New Brighton
Football Club (R.U.)
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New Brighton Football Club (R.U.) |
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April Match Reports Season 2001-2002 |
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New Brighton 54 - 8 Liverpool St Helens
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Report: A devastating display of pace, power and control from an inspired New Brighton smashed through the half century marker to crush Liverpool St Helens 54 – 8 in Saturdays derby National League clash at Reeds Lane In near perfect sunny conditions New Brighton made the early running to earn a long distance penalty. Brett made a good effort but the ball fell just short as his kick held up in the wind. LSH were fast to grab the advantage forcing play back at the Blues to earn a penalty of their own which Simon Worsley fired just wide. For the next 10 minutes LSH enjoyed the best of the action pinning New Brighton in their 22 as their forwards battled for a breakthrough. Two more penalties were spurned by Liverpool who chose to continue their forward onslaught, but the Blues defence held firm until a knock on gave them the scrum that relieved the pressure.
Having broken out of their 22 New Brighton gave a glimpse of what was to come with a flowing attack that drove down centre field. Tupou, Lamb and Sewell were in the thick of the action as forwards and backs combined to move the play ever closer to the LSH line. When Campbell won a line out in the LSH 22 New Brighton launched a, Coach Dorrington inspired, "catch and drive". With the play just a yard short of the line scrum half Christian Saverimutto snatched the ball from the ruck before driving over for the opening try. Brett added the conversion New Brighton 7 - 0 Liverpool St Helens on 21 mins. LSH responded with pressure down the left wing but were held up by a determined Blues defence. Keen to exploit the conditions New Brighton ran the ball at every opportunity with Fredericks and Coast combining well. As the Blues pressed wide in-front of the main stand the inspirational Emrys Evans was involved three times in a lightening counter attack that pierced the LHS defence setting Marcus Coast in space for a one on one with his opposite number to set up a ruck on half way. The ensuing melee saw touch judge Paul Weaver raise his flag for a stamping incident but before referee Chris Sharp had time to respond New Brighton were on the break. Powering forward in space Coast beat his man before working a wonderful one-two with Birley to split the defence asunder. When Birley received the ball back from Coast his route was clear for a 30 metre run in that brought the crowd to their feet as the speeding winger raced over to score a magnificent try. Brett added the conversion. New Brighton 14-0 Liverpool St Helens on 28 minutes Liverpool's Dave Lupton was dispatched to the sin bin before the restart but the Blues were unable to capitalise on the extra man. Simon Worsley responded with a penalty for LSH on the half hour and Alan Cross improved the visitors position when he broke through to score a try out wide New Brighton 14-8 Liverpool St Helens on 34 minutes Just when the travelling fans were beginning to make their presence known a devastating move from Marcus Coast returned them to silence. Powering through the tackles Coast smashed through the defence to score in fine style Brett added the conversion. New Brighton 21-8 Liverpool St Helens on 36 minutes
Half Time: New Brighton 21- 8 Liverpool St Helens Liverpool's injured Mike Nugent was replaced at second row by James Cashman during the interval. From the resumption New Brighton continued very much in the ascendancy taking just 3 minutes to open up the LSH defence with a sustained multi phase attack that saw Sewell complete a magnificent sequence of play to score. Brett added the conversion. New Brighton 28 - 08 Liverpool St Helens on 43 minutes Struggling to match the pace of New Brighton's game LSH battled to stay in the contest but lost Jon Hitchin with a yellow card to increase their problems on 47 minutes. Their problems deepened further when Lupton was forced off to the blood bin with a head wound to be replaced by Phil Hewitt.
New Brighton were not slow to seize the opportunity forcing a driving play to the LSH line. Emrys Evans was awarded the try as a sea of bodies crashed over the line New Brighton 35- 8 Liverpool St Helens on 51 minutes Enjoying almost total control New Brighton produced some fine rugby without adding to their score. Morton and Turley carried the ball well in the close exchanges with Tupou and Sewell explosive on the fringes. Fredericks was his usual dominant self at No 10 but Marcus Coast, stepping, jinking and powering forward at every opportunity was the pick of the backs. Such was their supremacy that it was inevitable that the Blues would score again. When Coast broke clear in centre field the hard working LSH defence was stretched to breaking point. An outrageous loping pass flew wide to the wing where Loa Tupou was positioned. Reaching high above his head the powerful back row first parried the ball from going into touch, juggled with it a few times before finally controlling it. A half tackle momentarily slowed the powerful South Sea islander, but it was not enough to stop his momentum. To a roar from the crowd Tupou broke the tackle and strode home for a spectacular score in the corner. For once Brett failed with the conversion New Brighton 40-8 Liverpool St Helens on 67 minutes Now on top of their form the Blues swerved up a memorable finale to close their league programme for the season. Fredericks broke clear from just outside his own 22 to power through a series of half tackles progressing across the half way line. It was a move that brought the crowd to their feet in admiration and sent the Reeds Lane faithful into raptures. Coast raced 40 metres to get onto the end of the Fredericks' pass and with the line a further 40 metres in-front of him the speeding centre powered home majestically for the score which Brett duly converted. New Brighton 47 - 08 Liverpool St Helens on 70 minutes It was good show for the New Brighton fans but it reached even greater heights when Reeds Lane favourite, Emrys Evans crossed to score in the final minute to finish yet another spectacular multi phase New Brighton move. Brett added the conversion for the Blues to complete a crushing victory over their Merseyside rivals. New Brighton 54 - 8 Liverpool St Helens on 79 minutes Final New Brighton 54 – 08 Liverpool St Helens Saturdays result confirms just how far Alistair Saverimutto and Steve Dorrington have brought the Reeds Lane squad since their stuttering performances earlier in the season. With so much youth coming through to the 1st XV the feeling at Reeds Lane is that the club are better positioned on the playing front than they have been for many years. The message now to the wider community is to recognise the potential of this squad, hold them together and build to take Wirral rugby to the higher echelon of the National League.
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Bedford Athletic 28 - 7 New Brighton
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Report: Alistair Saverimutto, Blues Director of rugby was far from happy with his squad or the playing conditions after New Brighton crashed to a 28-7 defeat away to Bedford Athletic on Saturday. "Had this game been played in January it would have been postponed due to the hardness of the pitch," said Mr Saverimutto "But that's no excuse for several of my players who left their playing legs somewhere on the motorway. By the time they realised we were in this game the contest had already been lost." Playing into a stiff wind the Wirral men were put under immediate pressure by a determined Bedford side. Home full back Elphick came close with a penalty attempt on 4 minutes before New Brighton battled down field to exert some pressure of their own. Just as the Blues seemed to be settling into the game Bedford centre Whitheat hoisted a high kick that rode high and flew long in the wind. Full back Brett worked hard to get under the ball but the swirling wind took the ball beyond his reach to bounce high on the rock hard surface. Relishing the opportunity Bedford full back Elphick raced in support of the kick and caught the bouncing ball to cross the line without a defender getting close. Elphick failed with the conversion. Bedford Athletic 5 – 0 New Brighton on 10 minutes Working hard to get into the game disaster struck for New Brighton when Tim Morton stepped from the side of a maul to put a thumping tackle on the Bedford No 6 who was driving through on the fringes. A shrill blast of the whistle was followed by a yellow card for the bemused Morton who was sent for 10 minutes to the sin bin. Playing 14 against 15 saw New Brighton scrambling to hold their defensive line but the extra man proved too much to hold when Bedford's New Zealand centre, Ryan burst through the centre to score out wide. Elphick failed with the extras but the 14 man Blues were trailing by 10. Bedford Athletic 10 – 0 New Brighton on 20 minutes The Wirral men managed to hold the line until,. Morton returned on 28 minutes. Having weathered the storm New Brighton looked to be getting back into the game when a penalty gave Bedford a line out deep in the Blues 22. Mick Hudson collected well for the home team and the drive was on for the line. New Brighton defended well and appeared to have survived the pressure when back row Thorpe burst from the back of the maul to power over for a good try. Elphick failed with the extras. Bedford Athletic 15 – 0 New Brighton on 39 minutes As the game extended into first half injury time and the play firmly rooted in centre field a penalty was signalled for Bedford, one of the Blues forwards questioned the decision resulting in a further 10 yards being conceded. Elphick gladly accepted ground and the opportunity to kick for goal extending Bedford's lead with the last act of the first half.
HALF TIME Bedford Athletic 18 – 0 New Brighton. Needing to start the half well New Brighton kicked long in the wind only to see the ball fly long over the dead ball line bringing the play back to the halfway line for a scrimmage. It was not the start they needed but the event aptly seemed to sum up Brighton's day.
The second disaster of the half came on 48 minutes when front row Gerallt Evans was adjudged to be over exuberant with his feet in a ruck earning the Blues second yellow card of the day. New Brighton battled to overcome their 14 man disadvantage and earned a penalty on 50 minutes. Brett narrowly failed with his kick but from the 22 drop out Bedford took a quick short tap launching a running offence from deep. Their passing was sharp and their support play good building to launch Olly Ryan on a run that saw hin score under th posts. Elphick added the extras effectively sealing the win for the home side. Bedford Athletic 25 – 0 New Brighton on 54 minutes Sam Cottrell was replaced by Christian Saverimotto at No 9 as the Blues began to build a rearguard action. At last finding some form the Blues took the game to Bedford and began to look dangerous. Sewell drove over on 67 minutes but was adjudged to be held up over the line and the chance was gone. When Tim Morton was forced off with an injured shoulder veteran prop Steve Dorrington left the coaching bench to join the fray. The Blues continued to probe away at the home defence and their efforts looked to be rewarded when Loa Tupou crashed over appearing to score. In the event the referee was not satisfied the ball had been grounded and signalled a 22 drop out. It was one of those days when nothing appeared to be going right for New Brighton. Despite applying good late pressure they were unable to make the score they needed to fire up their confidence. When Elphick added another penalty score on 71 minutes and Sewell limped of with a muscle problem on 76 minutes it looked to be a dour day indeed for the Blues. Jay Stirrit came on for the injured Sewell and slotted into the No 8 berth. To their credit New Brighton stuck to their task and as the game entered the 84th minute produced their best form of the afternoon. Fast hands and determined running took the play out wide in a sweeping move that showed the form New Brighton had been battling to find all afternoon. Brett pounced from deep and raced over for a score he also converted. It was no more than a consolation but the Blues were at least on the scoreboard.
FINAL - Bedford Athletic 28 - 07 New Brighton
This was not a good day for the Blues who effectively lost the contest in the first half when their below par performance saw them concede three scores that gave them a mountain to climb. Academy youngster Phil Buckley, showed impressive form as did the ever industrious Sewell and Fredericks, but in general this is a game the Blues will want to forget.
DERBY CLASH NEW BRIGHTON v LIVERPOOL St. HELENS National League North 3 Saturday 13th April KO 3:00pm New Brighton play their last home game of the season next week in what promises to be a mouth-watering encounter between the two Merseyside rivals. LSH currently third in the league and New Brighton 4th there is little to separate the teams. New Brighton chief Alistair Saverimutto appealed to local fans to turn in force to cheer the Blues on in their last home game. "I'm sorry we did not deliver promotion for the fans this season, but I know the lads will want to bow out in style for our last home match of the season. I urge the fans to turn out in force to cheer us on as we seek to avenge out one point defeat at LSH. It promises to be a great game."
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