UNDER 15'S LEAGUE TABLE CLICK HERE
Latchford Giants Under 15’s Match Reports Season
2008/2009
Latchford Giants U15's 22
Folly Lane - 18
14th September 2008
On a day that had perfect conditions for rugby league the Giants overcame their voodoo of having never won the first game of the season with a win over a tough Folly Lane team.
Latchford kept Folly deep in their half early on with Giants coming close twice; once when Jimmy Rowlands was unable to ground the ball and the other where a chance went begging as the ball was lost over the line after some good handling. The Giant’s pressure paid off as Taylor Wheat scored a try in the corner which Jimmy Rowlands converted. Giants continued to put Folly under pressure on their own line and Dom Jones’s powerful run proved too strong for Folly and he crashed over for a try which Jimmy Rowlands again converted. Folly finally managed to get a relieving penalty that got them out of their half and into a real attacking position, and back-to-back sets left Folly with an overlap on the Giants left which they capitalised from but failed to make the conversion. After this Folly got their tails up and began to mount an attack on the Giant’s line forcing a goal line drop out, but a smart move from Rowlands meant he was able to regather the ball and from this and Latchford went to the other end of the field with Luke Mellis finishing some slick handling in the corner. Rowlands was unable to convert so the scores at half time were Giants 16-4 Folly Lane.
A short while into the second half Dom Jones came up with a big hit jolting the ball free but Giants weren’t able to capitalise on the mistake and a loose pass was intercepted. Caught on the back foot, the Giants gave away several penalties which gave Folly the field position they needed. Some great goal line defence kept Folly at bay but by this time both teams had begun to tire and tempers to flare. The pressure finally paid off for Folly and some good footwork sent the Folly playmaker into a gaping hole for a try taking the scores to 16-10. A pin point cross field kick from Sean Boyle was well taken by Luke Gillooly and some good footwork and pace sent him in at the corner – Jimmy Rowlands converted. A controversial decision to allow a 20-metre tap whilst a Giants player was down injured resulted in Folly going the length of the field to score a try, but great chasing back only allowed the Folly player to score out wide which they were unable to convert.
A nervous end to the match saw Folly Lane getting repeat sets on the Giants line and they were able to barge through some weak defence to score a try – which they were again unable to convert – but the Giants managed to hold out until the end of the match. The 22-18 score line shows what a tough game this was, but the Giants managed to prevail to get their season off to a good start.
Giants man of the match was George Lofthouse with Dom Jones picking up the award for top tackler for his awesome work in defence. Giants try scorers were Taylor Wheat, Dom Jones, Luke Mellis and Luke Gillooly, with Jimmy Rowlands converting 3 from 4.
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Ince Rose Bridge 30 - 12 Latchford Giants U15's
21st September 2008
The Giants led till half-time with a loss of possession at half time giving the opportunity to Ince as the Giants struggled to break a string of bad luck decisions. The Giants never lacked the determination to drive towards the Ince line but with a string of lucky decisions in favour of the opposition the result was a forgone conclusion. James Rowlands and Dominic Jones led with inspiring determination from the front until the final whistle with no further points being gained by the Giants in the second half.
Try scorers: Dominic Jones, James Rowlands
Goal scorers: James Rowlands (2)
Man of match Dominic Jones, Top Tackler James Rowlands, Coaches Award Lloyd O’Brien
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12th October 2008
Folly Lane U15 - 4
Latchford Giants U15 - 24
Lancashire Cup Match
The Giants led all the way with Folly Lane struggling to penetrate the
Giants defences which only dipped in the last couple of minutes of the
match allowing Folly Lane to sneak one in at the death. Thomas Jones
opened the scoring for the Giants on his debut with his first touch of
the ball with James Rowlans bagging a hattrick and Luke Mellis making it
five tries for the Giants. The whole team put on a superb defensive
display which undoubtedly played the major part in their victory with
Steven Pilkington putting in 4 consequtive tackles in one particular set.
Try scorers: Thomas Jones, Luke Mellis, James Rowlands (3)
Goal scorers: James Rowlands (2)
Man of match James Rowlands, Top Tackler Stephen Pilkington, Coaches
Award Thomas Jones
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19th October 2008
Waterhead 20
Latchford Giants 10
The Giants spent most of the first half camped in Waterheads end but failed
to put points on the scoreboard conceeding the first points at the end of
the first half. With both teams tiring at the end of the second points
started to flow with the Giants able to take the opportunity to post two
good tries. The scoreline hides what was a particularly level and
interesting match to watch made all the better by an excellent referee. Joe
Delaney, James Rowlands, Dominic Jones, Andrew Gilbert and Luke Mellis had a
physically demanding match and stood up to the pressure well in what was a
good match all round.
Try scorers: James Rowlands, Luke Gilooley
Goal scorers: James Rowlands (1)
Man of match Joe Delaney, Top Tackler Andrew Gilbert, Coaches Award Luke
Gilooley
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2nd November 2008
Wigan St Patricks - 56
Latchford Giants - 0
Little to report here other than the fact that the lads never caved in a
played consistently throughout the match to little avail against the
cream of Wigan U15 youth.
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9th November 2008
East Leigh 22
Latchford Giants 10
The Giants struggled with the unusual properties of East Leighs synthetic pitch in the first half, things evened up in the second but the giants failed to recover with James Rowlands suffering a suspected broken ankle on the unforgiving pitch surface.
Try scorers: Steven Pilkington, Thomas Hill
Goal scorers: Sean Boyle (1)
Man of match Andrew Gilbert, Top Tackler Andrew Gilbert, Coaches Award Jordan Sherlock
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16th November 2008
Latchford Giants U15 - 12
Thatto Heath U15 - 10
It was back to business as usual as the giants played their first home match for a long time against Thatto Heath, scoring their first points early on the Giants held onto their lead throughout the match despite some tense periods on their own line. The Giants threw everything into their defence with Andrew Gilbert, Sam Brennan and Steven Pilkington completing almost sixty tackles between them, George Lofthouse, Tom Jones and Luke Mellis did sterling work driving the ball forwards into the Thatto line and solid teamwork was shown throughout.
Try scorers: James Rowlands (2), Thomas Jones
Goal scorers:
Man of match Thomas Jones, Top Tackler Andrew Gilbert, Coaches Award Sam Brennan
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