford defence, and the position of the try gave the Cobras an easy conversion.
The Giants refused to give up and battled hard against the home side, and were making good yardage in their next set of tackles. With just four points in the game an unusual occurrence saw an univited 'guest' enter the field of play and demand the game end for health and safety reasons and, almost immediately, it did. The Giants did not deserve to lose the game, and the manner in which it ended, was unfair to say the least, but the self-belief of the team is there for all to see and the ever growing confidence with the ball gives the coaches some morsel of comfort from an almost unforgettable day.

Try scorers: Martin Forde (2), Joe Keenan, Lewis Appleton
Conversions: None Back to top

25/02/2007 v Wigan St Cuthbert's (home)

Latch ford Albion Giants U12 - 20
Wigan St Cuthberts U12 - 32

Latchford Giants can take a tremendous amount of credit for the way they battled their way back into this game, after a poor first half, particularly after losing 4 regular team players prior to the game. Against what was a very good attacking, visiting team, the Giants struggled to adapt to the speed and agility of the visitors. On what was a difficult pitch to play on, Wigan St Cuthberts still had too much speed for the home side, and added to some poor discipline from the Giants, they conceded four consecutive tries in the first half. Handling conditions were poor, and both sides were guilty of unforced knock-ons, due to the state of the ball and pitch itself, but the home side battled well to score a try through Lewis Appleton, the conversion was missed though which took them to the half time whistle, with the score at 4-20.

The second half was a completely different story from the Giants' perspective, and with more thought going into their running, and attacking angles, the Giants scored two consecutive tries through Ryan Hickman and Lewis Appleton, although the away team scored a couple of breakaway tries, which effectively killed the game. Not to be outdone, prop forward Jake Millington crashed through the visiting team?s defence and scored a late try, which was fair result for some lung bursting runs. Ryan Hickman completed the conversion and the end of the half was signaled, which had proved to be one of the most satisfying halves from the coach's point of view. Each and every player raised their game in the second half, and can be very proud of their second half performance, and it goes to prove that once they can focus on their game plan and specific aspects of an attacking formation, they can give any side problems. Jack Harvey did not allow an early knock-on to dampen his spirit and played one of his best games for the Giants, whilst two-try Lewis Appleton is showing his consistency, but the man of the match award goes to Jordan Kain who battled in the mud time and time again, whilst Tyler Keenan did the same and both displayed a lot of bravery taking the ball to the opposition, when needed.
Wigan St Cuthberts were worthy winners, but the Giants are becoming a stronger unit with every game they play. If they continue to work like they can in training, and continue to take the benefits into the Sunday game, then they will have made HUGE strides over the previous few months, which is testament to their individual battling qualities, and overall team spirit.

Try scorers: Lewis Appleton (2), Ryan Hickman, Jake Millington
Conversions : Ryan Hickman (2)
MOM: Jordan Kain
Coaches award: Tyler Keenan Back to top

04/03/2007 v Oldham St Anne's (away)

Oldham St Annes U13 - '30'
Latchford Albion Giants U13 - 0

Unfortunately, today the Latchford under 12 Giants learnt some harsh lessons about themselves but more importantly playing the game of rugby league, against a strong, aggressive and mobile home St Anne's team. Despite having to wait half an hour to kick off, and some awful playing conditions, the Giants were never really in this game as a team. They started the game brightly though, and a couple of penalties in their favour gave them the impetus to pressure the home side?s defence within their 20 metre line, although the Oldham defence stood firm, and possession was turned over to Oldham.
A breakaway try gave the home side a lift, and they never looked back. The Giants' normal game plan went to pieces as the Oldham side used speed and aggression to bash their way up the field at will, and some Latchford individuals were unwilling to give as good as they got, and the floodgates opened.

Some of the more vocal individuals from the Giants' side were exposed on the day, by the strong and uncompromising Oldham attack , and can evidently "Talk the talk" but failed miserably to "walk the walk"! The Giants' defence went to bits, with feeble attempts to work the defensive line, and gaps were for the taking, which was disappointing for the Latchford coaches. As the match went on, the conditions worsened and so did the performance of the Giants, although a couple of players stood up to the onslaught and can have no reason to be ashamed of their own performance. Joe Keenan was man of the match by an absolute mile, as he was prepared to take the home side on, by himself, in defence and attack. Ryan Hickman did everything he was asked to do as ever, although Jack Harvey, Danny Thorpe and Steven Darbyshire gave their all, in a day of little comfort. Despite losing heavily to Oldham, the most disappointing thing was the attitude of certain members of the team, who allowed some ?sledging? to affect their own games and let their team mates down. More importantly, the whole team learnt the lesson, that when things aren't going your way, the TEAM must pull together into a unit and grind the result out. The only comfort from today's game, apart from a superb individual performance from Joe Keenan, is that this game can now be used as a yardstick for the future in measuring individual and team reaction to pressure and the inability to respond positively. Back to top

11/03/2007 v Langworthy Reds (away)

Langworthy Reds U12 - 24
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 18

The under 12s Giants don't seem to learn the lesson from previous weeks, as they threw away a strong winning position to surrender to a weakened Langworthy side. The home side had limited players so the Giant?s lent them a couple of players, although this would ultimately be their downfall today! The tactic to switch Steven Darbyshire to full back paid almost immediate dividends, as the Giants struck early through the Latchford speedster. Ryan Hickman converted and the Giants were 6-0 up. Almost the same play created the same result and Steven scored a quick second try to establish a healthy 12-0 lead. The Reds hit back via some poor Giants discipline, and they scored near the corner to reduce the deficit to 8 points. Conversion missed. Steven Darbyshire was relishing the tactical switch and scored his hat-trick with another superb supporting run, stretching the home defence out wide, and squeezing through for another try under the sticks. The match was there for the taking, although the Giants allowed poor defence (again) and indiscipline to let the home side back into the game crucially just before the break. Langworthy broke through some awful defence on the right hand wing, and despite a good attempt by Steven Darbyshire to halt the attacker, the home side squeezed in the corner to make the score 18-8 at half time.

Despite a confident half time talk, there were rumblings of another petulant display from some members of the team, and the second half proved it to be. The Reds came out in an aggressive manner, and the Giants? didn?t respond positively for the second week running. An early try for the home side set a negative tone within the Giant?s ranks, and they withdrew from what should have been a good away victory, to show a poor attitude when things aren?t going the way of the team. In particular though, Joe Keenan, Danny Thorpe, Steven Darbyshire and Ryan Hickman showed excellent attitude especially in the first half, and cannot be blamed for the 2nd half capitulation. Martin Forde played for the opposition in the second half and to rub salt into the wound, scored what turned out to be the winning try for the home side. For the second week running, the Giants showed a poor team effort to battle a victory out, although there were some exceptions. Joe Keenan was truly outstanding again, in both defence and attack and did not deserve to be on the losing side, with Steven Darbyshire proving what a match winner he can be, whilst Danny Thorpe gave a near perfect performance in the hooker position, in Billy Grimshaw's absence. The Giants need to learn quickly that when things appear to be going against them, they need to fortify as a team and on occasions like these, grind the result out.
The first half performance though was exceptional and some solace can be taken from that fact, against what was still a good opposition side despite being under strength.

Try scorer: Steven Darbyshire (3)
Conversions: Ryan Hickman (2), Joe Chomondley (1)

MOM: Joe Keenan
Coaches award: Danny Thorpe Back to top

18/03/2007 v Culcheth Eagles (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 30
Culcheth Eagles U12 - 10

Latchford won a good game of rugby league football in extreme weather conditions against the Eagles. A howling wind and hailstones weren?t enough to dispirit the home side, and they took the spoils in an entertaining game, between two well-matched sides.
The visiting side was first to score after a knock-on from the kick off by Danny Thorpe, although he turned in another superb display at hooker to show his excellent attitude.
Latch ford duly replied with a try of their own through Steven Darbyshire with the conversion by Ryan Hickman. The Eagles replied with a second try through their speedy full back, who ran three-quarters the length of the pitch to score under the posts despite being pursued by Steven Darbyshire, and the try was duly converted. This prompted Latchford and they scored a well-deserved try through Ryan Hickman after a tremendous run. Joe Cholmondley converted the try.

The half time whistle went and the teams changed ends, which in hindsight gave the home side an advantage, as the weather turned for the worst, and the visitors had wind and hail in their faces at times, which to be fair did affect their game. This aside, the Giants came out all guns blazing and their defence was outstanding as they didn?t let the Eagles have a sniff of their try line throughout the second half. Joe Keenan led the team yet again, with a magnificent performance at prop, with great support from Cameron Davies, Ryan Hickman and Jake Millington. The weather conditions did not allow fluent distribution of the ball, although credit to both teams, they continued to try and move the ball out, despite the torrential conditions. The Giants pushed forward and Steven Darbyshire smashed through the Culcheth defensive line to race under the sticks, which Ryan Hickman converted. Joe Cholmondley then kicked to touch from the restart to set up another Latch ford ?set of six? and keep the visiting side on the back foot. They succeeded out wide in giving Steven Darbyshire his hat-trick when a superb run and weighted pass to Steve by Danny Thorpe, allowed the full back to race through under the sticks again. The game was ended late in the second half when a clever run from the dummy half position by Martin Forde, allowed him to punch his way through some tired Culcheth defence from 10 yards out to score a well-deserved try. The try was converted, and despite having another set of tackles late in the game, the Giants could not add to their score. The final whistle went, and the Giants fully deserved their celebrations, as they had kept the visiting side to nil in the second half. The score could have been worse for the Eagles, but for some poor offload decisions by Latchford, although any increase in the overall score would have been unfair to Culcheth, who battled bravely against the Giants and the elements in the second half. MOM was Steven Darbyshire for scoring a hat-trick for the second game running and coaches award went to Martin Forde, who is re-discovering his confidence with ball in hand, although it would be unfair not to mention all the Latch ford forwards who effectively won the game, namely Joe Keenan, Cameron Davies, Ryan Hickman and Jake Millington.

Try scorers: S. Darbyshire (3), Ryan Hickman, Martin Forde
Conversions: Ryan Hickman (2), Joe Cholmondley (3) Back to top

25/03/2007 v Wigan St Patrick's Bulldogs (away)

Wigan St Pats Bulldogs U12 - 30
Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 14

Latchford battled hard against St Pats Bulldogs, but could not be consistent in their overall game, to secure the win. There were some patches of superb attacking play and defensive work, although there were some poor lapses of concentration, which ultimately allowed the home side to gain momentum, particularly during the first half of this game.
Despite the home side having 2 consecutive sets of 6 on the Giant?s try line, the home side struggled to get through some resolute Latchford defence. Eventually the pressure told, and Danny Brennan was left hopelessly exposed on the right hand side of the field, as there wasn?t a lot he could do to prevent the home side scoring in the left hand corner, although there was clear argument for a forward pass. On the restart, the Giants allowed the subsequent kick off to go into touch, and this allowed the home team to score again within their first set of 6 tackles, this time the conversion was made, although there was another blatant forward pass in the build up. The Giants received the ball from the restart, and scored a superb team try, as the ball was moved across the park from dummy half via Billy Grimshaw, Joe Chomlondley to allow Steven Darbyshire to score near the corner, this after some sterling work by Jake Millington and Danny Thorpe. Ryan Hickman missed the conversion. The Giants? restarted the game, but a poor kick off gave the home side some easy yardage, and they scored again, although Billy Grimshaw received an unnecessary hand off in the face, but the referee did not penalize the player in question and the try stood. Half time came and the Giants were still in the game, although they needed the ball in hand, to pressurize the home defence.

The Giants scored the first try of the second half, when Steven Darbyshire raced down the right hand wing to score under the posts. Joe Cholmondley hit the post with the conversion attempt. The Bulldogs hit back with a try of their own, after some poor defence from the Giants and the game was beginning to slip away from them, although Lewis Appleton scored another superb individual try after sprinting down the left hand wing to score under the posts. Ryan Hickman kicked the conversion. The Giants though were to be denied and a late Bulldogs try sealed the win, and although the Giants? played some superb rugby in this game, they need to work on their basic attacking game plan at times and consistency in defence. Steven Darbyshire was an outstanding MOM again, as he took the Bulldogs on, in attack and defence and Peter Price had a very good game in defence, and once he settles into the half backs, will score a lot of tries for the team.
Billy Grimshaw didn?t start the game well by his admission, but showed a superb attitude to lead the team in the second half, and Lewis Appleton was a constant thorn in the Bulldogs? side, whilst displaying some first class tackling in the wing position.

Try scorers: S. Darbyshire (2), Lewis Appleton
Conversion: Ryan Hickman Back to top

01/04/2007 v Crosfield Cobras (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12s - 10
Crosfields Cobras U12s - 16

Latchford again came out second best from a close encounter with local rivals Crosfields Cobras on a hard pitch and a warm sunny Sunday morning. Both teams struggled on occasion to gain possession from bouncing kicks and defences pressurised handling throughout. This ensured an end-to-end game with an even share between the teams of time with the ball in hands.

Giants' movement of the ball away from the ruck continued to pay dividends with powerful running from Man of the Match Ryan Hickman who with Coaches' Award winner Jake Millington took the ball up well and hit hard in defence. It was the Giants who struck first, getting the ball out to speedster Steve Darbyshire who once again showed a defensive team the rear view of his high speed running style to score under the sticks and give Cholmondley a conversion chance he gladly took. Many opposition teams are becoming accustomed to Darbyshire?s prodigious pace but few can counter it once he has hit space.

An unconverted score from Crosfields following weak Latchford defence at a scrum made the scoreboard reflect accurately the equal involvement of the visitors in the game. With both packs cancelling out each others? powerful thrusts, it was left to Darbyshire to jink into the line and again outpace Crosfields? left flank. The difficult conversion from out wide was missed by Hickman. Strong running from Crosfields led to another try before half-time with that conversion missed.

With only an advantage of only two points, Giants knew defence was the key to winning the second half and securing the game victory. However Crosfields worked on their completion rate and earned a try out on the left from a kind bounce following a last tackle kick. That put the visitors in front and Latchford?s subsequent attacking plays failed to gain reward on the scoreboard. Twice the home side knocked on over the line whilst under heavy pressure, following territorial advantage gained from penalties for high tackles. However the Giants? completion rate suffered as players were tacked into touch, surrendering the ball to Crosfields? scrums.

Some excellent Latchford defence, once resulting in a Crosfields knock-on over the line, was followed by much less convincing attempts by the home team late in the game as the Cobras ran through to touch down in the right hand corner. With the kick again missed, that proved the last score of an entertaining encounter. As with the last two games between these teams, the result could have gone the other way. However the Giants know that, as with other close games they have lost this season, reversing the trend lies not in a change in fortune but is down to application and commitment to their defensive work. Back to top

15/04/2007 v Woolston Rovers (away)

Woolston Rovers U12s - 8
Latchford Albion Giants U12s - 34

This Giants side often seem to take some time to warm into a match, so the prospect of a relatively early kick off against local rivals Woolston gave the good travelling support little cause for optimism. However, strong sunshine and the aroma of grilling sausages from the open age tag festival inspired the Latchford outfit to their best team performance of the campaign.

After early even exchanges, missed tackles allowed Rovers to notch four points from an unconverted try. Giants? reply was swift; and Darbyshire?s pace hitting the line from full-back was far too swift for the Woolston cover defence. Cholmondley converted and before long Giants? dogged defence secured some further possession for the trick to be repeated as Darbyshire outpaced defenders wide before arcing under the posts with his try.

As the temperature rose, the pace of the game refused to relent and both teams pressed hard in attack and worked strongly in defence. Giants held Rovers back from their line twice as half-time approached, with Harvey, Brennan and Kane making big hits, before excellent approach work from Forde led to the gap opening for that man Darbyshire to again sprint behind the line and give Giants a 4-16 interval advantage.

Rovers pressed strongly early in the second half and an uncharacteristic handling error from Giants turned possession over to a Woolston scrum on the Giants' 20m line. More robust defence of their line seemed to have repelled the assault, but a clever kick into acres of space behind the Giants? cover led to an unconverted score for Rovers.

This seemed to inspire Giants to greater efforts. Hickman, Millington and Davies barnstormed robustly as ever whilst Keenan, always revelling in the attention he receives at his former club, strode strong yards forward. Price, taking on the acting half-back role for much of the second half, stepped through tackles, feeding Cholmondley whose well-timed pass sent Darbyshire in again in a great team move.

Sensing that this was to be their day, the Giants continued to press with attacks forged from strong defence. Great team work moved the ball swiftly through hands before Grimshaw's dummy and dart led to Cholmondley?s feed to Darbyshire's stroll in on the left for a great team try.

A similar play, with Rovers increasingly focused on how to stop Darbyshire?s pacy marauding, allowed the impressive Appleton to emphasise the options open to the Giants in attack as he too sped in on the left wing. The touchline support marvelled in the coincidence of the rare events of warm weather and a convincing Giants' victory.

In an excellent team performance, all players deserve great praise. However it would not be possible to deny nap-hand Darbyshire Man of the Match and Cholmondley received Coaches' Award for the quality of his distribution in attack. Back to top

22/04/2007 v Portico Vine (home)

Latchford Albion Giants U12 - 6
Portico Vine U12 - 18

Thirteen Giants stood up to be counted in this home fixture, with paceman Darbyshire otherwise engaged in London. With the opposition also without substitutes an even but tough encounter was in prospect. In very light rain, the Giants made the visitors work overtime in defence in the first 10 minutes as their determined running, good ball movement and tight discipline saw all the play in the Portico half of the pitch. Latchford's good play and some poor discipline from the visitors gave the Giants ample opportunities to test the Portico defence. When the try came however, it was to the away team. Completely against the run of play, a wild Portico pass to the floor in their own half was hacked on 3 times by their winger. The bounces on the hard pitch fell kindly for him, wickedly deceiving the Giants' cover despite brave efforts from Thorpe and Brennan. Slightly shell shocked, Giants regrouped although from this point the match became much more even. Giants' drives in to Portico territory were repelled but their completion rate was good. Brennan in particular can be considered unlucky when he leapt like a salmon to claim the ball from a Cholmondley kick but was unable to ground it over the try line. On the stroke of half time, tired defence on the left hand side allowed Portico to cross for a slightly flattering 0-8 half-time lead, with their conversion again missed.

The Giants' second half plans were soon thrown into disarray as the Latchford team tried too ambitiously to clear their line. When possession should have been respected a panic pass was thrown in their red zone directly in front of the Portico right centre. The referee decided that Price's brave effort to prevent the try involved a tackle on a player without the ball and brandished the yellow card. Twelve-man Giants had far too much work to do to turn the game around. Despite brave defence, including holding players up over the line and forcing errors, they could not sustain the required focus and workrate. A Portico scrum from a Giants? knockon became a penalty for dissent, leading to a barge over try to the visitors. As Price returned to the field, they crossed again on their left hand side, converting one kick for a 0-18 lead as the end of the match approached. With Price now able to take on the dummy half role in attack, freeing Grimshaw for a breather and to pop up in the line, Giants redoubled efforts in defence and forced errors from the visitors. When Davies was obstructed from the ball with an unorthodox wrestling move, the referee felt that the visitors' stand-off should sit out the final minutes. The Giants then earned a scrum on half way and the scampering Appleton forged through the Portico defensive line to score his try under the posts for Cholmondley to convert. From the restart, Brennan?s regain of possession from a Portico player and scamper down the line was adjudged to have begun from an offside position and the match ended.

With forwards J Keenan, Hickman, Davies, Forde and Millington running in hard and with strong efforts from the backs, including an increasingly confident performance from T Keenan, there was much for the Giants to take from this game. Some months ago, the visitors would have cut through the Giants and heads may have dropped from an early stage. The team is made of sterner stuff now and great credit must go to the players for an entertaining match and a 'never-say-die' spirit. Davies' defensive stint in the second half earned him the Coaches' Award with Appleton's try scoring crowning his Man of the Match performance, run close as usual by J Keenan Back to top

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