The Firsts pulled off a heroic win over the water against resurgent Wallasey, Forest Bailey and Jacob McMullen doing the honours with a try and two penalties respectively in a finger nail biting 11-10 score-line. The Seconds got back on track with an impressive victory at Waterloo Road over gritty Broughton, triumphing 34-0 with tries from Dan Cresswell, Jordan Caldwell, Tim Holland, Jonah Jones and Rei Chambers, supplemented by three conversions and a penalty by Phil Causey and an imperious performance from Craig Pacey. To complete the job the Thirds put in arguably their best performance of the season in seeing off Sefton 17-10 with a man of the match performance from Dave Atherton

Sadly on Sunday the Senior Colts and Ladies fell victim to late cancellations because their scheduled opponents couldn’t raise teams, but the Junior Colts were able to get a run out against Ormskirk, before a full house in the club house watched the Ireland v England game on the big screen.

But undoubtedly the stars of the weekend were the under 7s, the self-styled ‘Devils’, who were the half-time attraction at the televised Sale Sharks match on Friday night, something they won’t forget in a hurry.

It’s back down to earth for them this Sunday morning when along with other mini and junior sides they welcome Sedgley Park to Waterloo Road, with both the Colts teams on their travels to Rossendale and Marple respectively. The over 50s will be at it again to after record numbers turning out last Sunday.

Saturday sees the Firsts at home to Oswestry and the Thirds over the wall to Widnes 3, whilst the Seconds cross the Ribble to enjoy the hospitality at the hands of Fylde 5.

SELECTION

FIRST XV (v Oswestry h 2.15): 1Tony Hudson 2 Liam Webb 3 Jamie Church 4 Mike Dale 5 Henry Brain 6 David Gairn 7 Gareth Lang(c) 8 Jonah Jones 9 Joe Mawdsley 10 Danny Banks 11 Chris Drescher 12 Clarke Walton 13 Oliver Brown 14 Forest Bailey 15 Jacob McMullen 16 Calum Monaghan 17 Matthew Astwood 18 Craig Pacey

SECOND XV (v Fylde 5 a 2.15): 1 John Gillow 2 Tim Holland 3 Mathew Purnell 4 Dave Hignett 5 James Smallwood 6 Daniel Capps 7 Dan Cresswell 8 Neil Bayliff 9 Phil Causey 10 Mark Astwood 11 Matty Woods 12 Martin Bailey(c) 13 William Greenwood 14 Will Scott-Abbott 15 Ben Cresswell 16 Joe Gerrard 17 Francis McGeown 18 John Tommo Thompson

THIRD XV (v Widnes 3 h 2.15): 1 Tom Smith 2 James Thomas 3 Dan Aindow 4 Juz Griffiths 5 Nick Avery 6 Mark Garner Jones 7 Mark Brunskill 8 Kristian Griffiths 9 James Doran(c) 10 David Atherton 11 James Holloway 12 John Roberts 13 Eddie Fashioni 14 Callum McNeil 15Tom Peacock 16 Paul Smith17 Steve Summerfield 18 Alex Fusco

MATCH REPORTS

Wallasey 10 Southport 11 c/o the Wallasey web site (has no one in the first team got a pen?)

Wallasey Thwarted

Looking for their fourth consecutive win Wallasey fell just short in the mud at Cross Lane on Saturday.

For the first quarter both sides had to rely on penalties to register any scores, Southport edging it 6-3 with two kicks from the golden boot of Jacob McMullen. On the half hour mark Southport managed to cross the home line when the ball was worked along the back line managing to draw the Wallasey left wing infield leaving Forest Bailey an unopposed run in; the conversion was missed to make it 3-11.

Wallasey responded well and put tremendous pressure on the visitors for the remaining ten minutes of the half but could not get the reward their efforts deserved. H/T 3-11

The second half saw the home side continue where they left off at the end of the first striving for a try of their own. Wallasey totally dominated this half with the visitors only getting into the home half on about three occaisions.

Southport were very aggressive and streetwise at the breakdowns stretching the laws on several occaisions.

Wallasey did some re-shuffling due to injury, however they got their due reward after 62 mins with a convertesd try to make it 10-11.

Despite territory and possession Wallasey could not breakdown the Southport defence to their credit and things got a little tetchy resulting in a Wallasey yellow card with 13 mins left after a touch of handbags on the far touchline.

Try as they could Wallasey could not quite work themselves into a position late on for a drop goal to snatch the win. At times they seemed reluctant to move the ball wide when on at least 2 occasions they had men over.

Final score 10-11.

Sefton 3 10 v Southport 3 17 by Mark Brunskill

Southport travelled to Sefton with a somewhat changed side, particular the backs, the average age of the backs hadn’t been this low since the junior colts fielded a young side, or maybe that’s just how it appeared with Messrs Roberts and Garner-Jones absent with injury. With such a dearth of action dating from before Xmas due to the debilitating white stuff (there’s no business with snow business), Southport 3rd’s were champing at the bit for their first away league game since they beat Merseyside Police, albeit in a bizarre game of ten players v elevern. The previous week’s cup game result against Macclesfield could have well been reversed with a bit more luck and less geriatric refereeing (a guest appearance by Mr Magoo wasn’t received well, particularly when spotted sporting the local team colours on his blazer in the clubhouse). The side deserved better so would their hard endeavours pay off for once?

The conditions at Sefton were dour: cold, wet, muddy and miserable, proper rugby weather! It wasn’t going to be pleasing on the eye but each and every man was up for the 80 minute battle ahead, even Big Dave Hignett! The game started with Southport edging the possession, a chaotic opening ten minutes ensued, the pace was frenetic and handling errors resulted in plenty of scrumming action. The ‘Port pack was impressive throughout and held their own in scrum, ruck and maul. Smith, Griffiths (Junior & Senior), Thomas, Hignett, Brunskill , Capps and James Doran were resolute and dogged all game, winning mini battles all over the pitch and determined to give no quarter. Despite a well drilled Sefton pack who had evidently rehearsed their rolling maul routine with great aplomb, the Southport packs were equal to the challenge.

There were some new faces in the backs with a welcome introduction of the Bell brothers, combined with McNeil, Peacock and Fashioni, this was a fresh backline who showed flashes of potential quality if more games were played and less handling errors were committed. However, it must be stated that the tackling on display was absolutely immense and almost no tackles were shirked. The first blood however went to Sefton who were able to slip through a bevy of players and scored a try against the run of play. This rallied the Southport team who were back on the charge. A line-out near the home side’s 22 resulted in a nicely worked move for Brunskill to hit his man and win a penalty, which the exceptional Atherton converted nicely with to close the gap. Southport pressure mounted and were the team in the ascendency, always looking to run with ball or kick for yardage, the combination of tactics would serve them well. After a spell of sustained pressure, Southport were awarded a scrum and a classic move, executed to perfection by James Doran and Tom Peacock, gave an opportunity for David Atherton to run at the Sefton line. A deceiving jink of a run saw Atherton slalom past a couple of players to score a well worked try under the posts and followed it up with a successful conversion.

Half Time: Sefton 10 – Southport 10

The second period was played in the same vein as the first, a battle of heavyweights wading into each other, head to head, toe to toe, gaining territory and then losing it and mistakes on both sides ensured the half was punctuated with scrums and penalties. The pack continued to hold their own but the conditions put pay to any expansive play in the backline except for a moment of skill which erupted at the 60 minute mark.

Sefton produced one of their rolling mauls and it looked like their man was well contained until the wriggly worm action, coupled with muddy armour, allowed him to squirm through three Southport players and make a 40 yard run. The tackle was made well but the defensive cover was AWOL which allowed the attack to continue by their centre, who landed the ball a good two yards behind the try line then made a quadruple movement to illegally shift it closer, which astonishingly was given as a try by the short sighted official. The conversion attempt to follow seemed a formality but due to the rapid reaction by Tim Hill the attempt was charged down magnificently to deny Sefton the chance to forge clear, the game was in the balance suddenly at 10-all.

Within minutes of the restart Southport were on the attack once again, this time a ruck on the halfway line saw the assured Atherton pop the ball out to the menacing Brunskill who surged at the Sefton backline, rounding his men then offloading at the perfect time to the excellent McNeil who sprinted past the Sefton defence to score a superb try, a great passage of play with just dividends. The adroit Atherton wasn’t going to miss the conversion. One more attack before the whistle almost resulted in a fine try only for the impressive Peacock to be thwarted just short.

A final five minutes of pressure were defended stoutly by the whole team; it must be mentioned again just how impressive the team were for tackling, every single player could be singled out for their contribution, marshalled by the passionate, as always, Captain James Doran.

Final Score: Sefton 10 – Southport 17

Tries: Atherton, McNeil; Conversions: Atherton, 2; Converted penalty: Atherton 1

Man of the Match: Atherton

It has been a very long time for this monumental occasion to be realised but it should be cherished that Big Dave Hignett played two halves. Step forward Dave, the full 80 minute maestro, the Thirds salute you!

Also the astounding fact should be mentioned that this was the first away victory for a 15-a-side game for Southport 3rd’s for almost 3 seasons. A tremendous team effort, huge congratulations to each and every man who played.

Southport u7s 5 v West Park (St Helens) u7s 5 by Dave Hignett

A real treat was in store for the Southport under 7s "devils" as after a season of promise, they were fortunate enough to be chosen as mascots for the Sale Sharks Premiership game against Exeter Chiefs which was shown live on ESPN. As part of the "dream team" project they also played a half time game against West Park (St Helens).
The newest superstars from Southport were shown to a viewing public of hundreds of thousand walking out with their heroes before Sales game. The Sharks whose form has been poor, were obviously galvanised by being in the presence of such a successful great team and went on to win a tight affair to ease their relegation worries.

The children enjoyed the game and just before half time walked around the packed stadium of 10000 people to high five's rapturous applause and chants of "Devils, Devils" to start their own game against West Park. Only one half of seven minutes could be played, but the children made that count by treating the capacity crowd to their fantastic running rugby. Not one pass went astray and great support play created wave after wave of attacking rugby with some great finishing from both sides. It would be impossible to single out any of the kids as they all rose to the occasion to compete in a very even game against a good West Park team.

It was warming to see the children faces filled with enjoyment after what was a very special evening for a very special rugby team that Southport can be proud of, and who knows, in just over ten years’ time, maybe some of these "devils" may be walking out with mascots themselves.

Wonderful night, Sedgley Park at home this Sunday, go "Devils".

Footnote: by coincidence Exeter were formed in 1872 the same year as Southport!