Author : St. Helens Saints Media

They say you should always go out on a high and that just what the Saints Academy did in this strangely truncated season with a ten try victory over Newcastle Thunder in the North East.

The tone was set in the first three tackles of the game as Cole Appleby sat one prop unceremoniously on his backside and then two tackles later hit the other one so hard, he went off clutching his sternum, never to return.

The Saints got a repeat set and Thunder thought they’d got things covered as the Saints Academy went away from Appleby to George Delaney. That was until he charged at the defensive line scattering players on his way through before calmly committing the fullback and putting McKenzie Buckley in at the corner.

It had taken the Thunder four sets to hang on to the ball for more than one pass but it still took them ten more minutes before they stretched the lead.

Harry Brooks and a Taylor Pemberton half break put the Saints clear before quick hands to the right saw Alfie Whittle over in the corner.

On quarter time it was again Pemberton who took full advantage off some great drives with quick play the balls to dart away. He fed Daniel Moss who took the ball on, weaving first one way then the other turning the fullback in and out before passing inside to the supporting Jonathon Bennison to go the final 20 to the posts.

From the kick off the same old errors crept in as the Saints knocked on at first tackle.

The Thunder took full advantage spreading the ball left and going in at the corner.

On the half hour the Saints effectively put the game to bed with Ben Lane stretching out to touch down after Bennison’s high last tackle kick had been spilled.

The final act of the half saw Kal Devine get his just desserts for some fine recent displays with a try under the posts. Good drives from Buckley and Bardyel Wells were stopped at the line. From the play the ball Pemberton’s shoot ball was taken in a swallow dive by Devine for his second of the season.

The home side held out for the first ten minutes of the half with Bardyel Wells going close for the Saints. But as soon as Alfie Pyke had pulled off a miraculous try saving tackle the fight went out of the Thunder and the Saints scored three back-to-back tries.

The first came after a delightful grubber from Bennison in behind the line was chased and touched down by Sam Haynes.

The second saw Saints go right to substitute winger Keane Gilford who neatly stepped inside the cover to score.

The third, on the hour mark, came as the defence opened up to allow Appleby an easy score under the posts.

With 15 minutes to go, Shay Martyn got his name in the tries column as he showed he’s not just a kicker but can actually shift as a winger. He caught a good high kick on his line before sprinting 95 metres to score outpacing the cover after expertly standing up the fullback to give himself space.

With ten minutes to go Alfie Pyke score the Saints final try running a great line before stepping inside the statuesque defensive line.

The Saints again fielded a young line up but as the season has gone on the players have grown in confidence and stature and coped admirably well with both the long journey and their responsibilities on the field.

Those moving on to the Reserves next year will benefit from training and playing with older more experienced players.

Those playing in the U18’s as it will be next year will have benefitted from this year playing above their age group and will be bolstered by a really exciting group of players from this year’s Scholarship program.

The future is bright as always for the Red Vee.

[A big thank you to Graham Henthorne who has signed off with this final match report!]

Newcastle Thunder U19’s:

Team: Alex Donaghy; Matthew Parkes, Isaac Nokes, Thomas Moore, William Groves; Oliver Bibby, Eliot Shaw; Ryan Crossley, Todd Wilkinson (C), Jack Skelton, Noel Branthwaite, Matthew Kehoe, Henry Bowler.

Interchanges: Ben Jardine, Oliver Redding, William Lintin, Oliver Shaw.

Tries: Isaac Nokes (24).

Goals: Noel Branthwaite 0 from 1.

Saints Academy U19’s:

Team: Ben Lane, Alfie Whittle, McKenzie Buckley, Ellis Keppel, Shay Martyn; Jonathan Bennison, Daniel Moss; Cole Appleby, Taylor Pemberton (C), George Delaney, Alfie Pyke, Reece Sumner, Eliot Peposhi.

Interchanges: Ethan Bradbury, Kalan Devine, Harry Brooks, Desmond Appiah-Kubi, Bardyel Wells, Keane Gilford, Sam Haynes.

Tries: McKenzie Buckley (3), Alfie Whittle (13), Jonathan Bennison (19), Ben Lane (29), Kalan Devine (37), Sam Haynes (51), Keane Gilford (55), Cole Appleby (59), Shay Martyn (65), Alfie Pyke (70).

Goals: Shay Martyn 8 from 10.

HT: 4-26

FT: 4-56

Saints Academy – St. Helens Saints

Wigan’s U19s ease past Hull KR

The post The Saints Academy end season with victory over Newcastle Thunder appeared first on OurFootyTeam.

Author : St. Helens Saints Media

St. Helen’s academy lose out in the derby: report and highlights

Despite a gutsy battle the Saints finally ran out of numbers today losing out to our near neighbours in the final ten minutes, 10-24.

The Saints were forced into a pre-match shuffle with Ethan Bradbury in for Ellis Archer, but scrum half, Archer, found himself in the action after only 90 seconds as Bradbury was led from the field with a bad gash to the head which ended his days activity before it had started.

Having endured all that, the Saints started brightly with Daniel Moss being ankle tapped as he sprinted for the line. Just a couple of minutes later the two half backs combined to give the Saints the lead.

The Saints had pounded the right side of the visitor’s defence for three tackles and went that way again on the fourth with Moss feeding Archer who dummied his way into the corner.

Shay Martyn conversion fell agonisingly short, but the Saints were on the board and looking dominant in the first quarter due to their 95% completion rate.

Unfortunately, in the last 20 minutes of the half errors and knock-ons meant that completion rate dropped which let the visitors back in.

Wigan went in 8 points up at the break thanks to two converted tries both of which contained suspicious passes in the build-up.

Half time brought more agony as two further players were ruled out for the remainder of the game leaving only three subs on the bench.

A knock on from a final pass 10 minutes in gave the Saints a life line which they gratefully took finally hanging onto possession for long enough to put the visitors under pressure.

Fifteen minutes in the Saints crafted a great try again down the left side. Captain Lewis Baxter nudged his nose half way through the line, just enough to be able to feed the supporting Taylor Pemberton on the inside.

He took it on 20 metres to the fullback before passing inside to Daniel Moss who outsprinted the cover from halfway to go under the posts.

Martyn’s conversion put the Saints within two points and right back in it.

The last quarter became a bit of a war of attrition and with the Saints down on numbers that was only going to go one way. Sure enough a tired knock on at the halfway line with 10 minutes to go led to the first of back-to-back tries which took the game away from the Saints.

Saints U19’s:

Team: Jonathan Bennison; Shay Martyn, McKenzie Buckley, Ellis Keppel, Alfie Whittle; Daniel Moss, Taylor Pemberton; Lewis Baxter (C), Ethan Bradbury, George Delaney, Ben O’Donnell, Reece Sumner, Kalan Devine.
Interchanges: Ellis Archer, Cole Appleby, Joe Woods, Kallem Rodgers, Eliot Peposhi, Keane Gilford.

Tries: Ellis Archer (9), Daniel Moss (56).
Goals : Shay Martyn 1 from 2.

Wigan U19’s:

Team: Umyla Hanley; Jacob Kilner-Douglas, Zach Eckersley, Alexander Sutton, Joseph Robinson; Adam Jones, Logan Astley; Toby Brennan, Thomas Forber, Kavan Rothwell, Matthew Nicholson (C), Ri’chards Nsemba, Bradley O’Neill.
Interchanges: Kyle Huish, Harvey Makin, Ellis Hodson, Max Wood, Reagan Sumner, Harvey Wilson, Harvie Hill.

Tries: Ri’chards Nsemba (20), Joseph Robinson (33), Logan Astley (70 & 72).
Goals: Alexander Sutton 4 from 4.

Half Time: 4-12

Full Time: 10-24

Related Links

England RL

St. Helens FLFC

NZRL National Youth Competition Results

Barrow & District League celebrate Primary RL Festival

The post St. Helen’s academy lose out in the derby appeared first on OurFootyTeam.

Author : St. Helens Saints Media

The Saints just edged a tight encounter at the sun-drenched Athletic Grounds in Richmond with a come from behind 20-28 win over the Broncos.

It all started so well as Ellis Keppel put the Saints ahead in only the second minute.

The Broncos coughed up possession on half way and on the last Jonathon Bennison committed his opposite number before putting his centre in at the right corner.

However, within five minutes the home side had taken the lead scoring down their left-hand side.

In a topsy-turvy opening 10 minutes good defence from the kick off forced the Broncos into another error this time in their own 20 metre area.

Two drives later and Ethan Bradbury jumped out of dummy half to score under the posts.

On quarter time the Broncos hooker got his own back as he took advantage of slow reactions at marker to go in from the play the ball himself.

The scores remained level, however, as having converted the earlier try from the touchline the Broncos stand-off missed with a much simpler effort.

As the time ticked on to the interval the Saints blew a gilt-edged opportunity to take the lead.

On the fifth tackle Eliot Peposhi was put through a yawning gap 10 metres out with only the fullback in front of him.

Unfortunately, when any kind of footwork would have put him over, he chose to charge through and was pulled down short.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first with the Saints camped on the Broncos line. Both Peposhi and Lewis Baxter were held up over the line but a knock-on ended the threat.

The Broncos were stopped just short of the Saints line but a good exit set saw the Saints on the front foot straight away.

A great 30 metre run down the left from Keane Gilford got the Saints within range and from the play the ball Daniel Moss put Alfie Pyke through the line.

He took it onto the fullback before calm as you like feeding Moss on the inside to go the final 30 metres to finish what he started.

But as those more seasoned campaigners who have been watching Broncos Academy teams for a number of years will tell you, they don’t go away!

And this year’s batch proved that they are no different with back-to-back tries on the hour mark to put themselves ahead and in the driving seat.

Down on troops and it needed someone to step up to the plate.

And that man was Captain Lewis Baxter who, both with and without the ball stepped up his intensity in the last ten minutes taking his team with him.

A last tackle kick was fumbled by the Broncos giving the Saints a full set in their red zone.

A Kalan Devine drive was repelled, but from the play the ball Baxter charged onto Bradbury’s pass twisting over at the posts.

On the next set he, Bradbury and the relentless George Delaney, were all stopped short before Alfie Whittle was pushed into touch in the right corner going for the clinching score.

But that accolade went, with three minutes to go, to Captain Baxter.

A great kick chase and defensive effort put enough pressure on the Broncos outside backs to force an error in their own 20.

Two drives later and Ben Lane’s inside ball put Baxter in again under the posts for the win.

London Broncos U19’s:

Rhys Cotter; Padraic Tennent, George Dadd, Teddy Davidson, Tommy Svanidze; Sean Baker, Alexander Deery; Benjamin Hersey-Hord, Bill Leyland, Luciano Bejanidze, Jack Howorth, Max Allen, Rory Gray.

Interchanges: Elliott Hutchings, Joseph Rees, Oluwafemi Sanya, Joseph Saunders, Henry Kirwan, Nathan Kosbab.

TRIES :Teddy Davidson (7), Bill Leyland (22 & 63), Joseph Rees (65).
GOALS : Sean Baker 2 from 4.

St Helens U19’s:

Ben Lane; Alfie Whittle, Ellis Keppel, Shay Martyn, Keane Gilford; Jonathan Bennison, Daniel Moss; Harry Brooks, Ethan Bradbury, Lewis Baxter, McKenzie Buckley, Reece Sumner, Kalan Devine.

Interchanges: Kallem Rodgers, George Delaney, Eliot Peposhi, Ben O’Donnell, Joe Woods, Alfie Pyke.

TRIES : Ellis Keppel (2), Ethan Bradbury (11), Daniel Moss (51), Lewis Baxter (70 & 77).
Goals: Shay Martyn 4 from 5.

Half Time: 10-10

Full Time: 20-28

Next match : St. Helen’s Saints v Wigan Warriors

Fans can support the Saints at the Totally Wicked Stadium this weekend as the Academy face Wigan Warriors on Saturday (12 noon) in their derby before our Women return to action against York City Knights Ladies on Sunday (2pm).

The post St. Helens Academy overcome London appeared first on OurFootyTeam.