Richard McNeil

For the second year running, Wirral were playing in the Papa John’s finals at Worcester Sixways Stadium against Northamptonshire team, Oundle. It was Wirral who took an early 7th minute lead with a try from a 5m line out by Matt Ringer, duly converted by Jimmy Annetts from the touchline. In the remaining minutes of the first half much pressure came from Oundle but the Wirral defence managed to hold out until the 17th minute when forward pressure enabled Oundle to finally score through their forwards to leave the score 7-5. In the period up to half time Wirral were able to apply more pressure on Oundle but were not able to break through the stern defence put up by Oundle. At the start of the second half, Oundle looked to pay more attacking rugby, however a superb break by Wirral captain, Chris Crowley enabled him to draw the full back and put in leading try scorer, Tom Akehurst to score close to the posts, the conversion was unfortunately missed. On 60 minutes, Oundle equalised with a well worked try close to the posts duly converted and 2 minutes later a further well taken try by the Oundle winger gave them the lead to lead 12-19. Wirral continued to attack but the Oundle defence was sound and an Oundle try in the 70th minute put the game beyond Wirral’s grasp. Wirral continued to attack but the pressure could not break through the Oundle defence, even though the Oundle second row was red carded for a number of offences during the game. Ultimately the best team won on the day but Wirral played with a lot of endeavour during the 90 minutes of the game.

After 4 hard games following the end of the league season where Wirral finished 4th they have now qualified for the National Finals of the Papa John’s CUP which will be played next Saturday at Worcester Sixways Stadium against Oundle from Northamptonshire. In this semi final game against Stockport, it was Wirral who started the stronger with controlled rugby to open up a 22-0 lead by half time with tries from RHYS JAMES, captain CHRIS CROWLEY and the ever alert, TOM AKEHURST aided by goal kicking from BEN BROOKS. The second half saw an improved performance from Stockport playing with the benefit of the wind in this half and after Wirral scored their 4th try through HAYDEN LONG, the Stockport side came back into the game with 3 tries as they used their forwards to greater effect. There will be a large group of Wirral supporters at Worcester as they look to support the team having won the Shield competition last year.

This was the second game in the Papa John’s competition and Wirral were away at Derby, who they have played once before some years ago. It was Derby who took the lead with a try after 8 minutes but Wirral soon retaliated with 2 tries from captain, CHRIS CROWLEY, further good play by Wirral resulted in tries by DAN HARVEY and LEWIS HAYES, coupled with conversions and penalties. Wirral had built up a lead of 8 points by half time to lead 19-27 as Derby played hard to improve their position. Following their defeat the previous week. The second half was played with greater determination by both sides and Wirral increased their lead to 19-37 following tries by Rhys James and Hayden Long. Wirral had given all their substitutes a run out before the end of the game and in the closing minutes a further penalty by BEN BROOKS extended their lead to two scores and even with a lead of 14 points, Derby strove hard to win the match. A great performance by the young Wirral team as they prepare for the final round robin game next week against Burton (who have also won both their games), kick off at 3.00 pm next Saturday.

THIS was the first of a series of games for Wirral in the Papa John’s plate against Syston from Leicestershire, who are in the equivalent Midlands League.

Wirral were up against the second team in the league Rossendale and in the first half were playing against the strong wind, with much of the play being played in one half of the pitch. In the first half, Rossendale using the power of their forwards built up a 0-14 lead after 20 minutes and Wirral were working hard to combat the Rossendale team as they worked hard to control this strong team. In the minute before half time, Rossendale scored their third try to lead 0-19 at half time. Within 5 minutes of the second half, Wirral had scored two tries through leading try scorer, TOM AKEHURST each converted by Mark Williams and James Annetts to bring the score back to 14-19. Much as Wirral worked they could not break down the Rossendale defence again and in the 60th minute the away side scored their bonus point try to lead 14-26. This was the final score of the game as Wirral tried hard to again breakdown this strong Rossendale defence. Rossendale finished second in the league with Wirral securing fourth and will have to meet again next season. Wirral are well pleased with their season in this highly competitive league.

Despite the rain we have had recently the Memorial Ground was in good condition for the first ever visit by Penrith in this penultimate league game of the season; however the strong wind made its own difficulties. Playing with the wind in the first half, Wirral had the territorial possession and in the first half of the game scored two tries through their forwards, Chris Speed and acting captain, Hayden Long. The issue was had Wirral scored enough in that first half when Penrith would have the advantage in the second half of the wind.

Sandbach had a large crowd watching this game as they needed to win to reduce their chances of being relegated from this league. They started confidently with a converted try after 6 minutes, although Wirral quickly drew level with a try from Rhys James. In the period leading up to half time Sandbach scored two more tries and a penalty to lead 24-14 at half time, having taken advantage of playing with the wind and the slope and also aided by 3 yellow cards against Wirral. In the second half Wirral applied more pressure on Sandbach and after 20 minutes had equalised following a converted try by Ben Brooks and a penalty from Mark Williams. With greater pressure from Wirral play was now contained in the Sandbach half and a bonus try from Adam Don combined with 2 long drop goals from Ben Brooks took the game away from Sandbach. In the end the visiting referee had given out 9 yellow cards (5 to Sandbach) yet the game had been played in a good spirit and the result was not helpful to Sandbach in their quest to stay in the league. Next week Wirral are at home to Penrith with a 3.00pm kick off

In heavy and muddy conditions at Northwich, Wirral achieved a league double over Northwich to continue their 4th placed position in the league.

This was the second match of the season between these two local teams played in front of a large crowd at the Memorial Ground with both teams seeking points on an urgent basis. The match was evenly balanced in the first half with Anselmians having the advantage of the wind but it was Wirral who took the first points with firstly a break in mid field by Mark Williams which split the Anselmians defence and he ran in from 50m to score under the posts, duly converted by Jimmy Annetts. This was followed by a penalty from Jimmy who took his points scored for Wirral over the 1500 mark- a great performance for the team. In the rest of the half, Anselmians came back into the game with a forwards try from Sam Gregory duly converted by Dave Morley, the latter adding a penalty with the last play of the first half to leave the score 10 each at half time. In the second half Wirral used the wind to better effect but it was not until the 66th minute that Wirral went ahead with a try from Tom Akehurst, after Anselmians had missed an easy penalty to take the lead. Five minutes later a poor clearance from Anselmians was caught by Ben Brooks and a long pass to Mark Phillips enabled the player to drop kick from 35m to score and put Wirral two scores ahead at 18-10. Anselmians worked hard to get back into the game but a try was disallowed on the basis that it was not touched down and eventually cleared to then seal the game. Wirral now move up to 4th in the league whilst Anselmians remain in the relegation section of the league.

In a tight contest between teams 4th and 5th in the league it was the stronger set of forwards at Manchester who won the day. Wirral with a much changed side built up after 20 minutes a lead of 0-18, thanks to try from prop Joe Adnams and scrum half Tom Akehurst aided by the kicking of Jimmy Annetts. In the period up to half time Manchester responded with two converted tries of their own greatly assisted by the weight of their forwards who made gaps in the Wirral defence near the try line to leave the score 14-18 at half time.