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Catch up with the crack  

Tuesday 14th December

More frost bite and still no rugby!

Last weekends minor thaw was too little too late for the Rossendale pitch, so the Millom game was cancelled last weekend.

Burnley, Preston and Warton were all able to play at the weekend with Burnley winning 38 - 5 at home to Chorley, Blackpool winning 15 - 25 at Preston and BAE Warton recording a win against Bolton.

Hopefully the predicted return of the cold weather is wrong for the weekend, as with it being "Mad Friday" this weekend up and down the country, we might end up with a lot of broken bones before a game is played.

Fingers crossed for the following 1) Burnley and MIllom players both coming out of their respective work "Do's" unharmed this Friday, 2) the Millom pitch being playable 3) and the weather warnings being wrong, so that the roads are passable. Not too much to ask for Christmas! especially as I've been good all year!

Tuesday 30th November 2010

No game last weekend with Clitheroe's pitch being frozen.

A big thank you to Bob Wilkinson from Clitheroe for keeping us up to date and providing early notification of the game being postponed, so that buses and people could be stood down in good time.

We will probably look to reschedule the Clitheroe game for the 12th of February, as we both have a free weekend that day.

The rescheduled Bolton game will probably go back to the original date of the 22nd January.

It was a clean sweep of postponed games in Division 5 North, so not much to mention this week.

If anyone went to the Dickensian at Ulverston, hope you enjoyed it, and if anyone watched England v South Africa, never mind, we are still improving.

Interesting thread on the forum of the second teams NW Intermediate League site, titled "Leigh 4th team match report" posted by Blackpool, well worth a read and a giggle.

Hopefully our game this week will be on against Leigh 4ths and we can hopefully get some momentum going into the Christmas period, when the majority of our second team will get their chance to take on the first team in the Boxing day clash.

A few players will be unavailable this week through work commitments and injuries, but fortunately we also have people returning from injury and shift patterns aligning to make players available. So lets put in a good performance, against what I am expecting to be a good and experienced Leigh team, who won't be travelling to Cumbrian, just for the shower and a few beers.

The club is kindly putting a bus on for the Rossendale game 11th December, which incorporates a late stop off at Preston on the way back, so a list will be going up this week for names of those wishing to travel.

Sunday 21st November 2010

Millom 2nds returned to winning ways after losing  a fortnight ago in the Raging Bull Plate competition with a 37 - 3 home league win over BAe Warton.

Rossendale and Blackpool both won at the weekend, Rossendale 3rds with a good away win at Bolton 4ths and Blackpool with a comfortable home win against Leigh 4th team.

Clitheroe 2nds recorded a good away win at Chorley winning 15 - 17, so they will be in good spirit for next weekend, as they continue to climb the table.

Warton arrived with 13, so Millom provided young Callum Lamont who put in a good 80 minutes for Warton, so a big thank you to Callum.

Jonny Wilson put in another man of match performance with strong running and tackling all afternoon.

Warton's man of the match was the outside centre who caused problems all afternoon with his strong running and excellent cover tackling, most notably on young Joe Moore who was tackled into touch at the corner flag, when he seemed certain to score his second of the afternoon.

The attitude of the Warton guys was first rate throughout the game and this was typified by them spending long periods camped on the Millom try line and they were unfortunate not to cross over, but the Millom defence was strong all afternoon.

Not one of Milloms best performances of the season and for long periods the play was disjointed and lacked the cohesion and support play that has been the trade mark of the second team this year.

Shane Clark and Joe Moore both scored our wide in the early stages of the game helping Millom into a 10 - 0 lead (conversions missed) after 10 minutes. BAe responded with a penalty on 15 minutes 10 - 3.

The next 10 minutes were a little bit ragged, with both sides going close, then Mikey Holmes settled the nerves with a penalty kick on 25 minutes 13 - 3. Following this Theo Blackburn scored out wide on 28 minutes following some good interplay between forwards and backs 20 - 3 conversion by Mikey Holmes. Then Shane Clark scored his second of the afternoon just on half time to make the half time score 25 - 3.

During the first half Millom lost Rich McMeekin (5 minutes), Mike Munroe (10 minutes) and Gavin McQuire (25 minutes) to injuries. So Kenny Tyson came on to play his first game of the season, plus Patrick Shepherd and Theo Blackburn returned to the fray, both following periods out with injury. All 3 acquitted themselves well, with Patrick making some telling breaks, Theo scoring a first half try and Kenny finding his feet in his first game in the pack.

The second half saw Warton continue to press and make some good breaks and their never say die approach saw the warton 10 chase down Mikey Holmes when in the clear and destined for the try line.

Millom did add two further tries in the second half, one through the Millom man of match Jonny Wilson, who burst through the Warton line and raced 40 yards to score on 60 minutes 30 - 3 and one from the evergreen Gareth "Lardy" Kendall, who had an excellent game kicking from hand and in his overall ball distribution during the game. Lardy reacted quickly to a loose ball and darted through the Warton line before jinxing past two last ditch tackles from Warton on 70 minutes. I won't say how far out Lardy was from the BAe line, I'll let him explain himself, as I'm sure from the angle that the crowd was, we would not being doing him justice.

Jason Metcalf (wing) and Andrew Simpson (prop) were introduced in the second half and they both made telling contributions.

Warton finished the stronger of two teams and if they had not been let down by last minute cry off, then the game would of been a much closer contest.

Millom firsts took two from the second team this week and yet the second team still had 10 guys who could not be accommodated into the second team squad of 20 this weekend. Such strength in numbers bodes well for the club, so please be patience and everyone will play plenty of rugby this year. Keep training, fit and available, plus playing for each other.

A hard game at Clitheroe awaits this coming weekend for the second team, so we will need everyone available again for selection.

Monday 15th November 2010

Unfortunately Bolton cancelled on Saturday morning due to a flooded pitch. If they had half the rain we had in Cumbria, then they would of had it bad.

They did manage to salvage 2 of their 3 pitches, to satisfy the 1st and 3rd team home fixtures, but were unable to do so for the 4th team fixture. I know how the quality of pitches can reduce, as you drop lower through the rankings of your teams at a club, so I don't doubt the honesty of Bolton.

This did present an opportunity for a number of the younger members of the Millom 2nd team, as Millom firsts were travelling to Greengarth and Greengarth were struggling for numbers, so a number of the 2nd team played for Greengarth 1st team, to ensure that the game went ahead and few were interchanged into the first team, to give them an opportunity alongside the regular first team players. Millom won the game at Greengarth 6 - 50, but by all accounts the second team players on display all acquitted themselves well.

The older members of the 2nd team took an opportunity to rest some tired limbs and enjoy the sweet sight of Australia being played off the park at Twickenham with a beer or cup of tea in their hand.

Blackpool have gone back to the top of the league after another 1 point victory, this time away to Clitheroe 2nds.

Rossendale's game was postponed, so they are 8 points adrift of Blackpool, but with two games in hand and only a 10 point goal difference to make up on Blackpool, they are looking good to mount a challenge for the top spot.

This weekend Millom 1sts entertain Workington and the seconds face BAe Warton, who were beaten at home by Chorley 2nds, last time out, so they will be keen to get back to winning ways, as will Millom 2nds following their disappointing showing in the Raging Bull Plate competition. So everything points to this being a commited and hard fought game that should make for an entertaining encounter. Fingers crossed for soem good weather.

Sunday 7th November 2010

Raging Bull Plate Competition - Wallasey Away 6th Nov 2010:

Millom lost a tough encounter at Wallasey of Liverpool in the Raging Bull Plate competition 22 - 19.

The team arrived at Wallasey later than expected (I sense a fine coming for young Mr Falconer) at 14:10 and the game kicked off at 14:30.

Millom went behind to an early penalty on 8 minutes 3 - 0 and then turned down an opportunity to level the scores on 15 minutes and elected instead to kick for the corner, this decisin paid off, as from the line-out Dan Redhead (playing at stand-off) crashed over under the posts 3 - 7. Wallasey responded with some strong running from their forwards, which was making inroads through the Millom pack, then in the worse passage of play for Millom this season, Wallasey added three tries with 2 conversions, to make the half time score Wallasey 22 - Millom 7. During this spell the Millom team failed to defend as team, were sluggish round the park and lacked the fire to compete.

The second half started like a totally different game with Millom operating as a team and they started taking on the Wallasey pack down the middle. This resulted in the Millom pack driving over the line from a scrum and being awarded a penalty try when the Wallasey 15 stole the ball from an off side position (on 60 minutes) 22 - 14 and then good forward play saw "Baggy" Bagshaw tap down over the line on 70 minutes from another good drive from the Millom pack, conversion missed 22 - 19. Young scrum half Peter Swales was sin binned on 71 minutes following an alleged spear tackle and despite this Millom finished the stronger with two good opportunities going begging in the dying minutes. One a 40 metre dash down the line from Joe Moore, who was just bundled into touch and good forward work seeing them camped just metres from the Wallasey line and a loose ball over the line being unfortunately touched dow by a Wallasey hand.

Bagshaw and Dowbiggin stood out for MIllom on the day.

To coin a phrase, it was definitely a game of two halves and as we try to forget the first half performance, Millom can take take a lot from the 2nd half performance, against a good Wallasey side.

An interesting fact from the Wallasey club, they were founded in 1925 and they had to change their name to Wallasey in 1927 at the request of the RFU, as they were previously called "Egremont".

Millom 2nds are away to Bolton 4th team this weekend and hope to return to winning ways, but this will be a hard game against a well organised Bolton pack that have some exciting young backs at their disposal.

Friday 5th November 2010

Match Report Chorley 2nds Away Saturday 30th October 2010:

With Aspull 2nds being withdrawn from the league following a 4th failure to field a team, the league table now shows Millom top of the table on points difference, with Blackpool dropping to 2nd place. Millom and Blackpool both having 29 points, but Millom having a better point difference of +350, as opposed to Blackpool having +50. Rossendale are third with a game in hand on Millom and Blackpool, and if Rossendale win this game in hand, then they will also be on equal points, so it currently looks like a three horse race, but the league will have many ups and downs this year with all teams in the league having good wins and then reverses of fortune.

On Saturday the seconds travelled to Chorley and recorded their biggest win of the season 0 - 87. Scoring 14 tries, kicking 7 goals and one penalty.

The team arrived in good time for the game, so they made the most of the Chorley facilities and headed straight for the driving range and it has now been suggested that the football pitch at Millom would make a good driving range and some squash courts and a basketball court, where the caravans are would also be good. Please take note Dobby and do your best.

Kevin Rogan took the Man of Match award having a good solid game at hooker. Mikey Holmes had his best game of the season at fullback and although he failed to score a try, his elusive running and tackling was a stand out feature of the game. He also had his best day with the boot, kicking for goal.

Gavin Slater returned to the side following unavailability due to work commitments and he put in a good all round performance at stand-off against his former side Chorley.

Joe Laydon opened the scoring on 3 minutes with a strong down the left wing finishing off a good move from one side of the park to the other with the ball passing through the entire backline, then on 5 minutes young Joe Moore scored the first of his three for the afternoon, again finishing off a good move through the back division (he scored again on 19 and 48 minutes). The forwards then got in on the act with prop Glen Cheshire crashing over on 7 minutes. Exciting young back John Falconer then came alive with a hatrick of tries in a scintillating 7 minute burst, scoring in the 10th, 14th and 17th minute of the game and he finished the day with a good individual effort in the 48th minute to take his tally for the day to four. Rich McMeekin burst through on 22 minutes to put his name on the score sheet, as did Danny Redhead 57th minute, Chris Park 68th minute, Danny Bagshaw 75th minute and Popper Swales finishing the scoring in the 79th minute. Mikey Holmes added 7 conversions and one penalty kick.

Millom 2nds had excellent support with a good crowd travelling to watch the game and this is really appreciated by all the team, so thank you all very much.

This week Millom focus on the Cup and face a potentially tricky game against division 5 West side Wallasey.

Wednesday 27th October

Match Report for Blackpool 23-10-2010 home:

The biggest compliment that has been paid to the second team following their 45 - 8 win over league leaders Blackpool was that Blackpool have insinuated that they actually played our first team. Unfortunately for Blackpool they talked themselves out of this game before (in the changerooms) and during (from the sidelines) the game, as I believe that they are a better side than what they showed on Saturday.

Mike Munroe playing at flanker was a well deserved man of the match with Gavin McQuire playing at number 8 pushing him close (Blackpool please note - neither of these 2 players have played, or been selected for any 1st team games this year). Blackpool's strong running number 8 was well marshalled by these two all afternoon, but he took a well deserved man of the match award for Blackpool (& he impressively dispatched the boot of ale in double quick time).

Prior to the game both Millom teams were photographed with our club sponsors and many thanks to our sponsors for investing in the club and for including the second team within their sponsorship, as the guys really appreciate this and I believe that the results for the second team this year reflect the support being provided by the sponsors and the club.

The game started at a good pace and was an even contest for 20 minutes with Millom maybe not making the most of the early opportunities being made. Finally on 20 minutes John Falconer finished off a good move through the Millom backs to score under the sticks 7 - 0. Then 2nd team stalwart Paul "Bucky" Buckman crashed over from 10 yards on 27 minutes and this was a well deserved try for someone who has played every game this year at prop and nearly always for 80 minutes and for a big boy, this is a big achievement, conversion missed 12 - 0. Blackpool responded with a drop goal on 30 minutes 12 - 3. Sensing that the Blackpool boys weren't really at the races for this one the Millom pack began to dominate further and this was typified by the Millom pack walking the ball over the Blackpool line from a scrum, that started outside of Blackpool's 22 metre line 19 - 3. On 37 minutes good backing up by Ryan Carter saw the Millom 10 dart over for a 24 - 3 half-time lead.

The second half started with Blackpool scoring out wide, following a good crossfield kick, which the Blackpool left winger collected to score out wide 24 - 8. This threatened a comeback from Blackpool, but this was squashed when livewire scrumhalf Peter "Popper" Swales scored on 47 minutes and this capped another fine game by the young Millom number 9, who is having a fantastic season for the club, 31 - 8. John Falconer scored a second try on 70 minutes having an excellent game at centre and Ian Cummings scored late on to further underline the dominance of the Millom pack 45 - 8.

Robert Fell continued to dominate the lineouts for Millom, Jonny Fell and Kevin Rogan both provided strong runs into the heart of the Blackpool pack and young wingers Joe Laydon, Cameron Proctor and Joe Moore (on 60 minutes) are all improving week on week.

The Blackpool team and supporters contributed towards a good game and crack in the bar afterwards, especially when awarding their 'plonker of the game' award, which went to the young guy, who when being called to come of the bench to play, was last seen running away from the pitch and into a field with his pants down by his ankles!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations and all the best to 1st team coach Ryan Whelan, from the second team, as he got married on Saturday.

Millom have another tough encounter this weekend away to Chorley 2nds and must build of last weeks performance.

Monday 18th October 2010

Millom 2nds won at Colne and Nelson 55 - 12 to consolidate their second place spot in the University of Salford division 5 North.

Millom scored 9 tries through Ian Cummings 2, Rich McMeekin, Jonny Wilson, Callum Lamont, Jason Metcalf, Jan Hertzenberg (Rich Holme's mate from Germany), Liam Dowbiggin and Peter Swales with Mikey Holmes

slotting over 5 attempts at goal.

Special mention to Jason Metcalf, Callum Lamont, Jan Hertzenberg and Jonny Wilson for all scoring their first ever tries for the team.

Rich McMeekin took the man of the match award with Peter Swales taking the Millom man of the match.

Colne and Nelson scored twice in second half as we took our foot of the pedal in defence (a bit), with both tries scored out wide.

The hospitality of the Colne and Nelson team and supporters was first rate and we look forward to returning the hospitality shown and hopefully we fair better with the drinking race.

This Saturday sees Millom 2nds entertain Blackpool 1st team in a top of the table clash at Wilson Park, in a must win game for Millom, if they are to challenge for the league this year, but Blackpool will be stern opposition, as they are still undefeated this season and they had a good 56 - 10 win over Chorley at the weekend.

Sunday 10th October:

Match Report & Crack:

Millom 2nds returned to winning ways with a hard fought 8 - 5 win at Wilson Park. Millom opened the scoring after 12 minutes after a break by McMeekin and an off load to the supporting Peter Swales that saw the young scrumhalf dart over the line, conversion missed 5 - 0 lead. Bolton levelled on 20 minutes when after a period of sustained pressure and good handling they scored out wide, again conversion missed. Half time 5 - 5.

Both sets of players started the second half like the first with defences on top. Millom were reduced to 14 men on 50 minutes following a high tackle by Robert Fell, seeing him receive a yellow card (10 minutes). This galvanised the Millom pack who were excellent on the day and they raised their game even further after Felly's yellow card. Mikey Holmes secured the win with a successful penalty kick on 60 minutes. Full time 8 - 5.

A good hard game with the Millom pack laying the foundations for a well deserved win. Jonny Wilson making good progress on the fringes, Luton also made some telling breaks down the middle of the park and Joe Laydon had some strong runs down the wing.

No gaffe of the game this week, but an award for effort and contribution was made to Jonny Wilson, while Peter (Popper) Swales took the man of the match award.

Previous gaffe's of the week have been awarded to: Chip McCloughlin for dropping like he'd been shot by a sniper when he had cramp; Gary Tyson for his Hands of God moment; and Gavin Slater for his less than effective chips over the defensive line.

Millom had no complaints with Mr Fell's sin binning, as at 6'2" and jumping to hit your man, it does look like a bad tackle..............even Gav McQuire applauded the tackle!

Special mentions are due for Clewy's return, as he fitted back into the pack like he'd never been away and a good first outing for Jason Metcalfe coming onto the wing in the second half for his first game at the club.

Millom 2nds are now second in the University of Salford Division 5 North league and they travel to Colne & Nelson on Saturday in a must win game ahead of entertaining table leaders Blackpool the following week, so lets have everyone at training this week.

Cumbria County Council have contacted Millom RUFC to praise the good work of Gary Tyson, in his endeavours to clean up the streets of Millom, by removing all the dog waste from the pavements and streets. Although they have said he does not have to walk it right through his own house to the bedroom, as they will willingly come and collect it.

Oct 4th 2010

Millom 2nd teams good start to the season was de-railed at Garstang on Saturday in a 12 - 16 defeat. A good Garstang side, combined with a heavy penalty count against Millom and the fractured nature of Milloms play all contributed towards this defeat.

Millom started the better of the two sides and a good break from McMeekin was well finished by Sam Moore with Mikey Holmes adding the extras for a 0 - 7 lead after 5 minutes. Garstang responded with a penalty on 10 minutes to make it 3 - 7. Millom went further ahead on 22 minutes through a Tony Swales crash over on 22 minutes, which was not converted. This saw Millom go into the interval 3 - 12 in the lead.. Garstang had missed several attempts at goal to reduce the deficit in the first half.

In the second half Millom could not muster any momentum through an increasing penalty count and when Millom did create an opportunity poor handling and finishing let them down. This resulted in Millom failing to add to the score in the second half, while Garstang added another two penalties and scored a good try in the 60th minute through a deft chip through for the winger to collect and touchdown, this was also converted.

Despite this, Millom still could of took all the points as Cameron Proctor was held up when it appeared he had scored in the corner and Peter Swales made two telling breaks late on in the game.

Best for Millom was Shane Clark who made some big tackles and good breaks during the afternoon. Millom also welcomed back Jason Slater who after a lengthy period out with injury returned to replace an injured Sam Moore after 10 minutes and had a solid game both in defence and attack.

Sept 23rd 2010 -

the second team played in the Thornton Clevely's 10-a-side competition and we made it to the Plate final losing to Fleetwood 22 - 14, after leading 0 - 14 at half time in the final. Shane Clark was unlucky in being sent off in the final and Fleetwood change nearly the full team at half time. Top try scorers on the day were Trevor Dixon and Rich McMeekin both win 4 a piece.

Rossendale 15 tries and 7 kicks in an 89 - 5 win, Peter Redhead man of the match and he had a 4 try haul on the day.

Away win to Burnley 3rds in a 27 - 8 win, 4 tries Joe Moore with his first open age try, Theo Blackburn with 1 try and Bud Hill scored 2 tries on his debut (Tony Hill's son, apparently he used to play hooker for MRUFC some years ago?). Mikey Holmes 2 conversions and 1 penalty. Shovey played 15 minutes at the end of the game............................

Introduced the Second team "Mess (Fuck) Up of the Game" award and fines policy starting with this game, which saw Dale McCloughlin (Chip) win the award and many fines were dished out on the bus on the way home (downing in one, drinks through a funnel and pipe. Man of the match was shared between golden oldie Gary Tyson and Tony Swales (the original Popper). Bus trip was very messy on the way back with old stalwart John Molloy falling off the bus in Haverigg and going straight home, Joe Moore being unwell (sick) on the bus, Chip providing his Millom version of Braveheart's battle cry for victory to the guys.

With Tyldesley 4ths pulling out the league the Millom 2nd team are free on the 16th April 2011, allowing Millom to compete for the 8th year running in the annual Edinburgh Northern 7's competition and this year we might be putting in an over 35's team into the 10-a-side competition on the same day.

Lutons weekly roundup

2010-11 Part 1

Part 2