What a Cracker and the Blues are getting better!
 
The loyal New Brighton faithful, the traveling Hull supporters and some 150 past players were treated to a feast of rugby in this national knockout encounter.
 
The Blues started well and had Hull under sustained early pressure after generating some good ball from their powerful forwards, who started as the meant to go on and dominated the tight all game. Following a long a long tenancy in the Hull half Blues skipper gave Steve Dean the ball and asked him to have a shot at goal which he took without question to give the Blues the lead 3 - 0.
 
The Blues were in great spirit and the with the Blues pack piling all sorts of pressure on the Hull pack it was only a matter of time until the Blues got a try or another shot at goal and in fact the were awarded two penalties in quick succession which metronome Steve Dean failed to take, which is not like him.
 
It was Hull who were next on the score sheet following a rare incursion into Blue territory and they were awarded a penalty following was deemed to be a high tackle and prop forward Lotu paid the price with a 10 minute visit to the sin bin. The Hull fly half comfortably leveled the score at 3 all.
 
The Blues with a man down were in even more determined mood and probed the Hull line on many occasions, yet the Hull defense dealt with everything that the Blues could muster, until again they infringed in the red zone, this time it should have resulted in a yellow card for the Hull no 8 but just a penalty and that man Dean slotted it in due course to give the Blues a 6 - 3 half time lead.
 
The Blues changed tactics slightly at half time and gave Hull something different to think about which was working very well until the Blues gave away a silly penalty and the Hull kicker put it over from 42 meters out to level the score.
 
The Blues on the charge again continuing to prove to be a real pain in the neck for the Hull defense were working their way up field with continued advantage with the referees arm out, the referee lost patience and blew the whistle for Dean to give the Blues the lead once more from a penalty at 9 points to 6.
 
Suddenly the Hull side got a little space and their back three showed lightening pace to finish off a well worked try which was against the run of play and had never looked like coming, the Hull fly half added the extras. New Brighton 9 Hull 13.
 
The game was now wide open and Hull were now in it and they were gifted to a turn over ball just outside the Blues 22 meter line, the Hull 7 pounced on it and fed the speedy winger to cross the line for another converted try on 65 minutes, New Brighton 9 Hull 20.
 
The Blues crowd were silenced following this second try, but MC Frank Duff asked for some noise from the crowd and an immediate and almost deafening response was heard, this rallied some extra life into the Blues side and Captain Kati led the charge, all of the 7 other forwards and the backs alike were hell bent on getting this game back on track and that they did!
 
The Blues gave the Hull side a scrum following a knock on in the Blues 22. The Blue pack drove the tiring Hull forwards off the ball, Kati picked and went the ball spun out from Hesketh to Dean, enter Coast and Ashcroft who between them made some 50 meters, a neat pass to substitute Sean Ellis who fed his back row, quick recycle ball out to Coast on to Tani, who drew in the defender and feed to Greg Hughes to finish off one of the best tries ever seen at Hartsfield.
 
The Blues were now showing that they really wanted this game and battering their way through the Hull defense with ease, only for the clock to rape them of a win that was surely coming.
 
Full Time score New Brighton 14 Hull 20
 
Man of the match was awarded to the whole 21 man squad that took the field, they were simply awesome, said president Ben Basterfield. Proud Captain Kati lifted the award on behalf of his team mates.
 
Head Coach Steve Dorrington said afterwards that he wasn’t displeased with going out of the cup as it is simply an expensive distraction for us at this time in our progression however Steve did say that the game could have quite easily gone the way of the Blues. Steve said that the whole squad was magnificent today and you would have thought it was the Blues who were leading North One and not Hull. Steve said in the pack we were aggressive and determined and run the ball with purpose as did our backs who are now playing like a unit, yes we do at times lack a bit of cutting edge but that is on its way, we are much improved and it is great to see the improvement week on week - which from my perspective as a coach is what its all about. Steve said that our Captain today led by example and I am sure that the Hull side will be glad to see the back of Kati, who played fantastically well.
 
Ian Kennedy echoed Steve comments and further added that he is so proud of the way we have improved and the effort that the team is now putting in to turn our season around. Ian paid particular praise to Mark Dorrington for the way he goes about his business, Marko at 42 years of age never lets us down and absolutely destroyed a couple of props who were simply in his way today. Ian also mentioned the hard working centres in Marcus Coast and Steve Ashcroft who are defending as well as any centre pairing in the land right now and Ian stated that we have possibly found a star full back as Leo was fabulous out on the pitch today.
 
The Blues are back in league action next week and take the short trip across the Mersey and down the East Lancashire road to take on old rivals Liverpool St Helens - don’t miss this one it is likely to be another cracker of a game!

14th October 2008 

Sorry we don’t have a full report on the game but we won 31 - 8.

 

Kati got 3 tries and we played well.

 

Sean Ellis at fullback was man of the match, for his bravery and calm under pressure.

 

If anyone could expand on the detail, then please send to admin@newbrightonrugby.org.uk

The One Point that Got Away

 

New Brighton travelled to Altrincham to face league favourites Altrincham Kersal in this North Two League match.

 

It was AK that got off to the better following being gifted 10 points in as many minutes. Firstly from a penalty awarded by the referee when a New Brighton forward needlessly went off his feet in a ruck when the Blues had the ball and were under little or no pressure and secondly from a converted try that was gifted to the AK no8 as a New Brighton back tried an outrageous over the head backward pass that ended up in the hands of the thankful AK player who raced untouched to the New Brighton tryline for an easy score.

 

The Blues captain Kati read the riot act to the faltering Blues which had an immediate uplifting effect and the Blues sprung into life, taking the game to AK, who looked a little shocked and hesitant at the power demonstrated by the Blues in their charges and ruck areas. Following some patient and aggressive phase play the ball went to Dean from Leo, who fed Coast who in turn put in a great pass to debutant Wasaili who glided almost effortlessly through the AK rearguard with ease to score a fantastic try. Steve Dean added the extras to reduce the areas. AK 10 New Brighton 7.

 

The Blues now on top went close on a number of occasions and the AK attacks were wilting due to the aggressive defence exhibited by the now well organised Blues side and the only option AK hd was to gain slow ball in the break down and put in probing kicks from their experienced scrum half. Steve Dean missed a difficult 40metre shot at goal on the half time whistle.

 

Half Time Score AK 10 New Brighton 7

 

Coaches Kennedy and Dorrington asked the Blues team to carry on much in the same way, but to stop 50 - 50's in the rain and be a little more direct in the charge,  immediately following the restart 5 fabulous phases of direct running resulted in a penalty in the AK 22 which Steve Dean slotted to bring the scores level.

 

The Blues gathered the ball from the resulting kick off and were on the charge again however following some great play the forwards just tried a little too hard and forced errors when trying to go one phase too many. Yet again the Blues gave away a penalty when not under pressure and having the ball gifted the AK goal kicker with another 3 points to give AK the lead again.

 

The Blues bounced back immediately and following some great work from Coast and Ashcroft carved a great hole in the AK midfield for the forwards to gather and take on close to the ruck, AK in panic gave a way a penalty which that man Dean slotted through the uprights with ease to level the scores.

 

The Blues well in control of the second half again gifted a silly penalty when little or no pressure was on them as the only option that AK had was to kick a cheap non IRB bar of soap like ball (which the referee should have kicked into the street for the kids to play with and replaced with a grown up version) into the Blues half and yet again the blues with the ball in hand gave another penalty away through poor technique for AK to gain a surprising lead.

 

The Blues bounced back in determined mood and showed that they were not prepared to lose this game and charged up field with the "upfor it" Gregg Hughes joining in with the forwards and Tani galloping forward with second rows Paul Campbell and Ikuna on hand to give support. AK again desperate in the red zone and lucky not to give away a yellow card gave a penalty away which Dean converted to bring the scores level.

 

The Blues playing patient build up play upped the tempo and pushed into the AK 22 with Captain Kati, the lively Ikuna, workman Cammy and powerful Tani all making ground for fun then the ball spun wide from Leo to Dean to Coast enter Wasaili who raced toward the line then feeding Gaz Simpson with a must score pass, yet Gaz spilled the ball going over the line to let AK off the hook and give them a point that they never deserved.

 

Full Time Score AK 16 New Brighton 16

 

The Man of the match for the Blues was a close run thing with allsorts of people in the mix but after much deliberation Coah Ian Kennedy awarded a joint MoM to Tani and Coasty for their work rate during the game. The AK MoM went to their scrum Half Wayne Morris, who was the only player to trouble the Blues all day probing well with his kicking from the base.

 

Head Coach Steve Dorrington said after the game "yes I am disappointed that we didnt win the game today but I am very happy with the way we are improving week on week". Steve said "I have just had a chat with Rugby aficionado Joe Pinnington, who said that we have definitely got something with this team and one of these days someone is going to get a real good thrashing". Steve said that Joe is dead right, but first we need to stop giving away silly points and that we were playing catch up after 10 minutes and quite simply, if we hadn’t we would have won the game with ease. Steve praised the team and stated that stat man Pete McCrave had reported a total of 3 missed tackles all game, all of which were covered immediately by the hard working team defence ethic.

 

Coach Kennedy added praise for the side and said that we may have lost this game a couple of weeks ago and praised the players for their work ethic, however stated that if we are to win away games we must reduce the penalty count and from the stats concluded that 14 penalties in a game is too high and we have set a target of getting under 7 in a game and we must deliver this. The maddening thing is that we give the majority of our penalties away when we are in possession and not under pressure-one for midweek.

 

The Blues are in Cup action this week on Tuesday evening with a 8.00pm KO at a neutral venue at Birkenhead Park in the quarter final of the Cheshire cup against local rivals Chester and the team is from the following squad:

 

Tom Goulding

Lotu

John Brotherton

Mark Dorrington

Phil Buckley

Lewis Mullen

Lee McCourt

Paul Lewis

Paul Campbell

Adam Baird

Frank Duff

Ikuna

Kati (Captain)

Taniela

Alan Hesketh

Sean Ellis

Jim Yarranton

Steve Dean

Marcus Coast

Steve Ashcroft

Gaz Simpson

Gregg Hughes

Andy Signal

Ian Kennedy

 

The Blues are also looking forward to having the following players back to give us some selection headaches in the "good" department:

 

Josh Bates (ankle injury)

Mike Galimore (rehab following surgery)

Chris Dale (ban)

Jez Lamb (hand surgery)

Ben Lazenby (work commitments)

Dan Stafford (work commitments)

Martin Canham (football? strange)

 

Blues Season Finally Starts

 

New Brighton played some fantastic rugby in this home North Two West league encounter against newly promoted Blackburn. However it was Blackburn playing with the strong Autumn wind who showed early promise and following some sloppy defensive play found themselves with a fourteen point lead. The first try followed a tap penalty which was shipped to the impressive Blackburn no 8, who charged toward a static Blues defender on the try line who missed the opportunity to stop the Blackburn charge. The second came from broken play and the forward covering in defence simply didn't offer himself in the tackle and the Blues found themselves 14 points to the bad as the Blackburn no 8 went over again for another gifted try.

 

Coach Ian Kennedy, playing at full back on the day opened up with a war of words on the less than enthusiastic defender and brought life into the Blues team, as following the re-start the Blues started to build patient phases of rugby, with backs and forwards alike making ground for fun. Then following a multiple phase onslaught on the Blackburn line the Blues forwards gathered the ball and drove captain Kati over the line for a fine try which was duly converted by Steve Dean to reduce the arrears to 7 - 14.

 

The Blues now working very hard in attack and the defensive line well organised were frustrating Blackburn and their only option was to kick the ball to evergreen Ian Kennedy who showed how the ball should be returned and brought both of his wingers into play at every opportunity. One of those opportunities saw Kennedy race 40 metres beating 6 or 7 Blackburn defenders, then show a trademark sideways dummy and passed the ball inside to the powerful Gaz Simpson to finish off Kennedy's fine run.

 

Half Time Score New Brighton 12 Blackburn 14

 

Coaches Dorrington and Kennedy expressed their wishes at half time and this week the Blues delivered and the second half was littered with patience and discipline from a home side hell bent on gaining their first league win of the season.

 

Almost from the kick-off the Blues were camped on the Blackburn line, yet failed to convert pressure into points. That was OK as the Blackburn side found it extremely hard to break through the well organised Blues defence. With 7 minutes gone in the second half that man Simpson received another good ball from the incisive Kennedy who had been fed a great pass by Coast, Simpson beat his man, powered over a cover tackler and left the Blackburn Full back for dead to score in fine style near the posts. Dean added the extras to gain the lead. New Brighton 19 Blackburn 14.

 

The Blue pack gatherer the restart, shipped the ball through a couple of pairs of hands, linking well with the backs through the lively Hesketh and with Blackburn panicking in defence, infringing offside, the Blues then overturned on a free ball opportunity only to spill the ball but the referee wisely brought the play back to the penalty for Dean to step up and convert from 38 metres to extend the Blues lead to 22 - 14.

 

The Blues, now gaining confidence and starting to look like a team, were making ground with ease and again found themselves camped in the Blackburn half for long sustained periods, patience and phase play was good and following a charge close the line the ball was delivered by Hesketh to Dean who put in the rampaging Lotu for a well taken try. New Brighton 27 Blackburn 14.

 

The home side who were now well and truly on top and controlling the game in a manner which has not been seen since last season were forcing the Blackburn rear guard back time after time with searing kicks from Dean and Kennedy, which the tiring Blackburn full back could only dispatch into the stand. This suited the Blues as the excellent partnership in the lineout between Campbell and Buckley was working like clockwork. Good quick ball was being delivered to the New Brighton backs at an alarming rate for the Blackburn scrambling defence and Simpson went close to achieving a hatrick of tries following another clever move in midfield from Coast and Ashcroft. Blackburn failed to get good ball from the scrum and couldn't get out of jail and following more Blackburn indiscipline Dean opted to convert a penalty to extend the lead by a further 3 points.

 

Full Time Score New Brighton 28 Blackburn 14.

 

The home man of the match award went to the fast and powerful Gaz "Protein" Simpson and the away award given to the hardworking Blackburn no 8.

 

Head Coach Steve Dorrington said afterwards that the Blues were worthy winners, but was a little disappointed with the start and yet again the Blues had gifted the opposition to 14 points from lack of effort in the tackle. Steve added, I am not going to dwell on the negatives as today is all about positives and we have got our season started, thankfully. Steve paid particular praise for the hardworking ethics of the whole team when they turned the situation around and singled out Paul Campbell and Phil Buckley for their part in the hard graft that sometimes goes unmentioned. Steve also had praise for the half back pairing of Hesketh and Dean (sounds like a couple of Ice Skaters) and the new centre partnership of Coast and Ashcroft who caused Blackburn all sorts of problems both in attack and defence. The last word though, must go to Ian Kennedy who showed real class at fullback with a cutting edge to his game, Steve said that Ian was magnificent today and demonstrated a real winning mentality to the other players on the pitch today.

 

The Blues travel to Altrincham Kersal next weekend and will be looking to improve again in midweek. A large noisy following is expected to travel to the Manchester suburb to follow the turning fortunes of the Blues campaign. The league is wide open and everyone has now lost at least one game - the season has only just begun!