Report by Doug Thorpe

 

NEW BRIGHTON 22 – 10 ALTRINCHAM KERSAL

 

BLUES CONTINUE WITH A WINNING STREAK

 

Team list: 1. Mark Dorrington, 2. Phil Buckley, 3. John Brotherton, 4. Paul Lewis, 5. Ryan Stead, 6. Ikuna Manuofetoa, 7. Ryan McKibbin, 8. Katilimoni Tuipoluto, 9. Alan Hesketh, 10. Stephen Dean, 11.Greg Hughes. 12. Marcus Coast, 13. Joel Parker, 14. Andy Signal, 15. Gareth Jones.

Subs: 18. Lewis Mullen, 17. Paul Roberts, 16. Gaz Simpson.

 

The Blues extended their winning run to five games with a convincing performance against the top of the table Altrincham Kersal at Hartsfield on Saturday.  Although, Kati was declared the Man of the Match the honour could have gone to any one of a number of players as this was a superb team effort underpinned by a great forwards play.  The back row of Kati, Ikuna and Ryan McKibbin were ubiquitous in both attack and defence, Paul Lewis and Ryan Stead out powered their opposites in both the set pieces and the loose and the rock solid trio of Mark Dorrington, Phil Buckley and John Brotherton up front provided the essential stability as well as making their own contribution in open play.

 

Finding  touch in the Alrincham Kersal 22 directly from the kick off, the Blues set up the position for Ryan McKibbin to force his way through for a try on 2 minutes and for Stephen Dean to claim the extras with a difficult cross wind conversion. New Brighton continued to dominate possession and territory but Altrincham equalled the scores against the run of play on 10 minutes with a fine solo 70 metre break by right wing John Singleton who, finding a gap in the home backs, outpaced the defence to cross the line and give the easiest of conversion kicks to James Nettleton.  Score on 10 mins 7 – 7

New Brighton were playing well, they were putting together continuous phases but the statistically meanest defence in the league was standing firm, assisted by the odd unnecessary transgression by the Blues and the referees whistle. Although the powerful Marcus Coast and Joel Parker set pulses racing they were not able to add to the scores.  An exchange of penalty goals had the sides equal at 10 points to 10 approaching half time and the prospect of facing the second half with Altrincham enjoying the advantage of the wind was becoming a real possibility.  John Brotherton settled the nerves on the turn as the over stretched defence did crumple under the pressure and Steve Dean again stepped up with the conversion to restore the lead.

 

Half Time Score: New Brighton 17 – 10 Altrincham Kersal

 

New Brighton continued to dictate play in the second half with the lively Altrincham backs always a threat but unable to break out though putting up a determined defence.  They only broke in the face of a sustained build up in which the Blues ran through the phases, the forwards driving agressively and half backs Alan Hesketh and Steve Dean varying the point of attack and for Guna (Ikuna Manuofetoa) to be on hand for the scoring pass on the 54^th minute.

 

With the home side in a commanding position at 22 points to 10, Altrincham Kersal attempted a number of long range penalties to reduce the deficit to no avail and as the clock ran down a consolation though controversial try, credited to full back Sean Rogers, was awarded to the visitors.

 

Final Score: New Brighton 22 – 15 Altrincham Kersal

 

Next week is a blank week and the following week, 14^th February, is again a Home fixture against Liverpool St Helens. If you have not seen a game for some time then be assured that the rugby at Hartsfield is well worth the visit. 

 

Report by Paul Lewis

 

BLACKBURN 8 NEW BRIGHTON 10

 

 

The Blues started brightly and even without Marcus Coast and John Brotherton (both unavailable due to work commitments) seemed to be too strong for bottom side Blackburn. However they were never able to put together the free flowing game of recent weeks and in the end were fortunate to take the points here.

 

New Brighton were unable to cope with the referee’s interpretation of the laws and were disrupted by a succession of penalties against them which prevented early scoring but why the attacking side would wish to kill the ball a metre from the line was puzzling to say the least.

 

Both sides were resolute in defence and it quickly became apparent that this was not going to be a high scoring game.

 

Blackburn were awarded another penalty in the 15th minute and skipper Paul Bleasdale missed a difficult long range chance against the gale force wind. 

 

Both sides tried to mount attacks that came to nothing thanks to determined tackling .The deadlock was finally broken in the 32^nd minute when an old fashioned catch and drive from the line-out saw the Blues pack surge forward allowing Kati to touch down close to the posts.  Steve Dean converted and slotted home a penalty shortly before the interval to make it 10 – 0.

 

With the wind at their backs the home side raised their game in the second half and played well beyond what their league position might suggest, indeed they were probably the stronger team of the half.

 

Bleasdale  struck home a penalty in the 56^th minute and 5 minutes later jinked in from a quickly taken penalty to make it 8 -10 surprisingly he missed the relatively easy conversion.

 

The Blues remained under the cosh and whenever they managed to get into the home side’s half another penalty was conceded.

 

The Blues struggled at the breakdown thanks to some unusual angles of approach from the home side which seemed at odds with this year’s directives, a query from skipper Kati resulted in yet another penalty.

 

The writing was on the wall for the Blues and at this stage earlier in the season we might have expected the worst but not now. The Blues raised their game and the back row, particularly Ryan McKibbin took the game to the opposition with some powerful running . The home side never really looked like scoring again until the closing minutes when the Blues were perhaps fortunate not to concede yet another penalty in a kicking position but on this occasion the referee’s whistle remained silent allowing Alan Hesketh (MoM) to kick downfield.  It was then the home side’s turn to concede a penalty and Steve Dean kicked for touch to end the game.

 

All credit to Blackburn who don’t deserve to be propping up the table, they impressed in the forwards especially at the lineout were they made up for the lack of height with some clever shuffles to retain their share of possession.

 

Not quite the champagne rugby of previous weeks but another win which now takes us to 4^th place in the league and the prospect of a cracking game against league leaders Altrincham Kersal next week.

 

 

This was the rearranged league game from 10th January

 

NEW BRIGHTON 48 BROUGHTON PARK 7

 

When these teams met earlier in the season the Blues produced a mixed and patchy performance throwing away a 20 point lead. Periods of expansive cavalier play interspersed with woeful lapses in concentration and direction summed up a stuttering start to the season. Saturday was something else. This was a seamless and extremely impressive showing.

 

Following on from the victory at Leigh the Blues gave their best performance of the season against capable opposition who to their credit never gave up. In fact the visitors were probably stronger than when the teams last met but they came up against a side which showed determination and concentration for 80 minutes.

 

The basis was once again a rock solid and balanced front five which dominated the tight play. This freed the back row from the coalface to mount attacks from all over the pitch. The backs with room to move showed their class and with noticeably added confidence ran in some excellent tries.

 

New Brighton led 24 nil at the interval thanks to tries from outside centre Steve Ashcroft, and wing Greg Hughes, both touching down from fine passing movements across the backs. Kati powered over to make it 15, and lock Ryan Stead exploded from the 22 metre line just before the interval, Steve Dean converting both of the latter.

 

The opening of the second half saw a concerted effort from the visitors and only some resolute defending kept them at bay .There was to be no repeat of the earlier game, the Blues worked their way up field for Steve Dean to jink through and score, a successful conversion made it 31 with no reply and the Blues were looking rampant. There followed a purple passage of play with some excellent examples of total rugby, prop forwards sending out accurate 20 metre passes and centres clearing out at the rucks.  Andy Signal had his best game of the season scoring two well worked tries at electrifying speed to make it 43 before Broughton Park wing, Dave Kenney got the visitors on the score sheet hacking on to a loose ball and scooping up well to touch down close to the posts. It was always going to be the Blues day however and Steve Dean finished off the scoring with another try and conversion.

 

The Blues continue to rise through the league and are now just 6 points off a promotion spot with 9 games to play, they may have staggered into this season but they are up and running now.

 

Next week the blues travel to Blackburn hoping to keep an unchanged side .

Good Start to the New Year

An absolutely cracking try by Ryan Stead converted by Steve Dean was the highlight of the match and put the Blues into a comfortable halftime lead of 24 points to nil. An attacking build up started in the Blues half and moving right appeared to be running out of steam as Andrew Signal ran into heavy defensive traffic. But a copy book offload to Marcus Coast put the powerful centre away down the touchline. A well placed crosskick found Ryan McKibbon in centre field who slipped the ball in the tackle to the big lock who cruised over. There were memories, however, of a substantial Blues lead at halftime at Broughton Park earlier in the season which was turned around by a never say die home side from a 20 point deficit into a 40 point to 27 win in an unbelievable second half performance.

Not so on this occasion. That was then and now is now. Up until the end of November the Blues record had little to enthuse about. In the ten league games they had won only two and had a negative points difference of 41. Two wins in December would seem to have inspired a much needed self confidence which came bursting through on Saturday and there was to be no let up for the beleaguered Broughton Park in this game. Some commenting in the clubhouse felt that a poor Broughton Park made New Brighton look good. They were wrong – on the day the Blues were good, they played well, they were confident and they enjoyed the day.  With even more work under coach Steve Dorrington and dedication on the training ground they can only hone their skills and get even better.

A brisk start from the kick off rocked Broughton Park and they found themselves trailing by 5 points after only three minutes when Steve Ashcroft found himself at the end of a sustained attack and made no mistake with the finish. The Blues continued to dominate play but Park put up a determined defence to frustrate a number of scoring opportunities including stopping the mighty Kati, although the iconic No8 was not to be totally denied as he rounded off a series of forward pick up and drives to get his score on the half hour.  In the meantime, quick hands had created an overlap on the left wing for Greg Hughes to squeeze in at the corner. Steve Dean converted one out of the three tries to make the score after 30 minutes 17 points to nil and then is added the rousing effort which lead to Ryan Stead’s try at the end of the half.

HALFTIME SCORE:   NEW BRIGHTON 24 – 0 BROUGHTON PARK

New Brighton continued to maintain their grip. The New Brighton defence was too well organised and too quick for the Park backs to build up much in the way of attack. It was inevitable that the Blues would stretch their lead, as they did when Dean scored the first of his two tries and added the conversion on 50 minutes.   As the game entered the final quarter Andy Signal put the Blues further ahead with a converted try which brought the score to 38 points to nil and as a contest it was all over. The score went to 43 points to nil when Signal burst through a despairing defence but Park got their consolation score when the Blue’s defence did not quite know what to do about a grubber kick along the ground and the Broughton Park wing David Kenny won the race for the touch down with fullback Ronan O’Brian adding the extras. A loose ball pick up by Steve Dean gave him his second try but a failure to kick the goal left the Blues two short of the magic 50 points.

Scrum half Ben Newman, Liverpool University student, was unfortunate enough to pick up and injury and had to be carried off in the final minutes of the game. His distribution of good ball from the base of the scrum certainly had a very positive impact on the outcome of this game. We understand that his injury is not quite as bad as first thought and we look forward to his early return. Ikuna Manuofetoa continues to improve by the week under the tutelage of his illustrious cousin Kati and the front row of Paul Lewis, Philip Buckley and John Brotherton showed that they developing their techniques to survive in the tight as well as be effective ball carriers without the active presence of the old head Mark Dorrington. A very satisfying performance all round. Well done!!

 

FINAL SCORE:  NEW BRIGHTON 48 – 7 BROUGHTON PARK