Lancashire 42 Northumberland 34
Lancashire began their Bill Beaumont Cup defence with this less than convincing victory over Northumberland at Powderhouse Lane. Head coach Mark Nelson had said in the build-up to the game that Northumberland weren't to be taken lightly, and so it proved.
Early Northumberland pressure from the kick-off led to their skipper Matt Hall driving over on three minutes. Red Rose captain Louis McGowan led the way back with a try of his own six minutes later, and with Chris Johnson converting the home side took the lead. Johnson took advantage of great work down the right wing by Evan Stewart to score after 12 minutes, and converting his own try, took the score to 14-5. Chris Harris scored after good line-out work by Northumberland before Johnson kicked a penalty goal to give the home side a seven point lead, just before Grant Ferguson was sin-binned on 18 minutes. The visitors took full advantage of the extra man, scoring twice, first of all through Alan Rogers, and then Nathan Bailey. Northumberland number 8 Sam Shires was the architect of the second of those tries, with his powerful running from the breakdown a problem for Lancashire throughout the afternoon. Johnson pegged the scores back five minutes before the break with another penalty goal, for a half-time score of 20-22. Five minutes into the second period, Hamish Smales scored after evading several challenges, and with Ashley Smith converting, Northumberland had a nine point lead. But Northumberland were soon to be a man down; Shires walking for ten minutes on 48. Steve McGinnis drove over the line after a period of concerted pressure on the Northumberland defence, and then with the visitors down to 13 men after Ben Bell was yellow-carded, it was captain McGowan who led the way once more, to give Lancashire the slenderest of leads by 30-29. Once Shires had returned, Northumberland regained their potency, and Smales scored again to reclaim the lead on 62 minutes. The introduction of winger Matt Hughes saw him take the initiative, and power down his wing to score with just over ten minutes to play; while the last score of the game belonged to the effervescent Nathan Fowles, who jinked his way over the line wide of the posts, and carried on running past opponents to put down between the sticks for his club-mate Johnson to score the simplest of conversions. Scorers: Lancashire Tries: McGowan 9 58, Johnson 12, McGinnis 51, Hughes 69, Fowles 77 Conversions: Johnson 9 12 77 Penalty Goals: Johnson 18 35 Northumberland Tries: Hall 3, Harris 16, Rogers 24, Bailey 28, Smales 45 62 Conversions: Smith 24 45 Referee: Andrew Taylorson Half-time: 20 - 22 Teams: Lancashire: Adam Armstrong (Blackheath), Oliver Viney (Fylde), Chris Briers (Fylde), Richard Kenyon (Fylde), Steve Nutt (Rossendale), Chris Johnson (Preston Grasshoppers), Ryan De La Harpe (Moseley), Dan Birchall (Sedgley Park), Alex Loney (Fylde), Richard Morton (Preston Grasshoppers), Louis McGowan (Sedgley Park) (Captain), Grant Ferguson (Fylde), Evan Stewart (Fylde), Steve McGinnis (Fylde), Dominic Moon (Preston Grasshoppers) Replacements: Simon Griffiths (Fylde), Peter Ince (Leigh), Peter Altham (Fylde), Adam Lewis (Sedgley Park), Paul Arnold (Fylde), Nathan Fowles (Preston Grasshoppers), Matt Hughes (Preston Grasshoppers) Northumberland: Hamish Smales (Tynedale), Simon Barber (Blaydon), Chris Harris (Tynedale), Harry Mountain (Tynedale), Alan Rogers (Tynedale), Ashley Smith (Percy Park), Matthew Outson (Tynedale), Rob Kalbraier (Blaydon), Matt Hall (Blaydon) (Captain), David Dickinson (Tynedale), Shaun English (Blaydon), Chris Campbell (Darlington Mowden Park), Keith Laughlin (Blaydon), Jonny Cousins (Tynedale), Sam Shires (Tynedale) Replacements: Nathan Bailey (Gosforth), Myles Scott (Tynedale), Stephen Ridley (Tynedale), Ben Bell (Morpeth), Jonny Stevenson (Beverley), Alex Westgarth (Tynedale), Andrew Harrison (Tynedale) |
Read the match programme from the game by clicking on the image below
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Squad news for the Lancashire website -
Lancashire County selectors have chosen the squad to defend their Bill Beaumont County Championship.
The first match is this Saturday, 5 May at Vale of Lune RUFC, where they will play Northumberland, who have returned to North Division One.
Lead Coach Mark Nelson said of his squad: "We have picked a wider squad, because of availability issues throughout the campaign. Looking round the division, I think that this will be the strongest competition we have had since I have been involved with the County. Yorkshire have had players released from Rotherham, Doncaster and Leeds; Northumberland have some Newcastle players, and from Blaydon and Tynedale; and Cheshire will be strong with Macclesfield and Caldy represented.
"All those counties have expressed a feeling that they are the favourites to go through. So according to the other counties, we are the underdogs. I've got every confidence though, that all the lads will perform for the Red Rose with the same amount of passion that is shown every year.
"We park club form at the door of the County Championship changing room, all the players have expressed an interest and volunteered to play for the County, and there is a real buzz and a hunger about them. There are three lads who have had a really good season at Preston Grasshoppers, and they have achieved selection on that.
"We have got a really good balance, with a lot of good experience, and brought some youth in. that is what we try to do at Lancashire, we look to bring players through. We are looking for an avenue from the Under 20s going forward within the County.
"Our management of John Greenwood and Steve Rigby are fundamental in overseeing the way that we plan selection and put the squad together. We have a good response from the training that we have had and I hope the players can produce a good performance on Saturday."
The selected squad is as follows:
Peter Altham Fylde Peter Ince Leigh Adam Armstrong Blackheath Chris Johnson Huddersfield Paul Arnold Fylde Richard Kenyon Fylde Sam Beaumont Fylde Tom Lavelle Fylde Dan Birchall Sedgley Park Adam Lewis Sedgley Park Oliver Brennand Fylde Alex Loney Fylde Chris Briers Fylde Steve McGinnis Fylde Steve Briers Fylde Dominic Moon Preston Grasshoppers Matt Charters Preston Grasshoppers Richard Morton Preston Grasshoppers Steve Collins Fylde Steve Nutt Rossendale Juan Crous Sedgley Park Gareth Rawlings Fylde Alex Davies London Welsh Matt Riley Sedgley Park Ryan De La Harpe Moseley Nick Royle Fylde Grant Ferguson Fylde Mark Rylance Caldy Nick Flynn Sedgley Park Andrew Soutar Caldy Nathan Fowles Preston Grasshoppers Wayne Steele Preston Grasshoppers Simon Griffiths Fylde Evan Stewart Fylde Matt Hughes Preston Grasshoppers Mike Waywell Fylde
Lancashire County selectors have chosen the squad to defend their Bill Beaumont County Championship.
The first match is this Saturday, 5 May at Vale of Lune RUFC, where they will play Northumberland, who have returned to North Division One.
Lead Coach Mark Nelson said of his squad: "We have picked a wider squad, because of availability issues throughout the campaign. Looking round the division, I think that this will be the strongest competition we have had since I have been involved with the County. Yorkshire have had players released from Rotherham, Doncaster and Leeds; Northumberland have some Newcastle players, and from Blaydon and Tynedale; and Cheshire will be strong with Macclesfield and Caldy represented.
"All those counties have expressed a feeling that they are the favourites to go through. So according to the other counties, we are the underdogs. I've got every confidence though, that all the lads will perform for the Red Rose with the same amount of passion that is shown every year.
"We park club form at the door of the County Championship changing room, all the players have expressed an interest and volunteered to play for the County, and there is a real buzz and a hunger about them. There are three lads who have had a really good season at Preston Grasshoppers, and they have achieved selection on that.
"We have got a really good balance, with a lot of good experience, and brought some youth in. that is what we try to do at Lancashire, we look to bring players through. We are looking for an avenue from the Under 20s going forward within the County.
"Our management of John Greenwood and Steve Rigby are fundamental in overseeing the way that we plan selection and put the squad together. We have a good response from the training that we have had and I hope the players can produce a good performance on Saturday."
The selected squad is as follows:
Peter Altham Fylde Peter Ince Leigh Adam Armstrong Blackheath Chris Johnson Huddersfield Paul Arnold Fylde Richard Kenyon Fylde Sam Beaumont Fylde Tom Lavelle Fylde Dan Birchall Sedgley Park Adam Lewis Sedgley Park Oliver Brennand Fylde Alex Loney Fylde Chris Briers Fylde Steve McGinnis Fylde Steve Briers Fylde Dominic Moon Preston Grasshoppers Matt Charters Preston Grasshoppers Richard Morton Preston Grasshoppers Steve Collins Fylde Steve Nutt Rossendale Juan Crous Sedgley Park Gareth Rawlings Fylde Alex Davies London Welsh Matt Riley Sedgley Park Ryan De La Harpe Moseley Nick Royle Fylde Grant Ferguson Fylde Mark Rylance Caldy Nick Flynn Sedgley Park Andrew Soutar Caldy Nathan Fowles Preston Grasshoppers Wayne Steele Preston Grasshoppers Simon Griffiths Fylde Evan Stewart Fylde Matt Hughes Preston Grasshoppers Mike Waywell Fylde