BARLA Youth Cups 2009

Finals Brighten Up The Bank Holiday

The weather may have been dull this Bank Holiday Monday but the triple header of games played in the Northern Rail BARLA Youth Cup Finals at The Willows, Salford, certainly brightened up the large crowd in attendance.

UNDER 14s

RYLANDS SHARKS 38 v 12 SHAW CROSS SHARKS

Both sides completed their early sets and it was even until the fourth minute when Shaw Cross took the lead following a bomb downfield by Rylands loose forward Lewis Charnock.

Shaw Cross full back Curtis Naughton took the ball twenty metres from his own line and went on a cross field run towards the left wing, before producing a sensational run down the touchline to go over under the posts for a try which he converted himself.

From the restart Shaw Cross allowed the ball to bounce over the in goal and Rylands hit back with Charnock redeeming himself by driving over from the play the ball and adding the extras to make it 6 all The action continued with both sides attacking and defending with equal ferocity.

Rylands forward's Callum Wright, Ryan Mercer and Jack Brogan showed up well and constantly looked like breaking down the Sharks defence, whilst stand off Liam Sutcliffe directed his pack well, with Troy Anderson, Zak Lockhead, Jordan Hargreaves and Daniel Larby making an impression.

Rylands took the lead on 17 minutes after Shaw Cross failed to take a bomb, when on the third tackle Ryan Mercer took Alan Kings pass from the play the ball to bulldoze over for a converted try.

However the game was level again in the opening minute of the first half as Rylands knocked on from the restart. Shaw Cross hooker Larby drove for the line and was held just short, but on the next tackle no one could stop prop Bramwell Ramsden from going over and Naughton added the extras.

Shaw Cross then lost the ball early in the tackle count and Charnock made them pay as he went through from ten metres for his second converted try to give his side an 18-12 lead.

Soon after Rylands increased their lead as they took control of the game and forced their Dewsbury based opponents to drop out. Naughton's kick went straight onto touch and Charnock kicked the resulting penalty.

Rylands then dominated the rest of the game compounded by Shaw Cross indiscipline that led to further scores. From the restart Rylands got a penalty and superb ball handling skills saw the ball go down the line to winger Lewis Odea who cut inside to score a converted try on 35 minutes.

Five minutes later Charnock converted a penalty and added a further conversion from the restart after Shaw Cross had been penalised.

The next try came from a great run from forward Ashley Cox who passed outside to Josh Mercer to score to make it 34-12.

On 44 minutes Shaw Cross were awarded a penalty but failed to find touch and Rylands counter attacked when Odea caught the ball. The ball went superbly through several pairs of hands and winger Matthew Wood scored in the opposite corner and although Charnock missed his only conversion his side led 38-12.

Shaw Cross battled on gamely until the end but Rylands emerged worthy winners in a great advert for youth Rugby League.

RYLANDS SHARKS: 1. Robert Haywood, 2. Matthew Wood, 3. Josh Mercer, 4. Ben Walker, 5. Lewis Odea, 6. Alan King, 7. Luke Walker, 8. Jack Brogan, 9. Sam Woodall, 10. Ryan Mercer, 11. Ashley Cox, 12. Callum Wright, 13. Lewis Charnock, 14. Sam Hughes, 15. Jack Sherratt, 16. James Clayton, 17. Jack Lewis.

Tries: Charnock 2, R Mercer, Odea, J Mercer, Wood

Goals: Charnock 7

SHAW CROSS SHARKS: 1. Curtis Naughton, 2. Thomas Ripley, 3. Declan Bolton, 4. Zak Parkinson, 5. William Gaunt, 6. Liam Sutcliffe, 7. Scott Lee, 8. Troy Anderson, 9. Daniel Larby, 10. Bramwell Ramsden, 11. Benjamin Spaven, 12. Zak Woodhead, 13. Jordan Hargreaves, 14. Ben Morgan, 15. Reece Parker, 16. Scott Lightowler, 17. Joshua Fuller.

Tries: Naughton, Ramsden

Goals: Naughton 2

Man of the Match: Lewis Charnock (Rylands Sharks)

UNDER 16s

HULL ISBERG 44 v 10 BROUGHTON RED ROSE

Hull Isberg triumphed in the rain against Cumbria's Broughton Red Rose scoring eight well taken tries including a treble from full back Louis Sherriff.

Isberg crossed for four first half tries, with two created by man of the match Reece Lynn for an 18-0 lead. He opened the scoring in the second half before Red Rose hit back with two tries of their own, before three late tries sealed the success for the Humbersiders.

Isberg opened the scoring on four minutes when outstanding scrum half Tom Allen chipped over the Red Rose defence on the last tackle, Sherriff reacting first to score.

Red Rose came back but on numerous occasions lost the ball early in the tackle count especially when in good scoring positions in the Isberg half.

Having said that Red Rose forwards Liam McAvoy, Kieran McAvoy, Dan Fidler, Harry Rigby and Corey Bouch put in some good hits and hard drives with stand off Sam Forrester leading the side well.

Rival half backs Allen and Lewis Brown looked dangerous with the ball in hand and Lynn and Sherriff continuously caused panic when they had the ball as did forwards Callum Taylor, Joe Gay, Aaron Ollett and James Johnson. Isberg increased their lead on 12 minutes when Red Rose lost the ball attacking the Isberg line.

Lynn picked up the loose ball and streaked down the wing before passing inside to the supporting Sherrif after drawing in the Red Rose last line of defence. Sherriff went under the posts and Allen added the extras for a 10-0. Isberg went further ahead seven minutes later after Liam McAvoy had knocked on.

Following the scrum on the third tackle Lynn burst through a tackle before passing oustside to winger Gareth Bolton to score in the corner Broughtons' handling let them down in the final seconds of the half following quick fire penalties.

The ball went down the line and centre Jack Dawson passed out to his winger Shaun Johnstone ten metres from the line, although Bolton intercepted and raced 95 metres to cross under the posts for his brace to give his side an 18-0 nil lead.

Red Rose started the second half the brighter but Dawson lost the ball metres from the Isberg try line and they went further behind on 37 minutes after they kicked straight into touch on the last tackle. From the scrum the ball came out to Lynn who sidestepped through a gap and went 30 metres under the post for a converted try.

Straight from the restart Ollett knocked on and from the scrum Forrester's quick feet got him over the try line to make it 24-4.

Red Rose came more into the game and on 49 minutes they scored a superb try started and finished by Forrester following a scrum.

The ball came out to him and he put a flat ball out to Liam McAvoy who burst through the Isberg defence before returning the pass to Forrester. The stand off went under the posts and Kieran McAvoy added the extras. Any hint of a fightback was soon quashed following Will Gates knock on from the restart.

From the resulting scrum the ball went quickly down the line and centre Curtis Pullen scored in the corner and Allen's conversion made it 30-10.

On 54 minutes Isberg increased their lead as Taylor emerged with the ball from the base of the scrum and put out a long pass to winger Josh Fox to score in the corner.

The final try came with the last play of the game from another Tom Allen chip as the ball bounced off the bottom of the crossbar and Sherriff followed up for his hat-trick. Bobby McGilligan added the extras.

HULL ISBERG: 1. Louis Sherriff, 2. Gareth Bolton, 3. Reece Lynn, 4. Curtis Pullen, 5. Josh Fox, 6. Lewis Brown, 7. Tom Allen, 8. Callum Taylor, 9. Joe Gay, 10. James Johnson, 11. Aaron Ollett, 12. Josh Teale, 13. Dylan Calvert, 14. James Deighton, 15. Jack Gay, 16. James Carrick, 17. Bobby McGilligan. Tries: Sherriff 3, Bolton 2, Lynn, Pullen, Fox

Goals: Allen 3, McGilligan 1

BROUGHTON RED ROSE: 1. Shane Cusak, 2. Shaun Johnston, 3. Jack Dawson, 4. Jay Rossi, 5. Reece Anderson, 6. Sam Forrester, 7. Mark Varty, 8. Liam McAvoy, 9. Sam Sunger, 10. Dan Fidler, 11. Harry Rigby, 12. Kieran McAvoy, 13. Corey Bouch, 14. Will Gate, 15. Tom Dusheath, 16. Sam Wilson, Will Elliott

Tries: Forrester 2

Goals: K McAvoy

Man of the Match Reece Lynn (Hull Isberg)

UNDER 18s

LEIGH EAST 18 v 12 LEIGH MINERS RANGERS (AET)

Leigh Miners Rangers lost their second major final in eight days after a pulsating extra time clash. Before last weekend Miners had yet to taste defeat, however a reversal to Celtic Crusaders in the National Youth League Grand Final has now been swiftly followed by a derby loss to fierce rivals Leigh East.

In a final that got better and better as the seconds ticked on, Easts' Steven Grundy put in a man of the match performance and had the last word by scoring his sides final try seconds before the end of the first period of extra time to give his side an 18-8 lead.

Although the Miners got it back to 18-12 with a minute left East held on to win. Played in continuous rain - which made ball handling difficult throughout the game - you wouldn't have thought it was going to be so close in the opening five minutes.

The Miners were camped on the Easts' line trying to open the scoring following a series of penalties metres from the try line.

But Easts' held on and even went to the other end of the field to give the Miners a dose of their own medicine by forcing back to back drop outs.

Both packs slugged it out with massive hits on each other and no quarter was given or taken. East's half back pairing of Grundy and Mark Ballard controlled matters at half back just shading the performances of Danny Myers and Martin Gray.

With local pride at stake as well as being cup winners the opening score was always going to be important and it came on 15 minutes from a Grundy penalty in front of the posts.

Easts' thought they had increased the lead on 23 minutes only to be pulled back for offside. The Miners over the next ten minutes were awarded a number of kickable penalties twenty metres out but on each occasion decided to run the ball however the Easts' defence held firm.

The second half was a mirror of the first with the drives and tackles getting harder as both sides fought for supremacy in awful conditions.

Miners leveled the game up on 58 minutes following another penalty and this time they decided to take the two points on offer as Pownall leveled in at 2-2.

However Easts' scored from the restart following a Miners knock on 35 metres from their own try line. From the scrum the ball came out to full back Simon Reynard who had joined the line and he had the strength to drive over and score, with Grundy adding the extras for an 8-2 advantage.

Another try came straight away on 63 minutes following a Grundy knock on.

Miners attacked from the scrum and loose forward Danny Jones got the ball and drove through the defence to score before Pownall leveled the game up for a second time.

Five minutes later East got a penalty 35 meters out but Grundy's kick drifted to the left of the Miners posts as did his drop goal in the final seconds of the game.

East's began extra time superbly and a beautiful move saw the ball go out to centre James Pike who looked a certain scorer until an equally superb Miners sliding defence saw him forced into touch in the corner. On the resumption Miners lost the ball and Easts' made no mistake as on the third tackle hard working prop Daniel Weaving drove over from five metres and Grundy added the extras.

The next set saw Easts cross for the crucial try.

After Ballard had put up a bomb on the last tackle the ball was caught by Miners centre Darrell Flannery who drove upfield but was tackled "ball an all" by winger Jack Davies. The ball went to ground and was picked up by Davies who passed immediately to Grundy who went 40 metres to the corner. Despite failing with the extras Grundy had given his side a crucial ten point buffer.

As the clock ran down Miners tried everything but Easts' held out until the last minute when David Wood scored on the last tackle in the corner.

It meant that a converted try would take the game into golden point territory but Easts' held there nerve for a memorable victory.

LEIGH EAST: 1. Simon Reynard, 2. Jack Davies, 3. Jake Waterman, 4. James Pike, 5. Ryan Holcroft, 6. Steven Grundy, 7. Mark Ballard, 8. Daniel Weaving, 9. Mark Cahill, 10. Lyndon Robertson, 11. Sam Hopkins, 12. Kieran Johnson, 13. Ryan O'Toole, 14. Matthew McCabe, 15. Phillip Sproston, 16. Matthew Weaving, 17. Darryl Sheridan.

Tries: Reynard, D Weaving, Grundy

Goals: Grundy 3

LEIGH MINERS RANGERS: 1. Adam Clay, 2. Sean Pendlebury, 3. Jonathon Pownall, 4. Darrell Flannery, 5. Kieron Williams, 6. Martin Gray, 7. Danny Myers, 8. Chris Bower, 9. Anthony Unsworth, 10. Jason Unsworth, 11. Todd Appleby, 12. Sean Marsh, 13. Danny Jones, 14. David Wood, 15. Matthew Rozman, 16. Peter Jamieson, 17. Chris Hughes.

Tries: Jones, Wood

Goals: Pownall 2

Man of the Match Steven Grundy (Leigh East)

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