BURNAGE 18 LIVERPOOL ST HELENS 10
Liverpool St Helens’ promotion hopes took a knock in their first time visit to Burnage. Unable to reproduce anything like their recent form the Moss Laners came up against a pumped up outfit ready to take full advantage.
With the LSH back division appearing to be the product of a speed-dating session and the normally cohesive forwards seeming to be a number of players short at each breakdown, the main surprise of the afternoon was the closeness of the scoreline. That it wasn’t greater is due to the undoubted strength of LSH’s defence, led once again with fervour and passion by skipper Phil Kearns.
The home side dominated the scrums, the lineouts and the breakdown and on a day when both sets of backs were not at their best, made less errors than LSH.
It all added up to a fragmented but still exciting contest. In the first half, although both sides had chances to score, the game reached half time evenly balanced at 3-3. A Matt Leydon penalty for Burnage after four minutes was matched by one from Greg Smith midway through the half.
The pivotal moment came just one minute into the second half when, following a speculative Burnage kick, Andy Dowell made a good catch and ran the ball out of defence. Unfortunately the young winger was put under strong pressure by three Burnage chasers and threw the ball in the general direction of Jan Lourens. The prop forward made a valiant attempt to catch the ball, which was high above him, but missed, before it was gratefully caught by the Burnage centre and skipper Stuart Oldham who was left with a clear run through to the posts for a try. Leyden converted and followed this up in the 56th minute with a penalty to make it 13-3.
Try as they might LSH found it difficult to gain any momentum as Burnage cleverly closed the game down in the last quarter. Then, just as it seemed that neither side would add to their tally, both sides scored tries just before the final whistle.
Burnage hooker Pete O’Sullivan crashed over from close range in the 79th minute before LSH scored a consolation two minutes later. Frustratingly it was without doubt the best move seen from both sides all afternoon. From midway in their own half quick ball from replacement scrum half Anthony Harden was swiftly and accurately distributed by Martin Gambles, now switched to fly half, to centre Mark Turner who outpaced the Burnage backs to score under the posts, Smith converting.
A smaller group of the Faithful than usual ventured across the M60 and those that did saw the first defeat since early December. For once, Little Trevor and Big Brian were in agreement - the team had not played well – but more importantly they had not played like a team. They also agreed with the Laird who was focussing on the next match at Leigh saying that it’s still all to play for and reminding everyone of the need for waterproof footwear at Hand Lane. Meanwhile, totally underwhelmed by the hospitality on offer, the Allicks made a sharp exit.
TEAM
15 Pape 14 Dowell 13 Turner 12 Ormesher 11 Stanley 10 Smith 9 Gambles 1 Lourens 2 Battersby 3 Griffiths S 4 Williams 5 Westhead 6 Bamber 7 Cashman 8 Kearns (capt) Replacements 16 Nevitt ( for Battersby 71m) 17 Clare (for Williams79m) 18 Harden (for Dowell 64m)
With the LSH back division appearing to be the product of a speed-
The home side dominated the scrums, the lineouts and the breakdown and on a day when both sets of backs were not at their best, made less errors than LSH.
It all added up to a fragmented but still exciting contest. In the first half, although both sides had chances to score, the game reached half time evenly balanced at 3-
The pivotal moment came just one minute into the second half when, following a speculative Burnage kick, Andy Dowell made a good catch and ran the ball out of defence. Unfortunately the young winger was put under strong pressure by three Burnage chasers and threw the ball in the general direction of Jan Lourens. The prop forward made a valiant attempt to catch the ball, which was high above him, but missed, before it was gratefully caught by the Burnage centre and skipper Stuart Oldham who was left with a clear run through to the posts for a try. Leyden converted and followed this up in the 56th minute with a penalty to make it 13-
Try as they might LSH found it difficult to gain any momentum as Burnage cleverly closed the game down in the last quarter. Then, just as it seemed that neither side would add to their tally, both sides scored tries just before the final whistle.
Burnage hooker Pete O’Sullivan crashed over from close range in the 79th minute before LSH scored a consolation two minutes later. Frustratingly it was without doubt the best move seen from both sides all afternoon. From midway in their own half quick ball from replacement scrum half Anthony Harden was swiftly and accurately distributed by Martin Gambles, now switched to fly half, to centre Mark Turner who outpaced the Burnage backs to score under the posts, Smith converting.
A smaller group of the Faithful than usual ventured across the M60 and those that did saw the first defeat since early December. For once, Little Trevor and Big Brian were in agreement -
TEAM
15 Pape 14 Dowell 13 Turner 12 Ormesher 11 Stanley 10 Smith 9 Gambles 1 Lourens 2 Battersby 3 Griffiths S 4 Williams 5 Westhead 6 Bamber 7 Cashman 8 Kearns (capt) Replacements 16 Nevitt ( for Battersby 71m) 17 Clare (for Williams79m) 18 Harden (for Dowell 64m)
John Williams