Ince Rose Bridge Lions U8's - 36
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 36

An amazing performance for the Latchford Under 8's first fixture, proving to be a well played game by two evenly matched sides. Both teams ran in 9 tries but the effort and endeavour meant that no one player could be singled out as a player-of-the-match. This was a team effort.

Try scorers for Latchford were:
Matthew Ryan - 3 Aaron O'Dea - 2 Connor Byron - 2 Jack Allen -1 Reece Brunt -1 Back to top

19/09/2004 v Saddleworth Rangers (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 36
Saddleworth Rangers U8's - 16

The Under 8's second ever outing proved to be a ferocious, hard-fought game, which the Albion won thanks to their uncompromising defence.

The defensive work proved a sound platform for the team to score nine tries. Matthew Ryan scored his second hat trick in two games, Cameron Jolley bagged a brace, while Lewis Fry, Aaron O'Dea, Connor Byron and Jack Allen each scored one apiece. Back to top

26/09/2004 v Portico Vine (away)

Portico Vine U8's - 49
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 40

Portico caught a half-strength Latchford off guard in the first half and capitalised. Latchford showed great bouncebackability and fought back to dominated the second half . All the players played well and, more importantly, enjoyed themselves.

Matthew Ryan notched four tries to take his season's tally to ten tries in three outings. Dominic Judson claimed two tries as did Lewis Fry. Cameron Jolly and Aaron O'Dea scored one each. Back to top

10/10/2004 v Orrell St James' (away)

Orrell St James U8's - 48
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 16

Despite it being just five days since the NWC sought to reinforce the safe play code for mod coaches, which mentions banning tackles above the armpit and dangerous use of the hand off, as detailed on this website, it seems that the word hasn't been received by all yet.

This game against an aggressive Orrell St. James' side should serve as a good character-building excercise for these youngsters. Unfortunately they weren't able to step up to the required mark today and must learn from this for future games.

Matthew Ryan scored his fourth consecutive hat trick while player-of-the-match, Cameron Jolly scored Latchford's other. Top Tackler was Reece Brunt and Peter Moorcroft won the coaches' award for his tireless display. Back to top

17/10/2004 v Pilkington Recs (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 4
Pilkington Recs U8's - 36

Latchford's youngest team performed well against a strong Pilkington Rec's team. Sadly, despite the efforts of players like top tackler Cameron Jolley, coaches' award winner Lewis Fry and player-of-the-match Reece Brunt, the scoreline did not reflect the effort put in by Latchford. The Unicorn try scorer was Connor Byron. Back to top

24/10/2004 v Folly Lane (away)

Folly Lane U8's - 28
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 28

This is a fitting score line reflecting the game played. Latchford played well against an evenly-matched Folly Lane side. The friendly nature of the game made it a joy to watch & play.

Aaron O?Dea capped a fine player-of-the-match performance with two tries. The coaches' award went to Cameron Jolly who also bagged a brace of tries. Top tackler Reece Brunt also scored a try as di Matthew Ryan and Lewis Fry. Back to top

31/10/2004 v Waterhead (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 44
Waterhead U8's - 32

The game was evenly balanced but Latchford just came out on top after some very positive work in both defence and attack.

In all excellent team performance it was extremely difficult to select a player of the match, but that award was handed out to Reece Brunt who scored two tries. The coaches' award went to Jack Allen who also scored two tries as did the top tackler, Matthew Ryan.

Cameron Jolly scored a hat trick, while Elliott Jolly registered his first ever try for Latchford. Connor Byron also crossed the whitewash. There was an outstanding debut from Harry Reardon who came very close to walking a way with a trophy on his first ever outing. Back to top

07/11/2004 v Folly Lane (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 20
Folly Lane U8's - 28

Latchford played a much improved game. Harry Reardon continued where he left off last week and finally secured the player-of-the-match award for himself. Cameron Jolly score four tries and Reece Brunt grabbed the other. Top tackler was Lewis Fry and the coaches' award went to Connor Byron.

With six subs Latchford were hamperd by the constant substitutions neccesary to give each player a game. However, this is no real criticism as it's good to see our youngest squad boasting growing numbers. It also bodes well for next year when this team has to break into two - an under 8's and an under 9's. Back to top

14/11/2004 v Langworthy Reds (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 32
Langworthy Reds U8's - 36

Both teams battled hard in this keenly fought contest. Latchford showed some superb tackling led by Cameron Jolly. There were also great attacking drives that led to a hat trick of tries from Reece Brunt, a couple from Aaron O'Dea and one each from Connor Byron, Elliott Jolly and Lewis Fry. Latchford's overall player-of-the-match was Matthew Ryan. Back to top

21/11/2004 v Ince Rose Bridge (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 8
Ince Rose Bridge U8's - 36

Latchford started the day by trotting out in style in their new kit, sponsored by Express Carpets.

Ince showed their competitive nature within minutes of stepping on the Latchford home pitch by widening the field to suit their expansive style of play. Some clubs are willing to be this rude despite protests and the fact that the pitch marked out conformed to the required 50 x 30 metres. Fortunately the hot dogs after the game conformed to their preference and weren't returned for bigger ones!

In the first half Latchford struggled to form a workable defence on the widened pitch and Ince ran in seven tries in ten minutes. Latchford fought back and were rewarded with a try by Cameron Jolly, but a second try by Matthew Ryan was disallowed by the Ince coach.

Latchford improved its defence in the second half and limited Ince to just two tries, managing one themselves from Connor Byron. Unfortunately, Latchford?s friendly style of rugby lost out to Ince's highly competitive style.

On the positive side, Latchford showed an improvement in their passing game and increased the number of successful offloads from their previous average. Such player development owes much to good coaching and responsive players regardless of pitch size.

Top of the tackle count was Matthew Ryan. Player of the Match was Reece Brunt and Aaron O?Dea won the Coaches Award. Back to top

28/11/2004 v Halton Farnworth Hornets (away)

Halton Farnworth Hornets U8's - 16
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 32

Latchford were made very welcome at Halton on a bitterly cold and muddy Sunday morning.

The Latchford youngsters started as they intended to carry on with a try in the opening minutes. The first half was evenly matched with Latchford running in three more tries and Halton three of their own to make the half time score 16-12 in favour of the visitors.

Latchford's defence woke up in the second half, as they normally do, and restricted their hosts to a single try. Latchford's strong driving earned them another four tries to make the final scoreline 32-16 to Latchford.

Cameron Jolley played like a 'Pro' as normal. He scored five tries as well as featuring very high on the tackle count. Cameron was voted Player-of-the-Match by the parents.

Matthew Ryan, who won the statistics-based Top Tackler played a good all round game, scoring two tries.

Alex Foster put in a great performance with some determined drives and great tackles and was awarded the Coaches' Award.

Aaron O?Dea put in some great drives and was rewarded with a try. Reece Brunt and Lewis Fry also featured high in the tackle count and put in some great drives.

Overall, today was a friendly and fun game of rugby enjoyed by both teams. A great way to start the winter break. Games due to resume on Sunday 6th February 2005. Back to top

06/02/2005 v Ince Rose Bridge (away)

Ince Rose Bridge U8's - 32
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 16

Latchford were made very welcome by Ince on this first game of 2005. Despite a lot of hard work by the Unicorn's they struggled to counter a well-drilled Ince side. The whole Latchford team put in a fantastic performance. Head coach Dave Appleby found it very difficult to single any one player out for the coach?s award but the Ince coach selected Latchford's Harry Reader for his great efforts. Matthew Ryan, who scored two tries was voted player-of-the-match by the Latchford parents. Reece Brunt put in a great all round performance, scoring a try and was awarded the top tackler award. Cameron Jolly played well and was rewarded with a try. Back to top

27/02/2005 v Wigan St Patrick's (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 28
Wigan St Patrick's U8's - 36

This was a very good team effort from Latchford. It was an entertaining game to watch with some excellent rugby played by both sides. James Waight put in a superb performance on his debut. Hat tricks were scored by player-of-the-match Reece Brunt and Cameron Jolley. Aaron O'Dea also scored a try. Harry Reardon was the top tackler and Alex Foster picked up the coaches' award Back to top

06/03/2005 v Shevington Sharks (away)

Shevington Sharks U8's - 40
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 28

Latchford Under 8's came up against a very big and strong Shevington side, but put in one of their strongest performances of the season. In a game which looked to be running away from them, Latchford showed great team sprit and determination in the second half and scored some excellent tries. Overall the game appeared to be quite equally balanced but Shevington just had the edge running in 3 more tries over the 40 minutes.

Man of the Match Dominic Judson was a constant treat throughout the entire game and was extremely unlucky not to be rewarded with a try. Latchford's try scorers were Reece Brunt with four, Harry Reardon, Aaron O?Dea and James Waight. The top tackler was Lewis Fry while Jack Allen picked up the Coaches' Award Back to top

13/03/2005 v Westhoughton Lions (Home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 28
Westhoughton Lions U8's - 28

In what was an excellent team performance, the team was unlucky not to come
away with the win. Player of the match Cameron Jolley scored five tries, two of them coming from excellent passes from Reece Brunt Dominic Judson scored a close range effort after some great foot work leaving the opposition stationary and wondering whatever next. Top Tackler Aaron O'Dea put in some big hits and also found time to off load the ball to send James Waight through a gap to score a long range try. James went on to recieve the coaches' award for his efforts. Lewis Fry, Harry Reardon and Peter Moorcroft all had good performances and were unlucky not to receive awards. Connor Johnson also put in a very positive performance on debut. Back to top

20/03/2005 v Halton Farnworth Hornets (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 28
Halton Farnworth Hornets U8's - 10

This was an xcellent game played fairly by two committed young teams. Latchford completed the double over Halton, their first such feat of the season. However, the Unicorns did not have matters all their own way and were pushed hard to the final whistle.
This was a hard defensive game played out by both teams. Lewis Fry put in some powerful runs and strong tackles to earn the man-of-the-match award.

Latchford found themselves 6 - 0 down at half time, but after the restart top tackler Cameron Jolly scored and converted to bring the scores level. Two well-worked tries from Halton left Latchford looking for something extra, this appeared to have come when Harry Reardon scored out wide only to see Halton score again. Reece Brunt scored and converted to bring the score 16 - 18, with 5 minutes left. The Unicorns dug deep and defended well before Cameron Jolly raced the full length of pitch to score Aaron O'Dea converted. Cameron Jolly then scored again to complete his hat trick, which Lewis Fry converted and secured a Latchford win.

The coaches' award went to Elliot Fry, who put himself about really well, did an excellent job at acting half back and was really unlucky not to score. Aaron O?Dea, Conner Byron, Conner Johnson also had good performances and were unlucky not to receive awards. Back to top

03/04/2005 v West Bank Bears (away)

West Bank Bears U8's - 24
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 24

In what was an exciting match, Latchford Albion matched a much bigger West Bank team in every area on the pitch. Latchford were the first to score through Cameron Jolley, but West Bank replied. Cameron went on to score all four of Latchford's tries. The game was end to end action, and the only fair result was a draw. This game was an excellent team effort, but special mentions go to Man of the Match, Reece Brunt, Connor Johnson for putting in some of his biggest tackles of the season and earning top tackler, Connor Byron for always taking the team forward with his running and Peter Moorcroft for putting in his best performance of the season and earning the players commitment award. Back to top

10/04/2005 v Leigh Miners Rangers (home)

Latchford Albion Unicorns U8 - 32
Leigh Miners Rangers U8 - 28

This was an excellent all round team effort that ensured a fantastic win for the U8's and proved to be their best performance this season so far. Player-of-the-match Cameron Jolley scored four tries and Reece Brunt two. Lewis Fry's committment was praiseworthy, Jack Allen was top tackler and the Coaches' Award went to Connor Byron. Back to top

17/04/2005 v Rylands Sharks (away)

Rylands Sharks U8's -36
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 12

In what was an exciting junior derby game, Latchford were not in the right frame of mind to match a young Rylands junior team who just wanted to win the game more. In the first half, the game was looking as if the result would be a fair draw, with Latchford scoring through Cameron Jolley, but as the second half kicked off Rylands came back out more determined to win than Latchford. In the end Rylands defence was too powerful, and a
Reece Brunt try at the end of the game was what Latchford deserved because they never stopped trying, even after the trys were scored. After the game only two awards were given out. The coaches' award went to Harry Reardon as he was only one of a few people who listened to the coach on the pitch and the sponsors award went to Cameron Jolley, as he never stopped working with his running and defence. Back to top

01/05/2005 v Westhoughton Lions (away)

Westhoughton Lions U8's - 20
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 36

Latchford Under 8s had a fanatic turn out of 15 players. Therefore, It was decided that due to the numbers of players in the first half, the under 8s would play and the second half would consist of a full team of those eligible as under 7s.

The first half was very even with the final score all square at 12 all. Cameron Jolly scored twice and the coaches' award winner, Lewis Fry, skillfully spotted a gap and darted from acting half to score the first of his two tries.

In the second half Latchford younger side was always in control, this was evident due to the quality of tries they scored and their defensive movement. Connor Johnson led by example and was rewarded with top tackler. Jack Allen was awarded the sponsor's trophy. Ben Roberts scored on his debut before player of the match, Harry Reardon, dummied everyone, stepped inside and then ran the length of the pitch to score. This made the second half 6 Latchford tries to Westhoughton's 2

Try scorers
Cameron Jolley 2, Lewis Fry 2, Reece Brunt, Aaron O? Dea, Harry Reardon, Ben Roberts
and Elliot Jolley Back to top

15/05/2005 v Blackbrook Royals (away)

Blackbrook Royals U8's - 40
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8's - 16

Pay no attention to the score, this was an excellent team performance against a very strong and organised Blackbrook squad. Latchford found themselves 2 down within as many minutes before Lewis Fry cheekily pulled one back after a darting run from the play the ball. Conner Byron off loaded to captain Jack Allen to bring the scores at half time 5 tries to 2. This margin could have been a lot higher but Latchford tackled extremely well with Aaron O?Dea leading by example and making some fantastic tackles. Second half saw Man of the Match Aaron O?Dea burst through a very tight Blackbrook defence to race 25 metre to score what was without doubt the try of the game. Conner Byron also impressed the sponsor and supporters by scoring from 20 metres out resulting in Conner taking the sponsor Award. Jack Allen finished the game as top tackler and Reece Brunt picked up the coaches award.

Team.
1. Jack Allen
2. Aaron O?Dea
3. Conner Johnson
4. James Waight
5. Peter Moorcroft
6. Conner Byron
7. Alex Foster
8. Joshua Goodrum
9. Reece Brunt
10. Lewis Fry Back to top

29/05/2005 - Ince Rose Bridge (home)

05/06/2005 - Oldham St Anne's (away)

Oldham St Anne's U8 - 12
Latchford Albion Unicorns U8 - 20

A great team effort from Latchford, which saw Connor Johnson score his first try for Latchford, with second phase football and great support play. He was chosen as player-of-the-match. Cameron Jolley grabbed a hat trick for the club while Connor Byron added the other try. Dominic Judson was the top tackler, while Peter Moorcroft was given the Sponsor's Award and Elliott Jolley the Coaches' Award. Back to top