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Catch up with the 2nd XV crack

This page is for the post Christmas part of the season

Millom 2nds v Leigh 4th Saturday 9th April 2011:

Millom finished off their season in Division 5 North with a hard fought 50 - 7 home win against Leigh.

Leigh travelled with good support and everyone at Millom thanks them for kindly agreeing to reverse the scheduled fixtures, so that this game could be played alongside our first team during the annual player’s re-union and for contributing towards a great day. We hope that Leigh enjoyed the Millom hospitality and had a safe journey home.

They are a quality club with good family and rugby traditions who play competitive and hard rugby. They are welcome back to Millom whenever they fancy a game and a crack.

Leigh started the game the better of the two sides and their clever kicking game put pressure on the young Millom wingers and fullback. And it was from one of these kicks on 10 minutes that Leigh took a well deserved lead when they won the race to a kick through to score under the Millom posts 0 - 7. Millom were struggling to get a foot in the game, as breaks and opportunities were not being taken and the Leigh kicking game was causing all manner of problems for Millom.

Millom started to retain the ball better and go through some good phases of play on 20 minutes and this resulted in two tries in two minutes, both scored by Rich McMeekin with young Callum Lamont adding one of the extras. Callum was successful with a penalty before the Millom pack walked the ball over the line for the young Millom scrumhalf Peter Swales to nip in for a try before half-time with Callum again adding the extras. Half-time Millom 22 – Leigh 7.

Leigh introduced a good replacement in the second half into the number 8 berth, who put in a good shift for Leigh and he will be a big asset to the club next year, as long as he isn’t still seeing double!!!!!!!!!!!!! After mistakenly drinking vodka for water!

Leigh also had two good young backs with bags of pace who I fully expect them to climb through the ranks of the Leigh teams, as they proved a handful all afternoon.

Leigh failed to score in the second half despite playing some good rugby and they were unfortunate when Shane Clark playing at fullback for the injured Mikey Holmes, put in one of the tackles of the season, when he bundled one of the exciting young Leigh backs into touch when he seemed odds on to score.

Millom scored 4 further tries in the second half through Andrew Mellon (two typical bursting runs), Shane Clark (good backing up) and Rich McMeekin (receiving a gift from Kev Rogan).

James Falconer after missing the last 2 seasons out with injury played the last 10 minutes of this game, before hanging his boots up for good with his pending operation that will see the end of his rugby career and he reminded everyone of his elusive running when after switching wings he rounded his man and went on a jinxing run to the line, only to be halted just short by some excellent Leigh cover tackling.

Both scrumhalf’s on display would be an asset to any side with Ash from Leigh and Popper from Millom both putting in good performances that kept their respective packs moving forward.

The spirit in the Millom team was summed up when Kev Rogan who hasn’t scored an open age try in his career and with the try line at his mercy, passed the ball to Rich McMeekin to secure his hatrick try in his final season.

Millom 2nds won the 4 team, 10 man a piece boat race with Millom first teams Ryan Carter fluffing the anchor leg for veteran Roy Park to seal glory for Millom second team with Leigh and Silloth both putting in good attempts.

Top blue comedy circuit comedian Lester Crabtree put on a good show that managed to abuse and offend everyone from all genders, creeds and locations, much to the amusement of a packed clubhouse.

The spirit and crack with the Leigh team, supporters and committee was first rate and they truly deserved the cheeky Millom salute on their departure. Good luck lads to the end of the season and hopefully we’ll play each other again soon (Tom, hope all goes well, Rich Mc & all at MillomRU).

Millom 2nds still have an outside chance of winning the title, but are relying on Chorley 2nds to do them favour over Rossendale this weekend, so if Chorley don't win, we're going to send Gav Slater back down to play for them!

Rossendale have got stronger as the seasons progressed and will be worthy Champions if they secure the win at Chorley and Blackpool have been unfortunate, as they dropped off the pace in the second half of the season, after leading the charge and playing some good rugby in the early part of the season.

Millom 2nds are off to Edinburgh this weekend to play in the Edinburgh Northern 7's competition and are also attempting to secure a friendly game against BAe (Vickers) on 23rd April.

Finally a big thank you to all in the North West Intermediate Rugby Union who have provided a well organised and run league structure, that has provided regular rugby for a team that has struggled for games, for years, and this has attracted players back to our club, so thank you!

Also, the standard of referee's for me has been good over the season, so well done to all concerned.

Friday 8th April 2011

Millom 2nds welcome our friends from Leigh to Wilson park this weekend in the second teams final game of the season and hope to extend the same hospitality that was shown in the reverse fixture when Millom's winning scoreline at leigh did not reflect the commitment and play of a good Leigh side.

A few of us have played RL against Leigh East and Leigh Miners over the years and Leigh RUFC play with the same intensity and passion, as all good sides should.

With it being the re-union this weekend and both Millom sides playing at home it should be a cracking weekend of rugby, drink and "the crack" and MIllom will be extending a warm welcome to both Silloth and Leigh.

Millom 2nds are already promoted and are now relying on Blackpool, or Chorley 2nds to win against Rossendale to provide the opportunity for Millom to be promoted as Champions, but to capitalise on this Millom 2nds must win against Leigh in this weekend.

The first team are still in pole position for the Cumbria League title, although they must bounce back from their first loss of the season away to Creighton in their last outing.

Millom Match Report Bolton away 19th March 2011:

Millom recorded a good 64 - 10 away win to Bolton that has effectively seen the team promoted, as we would have to lose our last 3 remaining home games and have our goal difference (344 better than Blackpool's at the moment) greatly diminished, but 1 home win from 3 will see the team promoted on their first attempt in their first year in Division 5 North.

Try scorers for Millom were Peter Redhead 5, Jason Metcalf 2, Jonny Wilson 1, Peter Swales 1 and John Falconer 1. Seven of the 10 conversions were successful and these were shared out between Mikey Holmes 2, Callum Lamont 3 and John Falconer 2.

Stand out moments from the game were:

Callum Lamont landing 2 touchline conversion attempts.

Peter Redhead putting in a man of the match performance, after missing the last 2 months of playing and training through work commitments that even had him on the farm till 1am the Saturday morning before the game.

Jonny Wilson's barnstorming runs and John Falconer's allusive running (& he even passed 1 ball on this week).

Gareth Kendall taking a good shot to the chin from one of the Bolton pack that saw Lardy huff and puff so much he nearly exploded, but his man girdle managed to keep everything in.

Jason (Granddad) Slater gave an inspirational team talk before the game focusing on the importance of not missing tackles and always taking your man and this seemed to work as the Millom team defended well all day, until.............the introduction of........ Granddad Slater in the second half, who missed his very first attempt of a tackle, to the great amusement of the Millom team.

But the icing on the cake for the game was Paul 'Bucky' Buckman our resident rock (literally) in the front row, finding himself in a new position of fullback, that saw him collect a Bolton kick down field in his own 22 (don't know what he was doing there) and on seeing only a 6 stone wet through winger approaching, decided to run through the oncoming winger, but unfortunately for Bucky, the winger was having none of it and stopped Bucky dead in his tracks.

The Bolton team and hospitality was first rate and the team really enjoyed the crack after the game, with the obvious exception of the England result, but we wish Bolton every success for the rest of the season.

Highlights of the crack after the game:

Glenn 'MadDog' Irving buying a drink (& I know that could of been a highlight on its own, but read on!), putting it on the table and knocking it right across the table, drenching everyone around the table within 2 seconds of putting it down.

Dressing a couple of young ladies in the Millom kit and holding them aloft for a line-out photo opportunity (don't panic Gordy, all the kit is present and correct). Unsure how they were being held so high though, as the shout did go out "look no hands?"

Lardy's song sheets went down well with all taking part in a good sing along on the way back.

And it did get messy on the way back, but all enjoyed the last away game of the season to Bolton.

Three more home games and then it's off to Edinburgh for the annual ENRFC 7's competition.

Sunday 13th March 2011

Millom expected a hard game at BAe Warton and that's exactly what they got. In a bruising encounter with neither side taking a backwards step, Millom battled their way through to a 13 - 0 win.

Kick off was delayed as BAe attempted to locate their kit and players, but this did not impact on the quality of rugby from the kick off. Unfortunately for Millom some early breaks and good passages of play were not rewarded as the final ball would be knocked on, or fall to ground. First John Falconer made a break and the pass to the supporting McMeekin went to ground, then in the reverse situation McMeekin's pass to Falconer was knocked on.

The Millom team were becoming frustrated with BAe repeatedly dominating the ruck and maul area and Millom not being able to effectively move the ball wide. This caused the team to try and force the pass and mistakes were creeping into the Millom play.

BAe went down to 10 men on 30 minutes when their new second row head butted Andrew Simpson. During this 10 minute spell Millom failed to capitalise on the extra man advantage and the first half closed 0 - 0.

In the second half young hooker Kev Rogan was stamped on (off the ball) by the previously sin binned BAe second row player and only a penalty was rewarded.

BAe threatened on a few occasions in the second half, but the majority of the half was played in the BAe half of the pitch with the Millom side throwing everything except the kitchen sink at the BAe line, but BAe held firm with only a Mikey Holmes penalty on 50 Minutes to show for their early efforts 3 - 0. Then on 72 minutes strong running winger Jason Metcalf burst over the line to score out wide 8 - 0 (conversion missed). Then in the last play of the game Ian Cummings scored to finish the game 13 - 0 (conversion missed).

John Falconer proved elusive all afternoon, Jonny Wilson took the ball in well, Peter Swales kept prompting the play, but Robert Fell took the Millom Man of Match award, despite his crash ball and pass combination attempt that didn't quite come off (the fines await at Bolton Mr Fell).

Millom made hard work of this win, but full credit to BAe who put in one of the best defensive games Millom have played against this year and they had some good options in attack as well.

With Blackpool losing to Leigh at the weekend 25 - 22, plus Rossendale convincingly beating Bolton 40 - 0, Millom must win 2 from 4 to secure promotion and 4 from 4 with fingers crossed for a Rossendale slip up to have any chance of the title.

Friday 11th March 2011

Millom recorded a good 31 - 7 away win against a hard working and committed Leigh side.

With Paul Buckman returning to the Millom pack this provided some stability to the young Millom forwards. Leigh had an experienced front row that competed well for the 80 minutes and their young number 8 showed some good bursts of pace and strong running and their scrum half kept driving the Leigh side forward, looking to utilise their young backline. The game was even contest until young Millom scrum half Peter Swales broke the deadlock with a trademark dart and step to the line, and with Callum Lamont adding the extras Millom took a 7 - 0 lead on 20 minutes. This lead was extended on 30 minutes when Danny Bagshaw made a charging run to the line with young second row kicking machine Callum Lamont adding the extras again for a 14 - 0 lead. On 35 minutes Callum stepped up to coolly slot over a penalty for a Millom half-time lead of 17 - 0.

The second half started with Leigh determined to turn their good play into points and they made repeated breaks only to be denied with some last ditch tackling. Until after some good play Leigh scored under the Millom posts to reduce the deficit 17 - 7. Leigh's young stand off started to come more into the game and their efforts were not rewarded as Millom scored to well taken tries through Jonny Wilson on a barnstorming run and Peter Swales with his second of the afternoon. Callum added one conversion and Danny Bash the other to make the final score 31 - 7 to Millom.

Jonny Wilson took the Millom man of the match award, but he was pushed hard by Callum Lamont and veteran Gareth "Lardy" Kendall who made some good breaks during the game at Leigh.

The fines in the Leigh clubhouse were hard to take and drink for the unforgivable (& unforgettable) leaving of the full kit bag at Rossendale the previous week.

Hopefully everyone would of recovered for what promises to be a keenly contested game at BAe Warton this Saturday, in another must win game, as Millom attempt to keep the pressure on league title favourites Rossendale. This is Millom's third consecutive away game and the team performance must continue to improve, if we are to win on Saturday.

Monday 28th February 2011

Millom welcomed Lee Dickinson back into the fold for his first game of rugby this season and Dan Armitage after a period of unavailability.

Millom lost a tough encounter at Rossendale by a solitary point 16 - 15.

In a highly anticipated game both teams starting with good intensity that spilled over into a few bouts of indiscipline (welcome back Dicko) within the opening exchanges of the game. This was testing the patience of the referee, who to his credit kept a cool head and both teams on the pitch, when players from either side could of been sent to the bin, or worse.

Once the game settled Millom took a 0 - 3 lead after a penalty from McKnight on 8 minutes, this was cancelled out by Rossendale when they responded with a penalty on 15 minutes 3 - 3 and they took the lead on 22 minutes with another penalty 6 - 3. Millom were looking the more threatening in the backline with Rossendale looking to kick for position, but in a rare attack from Rossendale their outside centre broke through a Millom tackle to score close to the posts and with the conversion they took a commanding 13 - 3 point lead in to half time.

Millom rallied well in the second half and scored a try through Shane Clark on 58 minutes (conversion missed) 13 - 8, then Rossendale responded with another penalty on 63 minutes 16 - 8 and this is how the scoring remained until the last minute when Rich McMeekin scored and Shane Clark added the extras to bring the final score to 16 - 15 for the home side.

Even after a below par performance from Millom, they can count themselves unlucky, as if a seemingly good try had not been disallowed midway through the second half, then the result could of been different, but you cannot take anything away from Rossendale who played a good game and who will now see themselves as favourites to win the league this year.

Millom face the second of 4 consecutive away games this week with a tricky trip to Leigh.

20/02/2011

This weeks away game at Rossendale has just taken on a whole new context, as although it now looks really good for promotion, we have to win at Rossendale to secure the title and reward the club and everyone for their endeavours throughout the season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd team away to Chorley 2nds (12th feb 2011):

Millom won away to Clitheroe 2nds 12 - 56 in an entertaining game that was a closer affair than the scoreline suggests with Millom only leading by 12 at the break.

Try scorers for Millom on the day were Shane Clark 3, Cameron Proctor 3, Rich McMeekin 2, Mikey Holmes 1 and veteran Ian Shovelton 1. Three conversions kicked on the day.

Millom welcomed prop Andrew Simpson back into the fray and provided a debut for winger Dave Patton who acquitted himself well on the day.

The game started evenly with both sides driving the ball forward through their respective packs, when Millom did try to move the ball, it would either be knocked on, or passed to the ground. Fortunately for Millom one of these errors led to the first try of the game when young wing Joe Moore collected the ball from the floor and passed to the supporting Rich McMeekin who scored out wide. Clitheroe responding immediately when after some suspect tackling, Millom allowed Clitheroe's fullback to cross under the sticks. With both conversions missed and the score 5 a piece, Millom looked to get their wingers into the game and after a kick through by McMeekin for Shane Clark, the young winger scored to increase the MIllom advantage to 5 - 10. Millom nearly extended their lead when after a break by McMeekin a poor ball to the supporting Liam Dowbiggan resulted in the ball being knocked on when the line was at his mercy. From the scrum Clitheroe kicked deep, only for Mikey Holmes to return the ball at pace from deep inside his own half to score for Millom and with the conversion Millom ended the half 5 - 17 in the lead.

The second half saw the introduction of Cameron Proctor on to the wing and the young winger scored three scintillating tries in a 40 minute performance to savour. Shane Clark added two further tries to take his tally to 3 for the day with his last being something special, as he returned the ball from a Clitheroe kick off to step and out pace the Clitheroe defence. McMeekin scored a second after a good flowing move through the backs deep inside their own half that saw the centre finish under the sticks. Millom did however save the best for last when 55 year old Ian Shovelton came on for the last 10 minutes and after being held up short on his first touch of the ball he dived over the try line (Chris Ashton like) a few minutes later to complete the scoring for Millom. Clitheroe scored a well deserved consolation try after this that they richly deserved, as their heads never dropped and they played good hard rugby for 80 minutes.

In what I believe was Milloms first ever game against Clitheroe, I must say that they appear to be a well run, friendly club, with an excellent clubhouse and a good mix of youth and experience within their 2nd team and Millom wish them every success for the rest of the season.

Match Report: Blackpool away 5th Feb 2011;

In a hard fought and even contest Millom came through a tough encounter at Blackpool that could of gone either way, with a narrow 8 point to 3 victory.

The conditions and pitch were not well suited to playing open rugby, but this did not hinder the intensity and commitment of both sides on the day. With some well deserved call ups to the first team, players not being available through work commitments and injuries, the strength in depth of the Millom 2nd team was truly tested, yet the team still travelled with 3 substitutes and everyone played their part (even 'Water Boy' Johnny Lanc) in this win.

The game started at a frantic pace with both sides relentlessly taking the ball hard into contact, but with both sides standing strong in defence it was obvious that this was always going to be a war of attrition for 80 minutes.

The first score came on 18 minutes with Mikey Holmes slotting over a penalty. Blackpool refused 3 attempts to level the scores when awarded penalties of their own in good positions and instead elected to tap and look for the try. Unfortunately these decisions would come back to haunt Blackpool. The introduction of Leon Mason on 30 minutes gave Blackpool more options in attack, but the first half ended with Millom in the lead 3 - 0.

The second half started just as the first had been played with strong running and tackling being the order of the day. Blackpool levelled on 60 minutes with a well struck penalty and this lifted the Blackpool side and they were unlucky not take the lead on 62 minutes when in one of the few breaks made on the day Blackpool were stopped a metre short from the Millom line after an excellent tackle by Simon Long. On 65 minutes Millom were reduced to 14 when Gavin McQuire received a yellow card for dissent, this galvanised the Millom pack who continued to dominate the scrums and despite playing with 14 Millom looked the more likely to go on and win the game. On 70 minutes Millom thought they had retaken the lead from a penalty, but the ball cruelly came back off the crossbar and the following up Shane Clark was unlucky not to capitalise on this, as the bounce of the ball evaded him. Millom thought they had scored a well deserved try, when after a sustained period of pressure, centre McMeekin crashed over the line only for it to be disallowed, despite the ball being clearly grounded, but it was disallowed for being held up, but from the resulting 5m scrum, Millom walked over the line for number 8 Gavin McQuire to seal a good away win for Millom.

Man of the match for Millom was Gavin Slater with Blackpool's strong running number 3 taking the honours for Blackpool, although their young scrumhalf was a very close 2nd and if he continues to develop he will be one to watch out for in the future. A feature of the game was the Millom scrummaging and tackling. The commitment and togetherness of this team is what ensured the Millom win.

Saturday 15th January

Millom 2nds v Garstang (Saturday 15th January 2011)

Millom 2nds came through a tough encounter against a strong Garstang side 18 - 5 at Wilson Park. A minutes silence was well honoured before kick off for the Garstang President Richard Hudson who died at Wilson Park in 2000, representing the club that he loved. The Garstang players, coaches and supporters were a credit to their club, both during the game and afterwards in the clubhouse.

The Garstang team started the brighter of the two sides and were unfortunate on a number of occasions when the final pass would go to ground when the space had been created for a scoring opportunity. Millom had the wind at their backs in the first half and a good kicking game kept some pressure on the Garstang team. This pressure resulted in two penalties, which Mikey Holmes duly scored. Then on 30 minutes Tony Swales scored a trademark 3 metre dash to the line. This gave Millom an 11 - 0 half-time lead.

The second half was again an even contest, but early pressure from Garstang saw them score a well worked try to reduce the arrears 11 - 5. Then some good play by the Millom team saw them build some pressure and young livewire Peter Swales darted over with Mikey Holmes adding the extras to extend the Millom lead to 18 - 5. This is how the game finished and Mikey Holmes took a well deserved Man of the Match award fro Millom with Garstangs impressive number 6 taking the honours for Garstang.

The young Millom team came of age during this game and grew in stature as the game progressed and a good all round team performance from all, secured the win for the home team.

Blackpool 1 Colne & Nelson 2 49 - 3

Chorley 2 Bolton 4 3 - 3

Millom 2 Garstang 3 18 - 5

BAE Warton 1 Preston Grasshoppers 6 18 - 0

Burnley 3 Clitheroe 2 27 - 5

Rossendale 3 Leigh 4 27 - 5

Friday 14th January

Unfortunately the weather scuppered the last scheduled game of 2010 against Burnley. AN interesting fixture backlog is on the horizon, so fingers crossed for no more weather affected fixtures.

Millom 2nds travelled to Preston for opening game of 2011 and came out winners 0 - 32.

Millom did enough to win but know that they must improve if they are to continue with their good run so far this season. Millom scored 6 tries with just the one solitary conversion. Try scorers were Mikey Holmes, Peter Swales, Jonny Wilson, Tony Hartley and Ian Cummings with 2. Mikey Holmes adding 1 conversion.

Millom will need to up their game if they are to win this weekend, as they play hosts to the only team to of beaten them in the league this year, Garstang. I fully expect Garstang to come looking to make it a double and I'm sure it will be a competitive, open and close game of rugby. Garstang are quietly creeping up the league table and have recorded some good wins of late, so lets get behind the team at Wilson Park on Saturday. This game has an early kick off 2pm due to the first team being at home to Egremont with a 2:15 kick off.

Gareth Kendall has recovered from the shocking physical abuse that he was subjected to in the Presidents game on New Years Eve to play at Preston and now against Garstang this weekend. Lardy is a true legend of the game! The second team has 3 pairs of brothers in the team on Saturday, so hopefully the sibling rivalry will push these guys to play at their best!

Lutons weekly roundup

2010-11 Part 2