Squad on the day:-
Forwards:- Mitch, Josh White, Vineet, Lewis, Joe Mulhall, Joe Delaney, Kyle, Kuba, Jp, Alex Dean, Rhys, Callum
Backs:- Josh Dempsey, James Finlay, Matty F, Kieran, Jamie, Josh Abley, Josh Obeng, Paul Peasey, Brad, Aldi, Alex Carden, Gary
Walking wounded :- Alex M and Matty B

Well who’d of thought it, two Lancashire cup finals in a row, this time a level up. Well I guess the unholy trinity of the coaching staff; Brian, Ian, Mike, Andy and John had it planned down to a T; The pre season fitness training in Sefton Park, the friendly matches, the Thursday night gruelling training, the squad selections, the player rotation, the specialist coaches and the post match Indian meal, (only ruined by the England Ireland result).

Leigh were the hosts, Fleetwood were the opposition. We knew the ground, (didn’t we Rhys), but we didn’t know our opponents. These Northern Lancashire teams are usually stocked with huge forwards and tenacious tackling backs, we were hoping the Collegiate scouse pluck would pull us through.

But what a bloody miserable day to play rugby in. The wind and horizontal rain was howling in from touch line to touch line, drenching players, refs and supporters alike, sucking the heat out of all extremities. Today wasn’t for the champagne rugby played in last years final against Trafford MV. Today was a day for basics, keep hold, catch well, pass short, kick sparingly, tackle like a demon. And boy didn’t they do well.

The allotted time came, the whistle blew, (not that we could hear it above the wind and rain) and battle commenced. Fleetwood kicked off and the war started somewhere around our 22 yard line. Both teams were fresh but bedraggled and the ball slipped around like a soggy bar of soap. It is not a bad reflection on the lads to say that knock-ons and handling errors were ripe and the forwards got plenty of scrum practice. Like most matches the first 10 minutes were fairly even, whilst everyone found their place and got used to the conditions, then Collegiate began to win the territorial battle and Fleetwood started sliding back into their home quarter. The Liverpool forwards won the ball and unleashed the backs with a well drilled move that saw Aldi twist and duck and score in the far right hand corner 5-0. Josh Abley had no chance with the conversion, from the edge of the pitch and against the wind.
Collegiate continued to battle Fleetwood in the mid field and Josh Dempsey earned his man of the match nomination, with determined and crunching tackles. In one period of play Fleetwood launched 3 phases of attack only to end up 15 metres further back due to Josh’s one man tacking crusade.

Towards the end of the first half, more Liverpool pressure saw Kieran capitalise on good hands to score once again near the corner. 10 nil up at half time.

Nerves were still present as we started the second half, The rain had subsided to a drizzle but the wind was still an ever present problem. Liverpool kicked off and continued the good fight where they left off. We launched attacks and countered theirs, Joe Mulhall was outstanding in the rucks and single handedly was responsible for three turn overs. Fleetwood were tiring and another push saw the ball arrive with Josh Dempsey who covered thirty yards, with two in support to score once again in the corner, (no easy kicks for Josh today). 15 – 0 up with 20 minutes to go. Fleetwood may well have given up then, but they continued to provide a decent team and hit back with a backs try, under the post to close the gap to 8 points.
The forwards had battled ferociously all match, with the flankers especially making a solid nuisance of themselves, but Kuba did that little bit more and splintered the Fleetwood defensive line on a number of occasions. 5 mins left and the game still up for grabs, the Polish pummeller grabbed the ball and brushed through the demoralised oppositions defence to secure the Lancashire Vase. KUBA!!!!!KUBA!!!!!

There were so many other moments of hard work and good play like Josh Ableys clearance kicking, Alex Carden;s superb full back work, Kyles bulldozer runs and James Finlay’s scrum halving under targeted attack, but it was a team effort that got us to the final and a team effort that won the game.

The scoreline was fair, but Collegiate could have had more as they did cross the Fleetwood try line twice more only to have tries disallowed due to knock ons (tough one Josh).

Fleetwood were a good opposition and you could not say they didn’t try with guts and determination, but the force that was Liverpool Collegiate U-15s, denied them territory, movement and basically limited their options to regrouping under fire. Fleetwood only had one strong attack which resulted in a well worked backs try, other than that Collegiate s try line was in no danger.

Joint man of the match, as voted by parents, uncles, aunts, coaches and hanger ons
Josh Dempsey and Kuba

By Aitch

Match details

Match date

Sun 12 Apr 2015

Kickoff

13:00

Meet time

12:00

Team overview