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Steve Lambert 07759-313489

Chris Pettigrew 07882-935486

All Senior Colts 2011 - 12 Fixtures and Results

SENIOR COLTS 17 - 15 CHESTER

After many years of trying we have finally beaten our great friends and rivals at Chester for the first time. Over ten years these sides have always produced really high quality fast running rugby and invariably are extremely close encounters with this game being decided by a Jonny Kelly conversion as livewire Steve Anderson scored under the posts with a great interception try from halfway for the Blueboys second try.

Earlier acting skipper Mark Mansell had scored charging down a clearing Chester kick to open the scoring whilst in the second half Kelly expertly finished one of our better moves of the day.

With Josh Cordingley and Sotiris Anastasiou(ill) and Tom Featherstone , Stefan Bright and Jack Donnellan unavailable it was great to still have 16.5 players (Will Smith arriving late) at Hare lane where the large pitch favoured fast open play and both sides played a similar sort of game.

Chesters backs have long been renowned as fast, slick and powerful and they have overwhelmed many sides but one of our great improvements has been in our midfield tackling which significantly reduced the amount of ball that their backs thrive on. Also the contibutions of both Andys is becoming more marked with Andy Day playing the full 70 and Andy Mc Neill over 40 mins.

Scrummaging and lineout both worked well. Warburton and Downes excelled at the lineouts whilst Parker and Josh Smith worked furiously to prevent Chester from gaining the upper hand.

This game was originally to be played before Christmas but with a beleaguered squad Chester kindly agreed to switch the date rather than take the easy option and claim the points. This shows the calibre of John Armstrong's sportsmanship because at the final whistle there was not a whiff of regret or hostility from the Chester side even though the defeat may possibly deny them of second place in the league.

Overall a very satisfying day which again showed what we already believe to be true-that the better the opposition the better we play ourselves.

SENIOR COLTS 3 - 0 WIRRAL

Senior Colts achieved their second double of the season (Anselmians the other) with a possibly slightly lucky victory with a late Jack Donnellan penalty providing the only points of the game.

Wirral competed strongly for everything and posed quite a threat down their right wing which Jake Jensen and Sam Downes (playing wing due to shortage of backs) did well to nullify.

Both sides began with 17 players and every player was in their first year of senior colts rugby.With a couple of more experienced colts players it is impossible to calculate just how strong a squad this could become.

As it was it was good for inexperienced players to play a part in recording this victory because Andy Day, Andy McNeill, Stefan Bright and Richie Moore all made valuable contributions. Josh Smith, Jonny Kelly, Peter Robinson, Adam Leslie and Mike Cronin were all unavailable to play so full credit to all for grinding out a win.

It was never a pretty game and in truth Wirral appeared to pose the greater threat as Collegiate found it hard to establish any rhythm with far too many handling errors being made on the rare occasions we were able to mount an attack. As someone was heard to comment we were lucky to have nil at half time!!

With two penalty misses and injuries forcing more rearranging there was a growing sense of unease cultivated by the numerous late,narrow defeats we have endured so whilst feeling a little sorry for Wirral it was great to win a close one.

From a Collegiate point of view it wasnt one with many positives-everyone worked really hard,some carrying on with injuries - a sure sign of great team spirit but the destructive work of Mark Mansell deserves singling out - he must be horrible to play against.

A trip to Altrincham next Sunday and if we can get sufficient numbers (the dreaded exam season begins) we will be putting in another strong performance and looking for a result.

Thanks to a good and sporting Wirral side and to Gareth Hodges for controlling the game expertly on a cold sunny and dry afternoon.

SENIOR COLTS 9 - 10 STOCKPORT

Another tremendous game of colts rugby played in the best of spirits by two excellent sides went the way of the unbeaten league leaders with a late try in the corner giving them the lead for the only time in the game. Of our six league defeats five have been by a margin of five points or less and four have been from situations where we have led into the very late stages so it is clear where we need to concentrate our efforts-convert more of our excellent approach work and retain discipline for the full 70 mins.

Stockport were gracious enough to admit that a draw would not have been unfair and that they had undergone their sternest test of the season. All of Collegiates points came from the boot of Jonny Kelly who has clearly refound his old kicking boots!!
Midday rain made the pitch greasy on top but the drying strong wind of Saturday had dropped so conditions were not too bad considering the weather earlier in the week and both sides set to work with a will after several weeks of inactivity.

Collegiate started slightly the better but the balance shifted as Stockport settled and had a good spell but both sides were unable to fashion a breakthrough as the tackling of both sides was of the highest order.Collegiate suffered a serious blow as Steve Anderson had to retire with a leg problem which meant that Jonny Kelly had to switch from wing to Number 9 with Richie Moore playing out on the wing.

Two penalties put the Blueboys 6-0 up but Stockport arent unbeaten leaders for nothing and got back into it with a try near the right corner but as another penalty was converted for 9-5 a notable victory was almost achieved only for Stockport to engineer an overlap and get in for a try in the left corner.

With barely a minute to respond Collegiate tried everything in their power to strike back and who knows what another five minutes might have brought.

Ultimately you are where you are in the league because of results but make no mistake this side are on a par with the strongest sides-Stockport, Chester and Altrincham in League B and would give most league a sides a real workout.

Things have moved forward incredibly quickly through the last twelve months and we have a side well worthy of representing our great club.

Disappointing to lose but well done to Stockport and thanks to Mr.Smith who was a good and consistent referee who, I think, also enjoyed his visit to Liverpool.

SENIOR COLTS 27 - 36 VALE OF LUNE

This was a disastrous result for the colts which may well have very grave consequences at the end of the season. The list of absentees would have been enough for many to question the wisdom of a trip to Lancaster in mid November but the unforgivable sin of two players going AWOL without bothering to tell anyone left just 14 making the trip.

Three of these were clearly not 100% and deserve great credit for their efforts-thanks Sam, Alex and Didi. Also Stefan did brilliantly to complete a full shift for the first time. Fourteen soon became thirteen as Mike Cronin was forced off with an elbow injury but bravely returned and later scored a fine try.

Against the run of play we scored first through a long distance break out from Josh Cordingley with Jonny Kelly converting but two tries from Vale (possibly a lucky one as many thought that their player was in touch) gave them a 12-7 lead.

Injury now blighted the home side and with level numbers Collegiate hit a purple patch scoring three quick tries through Jonny Kelly,Adam Leslie and Mike Loughrey to give us a 22-12 lead. Back came Vale with two converted tries to regain the lead 26-22 only for Cronin to get us ahead again by one point.

It was here that things fell apart as Vale were reduced to 13 following another injury giving us a one man advantage.For reasons that remain unfathomable Collegiate selected to go into contact instead of using the vast acreage of Powderhall lane and frequently lost possession at the breakdown.

Vale had two very strong and skilled ball carriers and as Collegiate kept providing them with ball it was no surprise that they regained the lead with about eight minutes left. Sadly we never really threatened again and the final act of the game was a successful penalty to Vale leaving them victorious by 36-27 - a great effort by them considering their injury problems.

Having been involved with this team for ten seasons it is the first time we have scored five tries and LOST a game. Great effort from everybody but we should have won this and indeed we managed to throw it away.

SENIOR COLTS 29 - 7 ANSELMIANS

Our visitors brought the bare 15 including several junior colts to Aigburth but made an impressive start and deserved their early seven point lead as Collegiate began slowly. Gradually the balance shifted and by half time a narrow lead of 14-7 had been achieved against a 14 man team as a nasty looking thumb injury forced the withdrawal of one of their influential players-we wish him a speedy recovery.

The all important next try went to Collegiate and was set up by great work on the floor from Tom Parker securing possession which then saw the ball moved right across the pitch with the tryline pierced in the left corner. Another injury reduced our opponents to 13 resulting in Adam Leslie being sacrificed and as the game wore on two more tries were scored against opponents who battled for everything and were only denied a second try by a superb tackle from behind by Mark Mansell.

Our scorers were Josh Cordingley 2, Nino Constantiou, Jonny Kelly and Mike Cronin with two conversions from Kelly giving a final score of 29-7.

Given that Anselmians were depleted it should not be forgotten that we were without skipper Tom Featherstone, Jake Jensen, Jack Donnell -all injured and Andy Mc Neill - unavailable so to triumph without them speaks volumes for those who played.

Both sides played fast aggressive rugby with plenty of good moves and some (by no means all) slick passing. Anselmians lineout worked very well throughout the entire game and overall the game was a good advert for Colts rugby.

Finally, thanks to our ref Mr. Kevin Toole who was refereeing his second game of the day having travelled down from Liverpool St.Helens.

SENIOR COLTS 17 - 7 NEW BRIGHTON

Eighteen made the trip to the Wirral determined to lay the bogey that New Brighton have become to us and as usual Ian Tempest's were strong and aggressive. They had taken a heavy beating in midweek but bounced back well to give a good account of themselves.

The first half was surprising in that we only scored one try (Peter Robinson) and led 5-0. Soon after the break the game was effectively over as a great solo footballing effort from Jonny Kelly and a superb on the burst break through the centre from Peter Robinson stretched the lead to 17-0.

Repeated infringements incurred the wrath of the referee and ridiculously earned skipper Mark Mansell a yellow for a technical offence during which time New Brighton managed a converted try. Any revival was quickly snuffed out as replacements Andy Day and Andy Mc Neill gave our forwards the power to repeatedly drive back the New Brighton pack with some impressive rolling maul work.

The closing minutes were memorable for Collegiate being held up on their opponents line four times and Richie Moore unluckily missing a chance to cross in the corner.

As usual several lads played out of position and as usual everybody gave everything. Good to have the Anastasiou brothers back and to see Robinson's pace used to advantage.

Next Sunday we must build on this when we entertain Anselmians with kick off at 2pm

SENIOR COLTS 21 - 23 A'HAM KERSAL

Altrincham are always popular visitors to Aigburth-they are a good side well managed by decent people and a credit to their club.This makes defeat marginally easier to accept but the manner in which the Blue boys went down was agonising.

Firstly Chris and myself were disgusted with the players who could not be bothered to text, phone or e-mail to say they would not be coming to the game. No problem with the lads who were Injured, suspended or unavailable-we knew about you but you all know that if you dont get in touch with us you are expected to be present!!!

Chris does not deserve to be treated in such a manner and frankly I wouldnt blame the 14 who played from tearing a strip off you.

The 14 who played gave everything and more in their attempt to get the win and when skipper Tom Featherstone was forced to retire in the first half the remainder just worked even harder. Once again a late penalty cost us dearly as we entered the last ten minutes with a 21-20 lead having let slip a 14-0 lead to a deficit of 14-20.

We played a lot of excellent running rugby and crossed the whitewash three times through first half tries from Featherstone and Robinson and a well deserved one for prop Charlie Hudson with all three being converted by Jonny Kelly.

So we have now reached the halfway point of the season having played all of our opponents once and there is no doubt that as our numbers increase so will our win ratio.The league is full of good quality sides but there is not one side in it that I dont believe we can beat.

SENIOR COLTS 26 - 5 WIRRAL

Wirral played the entire game with just 15 players and deserve great praise for keeping going in the face of a second half onslaught that brought us four tries with three converted by Jonny Kelly as a refashioned Collegiate took complete control.

With as seems customary players absent through injury, suspension or unavailable only 18 made the trip with Chris Pettigrew redeploying several forward players in an attempt to create a balanced pack.

Newcomer Charlie Hudson was always prominent with Will Smith doing well at 8 but Wirral competed well and probably deserved a 5-0 interval lead with the old achillies heel of conceding just before the break again costing us dearly.

The game changed quickly early in the second half as Mike Cronin went over to bring us level and as lineout, scrum and open play all improved further tries soon followed from Kelly, Loughrey and Cordingley.

The game was hotly contested and played in a good spirit. From memory I dont think any player required the cold sponge-from either side.

High flying Altrincham visit Aigburth next Sunday and will provide a stiff test.With a full squad we shall be ready to take them on.

SENIOR COLTS 17 - 24 STOCKPORT

Travelling to the league leaders who boasted a 100% record with 17 players was never going to be easy and sure enough injuries reduced the lads down to the bare 15 with Josh Smith having to relinquish his role in the pack to shore up a depleted back line.

There is but a hairs breath between most sides in this league with so many games being desperately close and all of a very high standard. Stockport paid us the compliment of saying that we along with Chester are the best sides they have encountered thus far.

After absorbing most of the home teams pressure the alert Adam Leslie collected a long kick after a good chase and grounded between the sticks to give Jonny Kelly an easy conversion but Stockport raised their game to a higher level again and quickly gained a 12-7 lead only for the very assured Kelly to pick up another three points to keep us in touch.

The next part of the game showed the true character of this side as a gap of 14 points quickly opened up as fatigue,players forced to play out of position and inexperience looked to be too much of a burden-not a bit of it.

A series of well executed moves began to build up momentum and if anything the strong Stockport side looked to be the wearier side and when Jack Donnellan crossed for a really good try which Kelly converted it brought us back to within 7 points. Sadly although we really went for it we ran out of time and the relieved league leaders maintained their unbeaten record.

There is no doubt that with more replacement options we would have succeeded.Injuries and suspension took that away from us. The overall picture is extremely good both for this season and long term for the club as many of these lads will be pushing hard for places in the senior sides next season.

Well done Andy Mc Neill on his first appearance for twelve months and to all seventeen who made the trip.

SENIOR COLTS 13 - 15 CHESTER

Chester are always welcome visitors to Riversdale as they always play fast aggressive rugby of excellent quality coupled with a behaviour ethic that reflects huge credit on John Armstrong and his coaches.

This was certainly in evidence today as both sides contributed to a great game of rugby in difficult conditions which was won by the visitors through a late penalty which tilted the scoreline their way after a fluctuating game.

Collegiate suffered prematch through the absence of Josh Smith and Andy Day on top of the missing Jake Jensen and Sotiris Anastasiou and Mark Mansell. To run Chester so close without these hugely talented lads just shows how well our remaining players performed.

Due to these absentees the game was played without contested scrums with Richard Moore, Mike Cronin and Tom Gaunt all putting in unfamiliar shifts in the pack and emerging with great credit.

Debutant Will Smith is going to be a major force as he settles in and it was great to have Jack Donnellan back in the side looking as if he had never been away. The strength of the squad is such now that nobody is guaranteed a place, all 22 shirts are up for grabs.

In wet and blustery conditions the handling of both sets of backs was often of high quality and it was lovely to see the ball moving through so many pairs of hands and well prepared moves being put into action.

John Kelly put over two well struck penalties as well as converting skipper Tom Featherstone's try and there is no reason why we shouldn't travel to leaders Stockport next Sunday with anything but victory in mind.

Mr. Peter Barnett refereed the match and both sides agreed he had an excellent game. He too thought that the game had been a great advert for Colts rugby and although it was disappointing to lose it was in many ways an important day in our progress to becoming the side that we want to be.

SENIOR COLTS 33 - 19 MARAGON

Friday evening rugby at Riversdale as the Senior Colts entertained Maragon from South Africa in a game hastily arranged to assist our guests in revising a hectic itinery encompassing Scotland,Southern England and Paris.

Regardless of their other results the Maragon team will not be travelling back unbeaten as the emerging Collegiate players ran in five tries and more importantly made far fewer basic errors.

Powerful midfield tackling clearly frustrated the visitors and intelligent kicking late in the game resulted in two clever tries as the South Africans wilted in the warm late September evening.

Thanks to all the players who went to great lengths to get the game started at 5.30 - not ideal after a days work or at College and also to all those who took the trouble to come and lend support as well as Rob Smith for refereeing.

After the game the teams mixed well before our guests left to return to their base before preparing for the next leg of their tour.

We wish them well as we prepare for a mouthwatering game against an excellent Chester side next Sunday at home with kick off at 2pm

SENIOR COLTS 18 - 16 VALE OF LUNE

With Josh Smith out injured and the Anastasiou twins, Sam Downes and Jake Jensen only able to make the subs bench through knocks it was a way below full strength side that met a Vale outfit who were able to field their strongest fifteen so far this season.

Therefore enormous credit goes to Stefan, Andy, Peter, Adam, Richie and Yves-players of very little experience who helped our seasoned campaigners get to half time only 6-13 down.

Showing a fantastic desire to succeed the injured quartet all appeared for the second half and gradually reeled in the visitors from 6-16 through a penalty try and a late winning try from Jonny Kelly who scored all of our points-apart from the penalty try which was earned by the hard running of Steve Anderson.

A red card for Sotiris was regretable but even playing a man down, playing uphill and with injured players the Blue still had the guts and skill to achieve a win that takes them to the head of affairs in League B although we have played a game more than some sides.

Touchline support was tremendous and the boys really respond to the encouragement given. Vale have some decent players and it wont be long before they taste victory.

SENIOR COLTS 26 - 12 ANSELMIANS

Last season we were put to the sword by an Anselmians side intent on scoring as many as possible against a nine man Collegiate side who included two U16 players enabling the game to be played and thereby our continuation in the Raging Bull league.

This time despite injury preventing Tom Featherstone and Nino Anastasiou powering the forwards the Blue were too good for the home side and achieved a very satisfying victory by a comfortable 26-12 margin.

Jake Jensen, Josh Cordingley, Steve Anderson and Mike Loughrey all crossed for tries that were all splendidly constructed and executed in different ways with Jonny Kelly converting three of them.

The first half was particularly pleasing as everybody played a part none more so than Yves Babatu and Richie Moore, both making their seasonal debut whilst Adam Leslie and Mike Loughrey put in many excellent tackles.

The usual suspects got through prodigious workloads as is their norm and overall there was little for the tight lipped supremo (Chris) to complain about.

SENIOR COLTS 17 - 21 NEW BRIGHTON

A game that really should have been a win was decided by two breakout tries from New Brighton from positions where they were desperately defending their tryline against fierce Collegiate pressure.

As against Sedgley last week we played better and faster rugby and lineout and scrummaging both showed a marked improvement.At times a sort of manic intensity hinders us such as the ten minutes that New Brighton were down to fourteen players when we were unable to put anything on the board.

The second half produced a stirring fightback playing uphill and the gap was closed to 10-14 with more points looking likely before the second of New Brightons breakout tries effectively took them to the winning post although their was still time for Peter Robinson to go under the posts in the last play.

Earlier skipper Tom Featherstone had powered over for a splendid try to get the fightback underway.
Once we learn to relax a little and continue to improve our decision making we will make rapid progress. It was also pleasing how hurt the lads were by this reversal - they didnt like it and won't want to experience it again too soon.

Mr. James Brown was an excellent referee and Ian and his team are always a pleasure to entertain.

SENIOR COLTS 17 - 12 SEDGLEY PARK

Carrying on from the latter part of last season the Colts produced the goods and secured a notable victory at a ground where winning is never easy.

Sedgley have long held a powerful,determined pack but stop that and there is no "Plan B ". Collegiate held most of the cards and with more clinical finishing would have finished clearer winners.

A late rally from Park produced a few nervous minutes as they scored a second try but overall nearly all the running rugby came from the Blues with Jensen, Kelly and Loughrey scoring excellent tries. Jonny Kelly converted the most difficult of two conversion attempts before retiring with a leg wound.

Other casualties included Peter Robinson-arm, Alex Warburton-knee and Josh Cordingley-exhaustion.

Thanks to all 19 who made the trip and lets keep it going next Sunday at home to New Brighton kick off is 2pm.