First XV Too Much for Southport

On what turned out to be an excellent day for running rugby, the 1st XV travelled to mid table Southport, expecting what was sure to be a very physical encounter.

The game started as a very edgy affair, with neither side able to really complete enough sequences for them to creep away on the scoreboard, but 2 penalties apiece left the scores at 6-6 20 minutes in.
the real breakthrough came when the visitors started to move the ball and build phases. Looking dangerous out wide, the ball began to go through the hands, giving outside centre Chris Lloyd an opportunity to get the opening score out wide. This was quickly followed by a second, with the home team only able to kick a third penalty and from there, the boys in blue never really looked like doing anything but winning.

At the interval, there was a simple message for the visitors. That was to keep playing the patterns and to do it in the right areas.

In the second half, Collegiate took complete control, sensing that they would get the most success out wide. This resulted in winger Sam Holliday getting the ball in space and getting 3 unanswered tries. With his wing partner Stuart Gilroy getting one of his own from distance, the visitors had registered 6 tries and were looking to be cruising to another impressive win.

Credit to our hosts, Southport never gave up the battle, and with the final play of the game, a well controlled maul saw them squeeze over in the corner to make the final scores 38-14.