Open Age 'A' Match Reports 2004-05
11/09/2004 v Parkside Golborne 'A' (home)
25/09/2004 v Newton Storm (away)
02/10/2004 v Bank Quay Bulls 'A' (home)
09/10/2004 v Langworthy 'A' (away)
23/10/2004 v Adlington Rangers 'A' (away)
06/11/2004 v Widnes St Maries' (away)
13/11/2004 v Rylands 'A' (away)
20/11/2004 v Orrell St James' 'A' (home)
27/11/2004 v Golborne Parkside 'A' (away)
04/12/2004 v Halton Simms Cross 'A' (away)
11/12/2004 v Newton Storm 'A' (home)
08/01/2005 v Langworthy 'A' (home)
12/02/2005 v Folly Lane 'A' (home)
19/02/2005 v Rylands 'A' (home)
11/09/2004 v Parkside Golborne 'A' (home)
Latchford Albion 'A' - 22Parkside Golborne 'A' - 20
Latchford's first game of the season at Widnes St Marie's had to be called off resulting in them conceeding the match by the obligatory 36-0 scoreline. While all eyes may have been focussed on Haydock and the first team who were taking on the premiership outfit in the Lans Cup, the second string had a job to do at Victoria Park.
Parkside Golborne came into this game having lost their first game 18 - 20 against Halton Simms Cross 'A'.
All credit goes to Latchfords young guns - Ryan Barnes, Adam Williams and Ben Fawcett for their fantastic debut performances.
Latchford were for most of the first half under great pressure after being 0-8 down ten minutes into the game. Things got tough up the middle with props Ady Haughton and Mal Mason taking Latchford forward with welcomed help from the rest of the pack. This led to young gun Adam Williams stepping two Parkside players to score a great debut try. Tony Humphries was a tower of strength up the middle with Glyn Taylor topping the tackle count. After some great work down the right channel prop forward Mal Mason burst through to touch down in the corner off a great ball from Glyn Taylor 8-10.
The next twenty saw Parkside score two good tries putting Latchford further behind. Latchford turned the game around with Jason Best running riot at stand off and tries from Paul Lake, Phil Perkins and Tony Humphries to seal the game. Jason Best converted a difficult touchline kick to beat Parkside 22-20.
Best for Latchford were:
Forwards: Mal Mason, Tony Humphries and Glyn Taylor
Backs: Ryan Barnes, Adam Williams and Ben Fawcett
Team:
Ben Fawcett
Adam Williams
Paul Lake
Nigel Dearden
Lynden Taylor
Jason Best
Ryan Barnes
Ady Haughton
Glyn Taylor
Mal Mason
Dave Potter
Tony Humphries
Gary McKean
Gordon Whittaker
Russ Shaw
Phil Perkins
Neil Scott Back to top
25/09/2004 v Newton Storm (away)
Newton Storm - 12Latchford Albion 'A' - 12
This game took a while to take off and it was the home side who settled into their stride first setting up a half time lead of 8-0.
As the game resumed Newton added to their score with a penalty. Oviously deciding that 10 points was a sufficient lead for the Newton side Latchford set about qelling the storm. Great breaks by Nige Dearden, Derek Smith and Dave Potter led to Mark Lord scoring under the posts. Gaz Claffey converted.
Mark Lord then took charge of the game, directing his forwards around the pitch and scored his second try, which brought the scores level.
Newton scored a penalty and, with the minutes ticking away Mal Mason allowed the ball to be stripped with two men tackling him. Gaz Claffey stepped up to level the scores 12-12 and that's how it ended.
Best for Latchford were Nige Dearden, Derek Smith, Dave Potter, Glynn Taylor in the forwards, Mark Lord and Gaz Claffey in the backs.
Team:
Ben Fawcett, Lyndon Taylor, Gordon Whittaker, Neil Scott, Adam Wiiliams, Mark Lord, Gaz Claffey, Derek Smith, Glynn Taylor, Russ Shaw, Nige Dearden, Dave Potter, Mal Mason, Matt Flower and Mick Bardill Back to top
02/10/2004 v Bank Quay Bulls 'A' (home)
Latchford Albion 'A' - 26Bank Quay Bulls 'A' - 20
Latchford started this derby game very well, with the pack dominating the mid field. In the first set of six a long ball from Mark Lord put Lindon Taylor in the corner 6-0.
The next set saw Marcus Gorton go the full length of the field from a ball from Derek Smith after he burst threw the Bank Quay defence near Latchford's posts 12-0.
Bank Quay had a good spell when Latchford fell asleep in defence gave away two penalities for offside. The visitors chipped over to score a good try 12-6.
After the half time break Bank Quay dominated procedings and scored two more tries to take the lead 12-18. Latchford then conceeded a penality under their own posts and it was 12-20.
Latchford's forwards went on the rampage after this and Mark Lord scored under the posts 18-20. On the day Lyndon Taylor converted 3 out of the 5 attempts.
The next 20 minutes belonged to latchford as they pushed the Bulls back and Glyn Taylor forced his way over from acting half back to make it 22-20. In the next set, and first tackle of the six, Marcus Gorton burst through to go full length again and stretch the Albion lead to 26-20, which is how the scores remained at the final whistle.
Best for Latchford in the forwards were Tony Humphries, Derek Smith, Nige Deardon and Glyn Taylor, while in the backs it was Paul Lake and Mark Lord. Back to top
09/10/2004 v Langworthy 'A' (away)
Langworthy 'A' -0Latchford Albion 'A' - 52
Latchford scored the first points through a Gaz Claffey penalty goal, after which they never looked back.
Mark Lord scored the first try, then Paul Lake went in under the sticks after great work by Lord and Smith. The impressive Dave Appleby scored a hat trick after only his second game back with Latchford after a 3 year break. Tries then followed by Lyndon Taylor, Glynn Taylor, Neil Scott, Ben Fawcett and Jason Best. Gaz Claffey was 100% with his kicking, which rounded off a superb team performance.
Best in the backs: Ryan Barnes, Ben Fawcett, Paul Lake
Best in the forwards: Derek Smith, Andy Wood, Jason Best, Dave Appleby
Team:
Ben Fawcett, Ray Chan, Paul Lake, Neil Scott, Lyndon Taylor, Mark Lord, Ryan Barnes, Derek Smith, Andy Wood, Dave Appleby, Gaz Claffey, Jason Best, Russ Shaw, Malc Mason, Ady Haughton, Glynn Taylor Back to top
23/10/2004 v Adlington Rangers 'A' (away)
Latchford Albion 'A' - 8Adlington Rangers 'A' - 28
Accrington failed to fulfil the fixture at Latchford and so the Albion gained a technical 18-0 victory on 16/10/2004.
Next up was a scheduled away tie at Adlington Rangers but the venue was switched to Victoria Park. Sadly, home advantage did not benefit the Albion who were outclassed in this Sixth Division clash that ended in Latchford's first defeat of the season.
In the first half Adlington scored four converted tries and knocked over two penalties. Even so Latchford never gave up hope and just kept going. The forwards worked very hard led in the main by Derek Smith, Glyn Taylor and Mal Mason. This endeavour led to Dave Appleby scoring a great try.
Man-of-the-match Nigel Deardon was a tower of strength with his power down the centre along with Jason Best and Adam Williams in the half back and wing roles respectively.
The break saw Latchford down by 28-6 but , after the resumption, it was all Latchford and it was the Albion who gained a moral victory running out winners of the second stanza 2-0. Shame the game couldn't have been decided on just the last 40 minutes with the first half being scrubbed!
Clearly the score does not reflect such a game of two halves and the efforts of the second half give hope that Latchford will show the necessary bouncebackability to resume their winning ways and challenge for the top spot . The weeks to come throw up some very interesting derby clashes, which Latchford will relish.
Pick of Latchford's forwards were Nigel Deardon,Glyn Taylor, Derek Smith and Dave Appleby and in the backs it was Jason Best and Adam Williams Back to top
06/11/2004 v Widnes St Maries' (away)
Widnes St Maries' 'A' - 58Latchford Albion 'A' - 1
Latchford's 'A' team found themselves struggling with lack of players because of first team injuries, second team players had to fill in the gaps. This was obviously through no fault of their own and is doubly upsetting when you consider both teams' performances this weekend.
Latchford were 40 points behind at the half time interval, due mainly to some errors and the adverse weather conditions. St Maries did not have to be asked twice to capitalise. Indeed, Latchford's only point scored was a Mal Mason drop goal five minutes from time, which at least spared them the ignominy of being nilled.
It is felt that Latchford's second string will show their bouncebackability in the comming weeks with players returning from injury. What more incentive do they need than to have the opportunity of hammering Rylands on their ground!!!
Best for Latchford in the forwards were Glyn Taylor, Nige Dearden, Lyndon Taylor, Garry Claffy, Mal Mason and Derek Smith. In the backs the two that stood out were Jason Best and Ray "Jackie" Chan. Back to top
13/11/2004 v Rylands 'A' (away)
Rylands 'A' - 8Latchford Albion 'A' - 20
Latchford started this local derby all guns blazing, dominating from the start with the pack toughing it out down the middle. It was the Albion's solid defence that allowed Ray Chan to add the first 4 points, with Lyndon Taylor converting. After only 25 minutes Latchford scored another try from Derek Smith who was immense throughout. Another 10 minutes of great preasure was rewarded when Derek Smith went under the posts, again Lyndon Taylor converted to make the half time score 0-16 to the visitors.
Just after the break Rylands put a forward trough a gap in Latchford's defence to score their first try. After great driving from the two props Smith and Mal Mason, Latchford got to the Ryland's line and stand-off Mark Lord put Lyndon Taylor in for an easy touch down. Rylands scored another try on 67 minutes but the rest of the game was a formality. The final score was 8-20 in Latchford's favour
Best for Latchford among the forwards were Derek Smith, Mal Mason, Glyn Taylor, Dave Appleby and Jason Best. The pick of the backs were Ray Chan and Paul Lake. Back to top
20/11/2004 v Orrell St James' 'A' (home)
Latchford Albion 'A' - 22Orrell St James 'A' - 32
Latchford started poorly and their bad start was punished with a deficit of ten points. Fortunately they found their feet and scored in the form of prop forward Mal Mason. St James responded with another try before Geoff Bishop went over in the corner to pull the home side back into contention. Bishop's try came after some great driving from Mason, Jason Best and Lyndon Taylor.
The game was proving to be a very tough contest down the middle and some big hits were dished out. Three more chances went to ground that otherwise looked like certain tries. Orrell seemed to hold onto the ball just that much better. Regardless, the next set saw Mason score his second for Latchford after forcing his way through the Orrell defence. The visting side replied with another two tries in their next two sets of six.
Ten minutes from time Mal Mason chipped over the Orrell defence, drawing the fullback and sending Ben Forcett sixty yards to score. The next set was like a play back as Mason chipped over again, but this time the back up was in the form of Adam Williams who showed the Orrell defence a clean pair of heels.
Sadly, a great team performance was just not good enough, the score didn't reflect the game Latchford were by far the better team but just couldn't finish. Back to top
27/11/2004 v Golborne Parkside 'A' (away)
Game cancelled Back to top04/12/2004 v Halton Simms Cross 'A' (away)
Halton Simms Cross A - 12Latcford Albion A - 32
Latchford have a habit of starting games very slowly and this one was no exception. By the break they were 26-0 down.
After the break they stepped up a gear or two and the pack worked hard in the form of Glyn Taylor, Lyndon Taylor, Mal Mason and Dave Appleby. All this effort was rewarded a try by Dave Appleby. Latchford slipped up just one more time to let Simms Cross in before some great driving from Adi Haughton led to Glyn Taylor putting prop forward Mal Mason in at the corner. Mason then finished off the day's scoring by putting over his second sideline conversion. Back to top
08/01/2005 v Langworthy 'A' (home)
Latchford Albion 'A' - 26Langworthy 'A' - 16
This game was played in very windy conditions which meant the forwards had to work harder than usual. Langworthy scored first but Latchford turned up the heat and Mick Green burst through the defence to race 30 yrds to score, which Mal Mason converted.
The pack pushed forward and breaks from Mick Green, and Adi Houghton allowed Dave Appleby to race towards the line only to be stopped by the fullback. He off-loaded a great inside ball for prop forward Mal Mason to score and then add the extras himself.
After the break Langworthy took two points from a penalty before Latchford took charge again and good hard running from Lyndon Taylor, Mick Green, Dave Appleby and a great ball from Gaz McKeen saw Mal Mason take his second touch down, which he also converted.
The next set saw the pack work very hard upfield and, on the last tackle, Paul Lake scooted from half back to add to the points.
The poor weather conditions added to the problems and the ball went back and forth with errors before sub Gavin Bishop gave a dummy and scored.
The last twenty minutes saw Latchford fall asleep allowing Langworthy to score two tries, one of which was converted to make the final score of 26-16 a bit more respectable for them.
Best for Latchford in the forwards were man-of-the-match Dave Appleby, Adi Houghton and Ray Chan. Mick Green was also impressive while in the backs it was Gary McKeen and Tony Burn. Back to top
12/02/2005 v Folly Lane 'A' (home)
Latchford Albion 'A' - 12Folly Lane 'A' - 8
Latchford started this game with the intentions of winning from the start, with a great team performance throughout in very dificult conditions. Lyndon Taylor, Andy Wood, Mark Daniels and Adi Houghton led the pack well. The pressure they exerted allowed Ben Eley to score in the corner from a great ball from Paul Lake 4-0. It took Folly Lane three sets of six to finaly score after Latchford gave away a couple of penalties 4-4 at half time.
After the break it was just a mud bath with both teams finding it hard to find footing. Possession moved back and forth until Folly scored a well deserved try 4-8. A Latchford penalty allowed Mal Mason to slot over the first of two goals in the next ten minutes 8-8. This made the game more interesting. Gary Mackeen scooted from acting half and put Mal Mason in the corner 3 mins from time to take the victory.
Best for Latchford in the forwards were Andy Wood, Adi Houghton, Gaz Mackeen, Lyndon Taylor and Ste Corey. In the backs it was Ben Eley and Paul Lake
Team: -
1. Ben Eley
2. Dean Holt, 3. Andrew Groake, 4. Jeff Bishop, 5. Ben Fawcett
6. Mal Mason, 7. Paul Lake
8. Andrew Wood, 9. Garry Mackeen, 10. Mark Daniels
11. Lyndon Taylor, 12. Ste Corey
13 Adi Houghton
14. Mark Lord Back to top
19/02/2005 v Rylands 'A' (home)
Latchford Albion 'A' - 32Rylands 'A' - 32
This Division Six derby clash was a thriller from start to finish with some great rugby from both sides and the play running end-to-end throughout. In front of a big crowd both sides didn't let them down a nail-biting game finishing in a draw at 32-32. Man-of-the-match Andy Wood bagging four of the six tries scored for Latchford. Gavin Bishop and Ste Corey also added tries. Best for latchford were in the forwards Andy Wood and Lyndon Taylor. In the backs it was Gavin Bishop, Paul Lake and Ste Corey.
Next up is West Bank Swan in the first round of the North West Counties Bowl Back to top