Rugby Bradley’s double all in vain Blackpool RU (u13s) 10 Leigh (u13s) 10 BRADLEY Lyndon marked his return from injury with two fine tries for Blackpool in a tremendous game, which saw the visitors equalise five minutes from time. Lyndon gave his team a great start with a try as the pack pushed Leigh over the line. Anthony O'Brien missed a difficult conversion. Blackpool continued to take the game to Leigh with good rucking and impressive were latest recruit Conner Buchan, Cameron Thorpe, Crawford Barber and George Burns. Leigh levelled by half-time and the second half was equally competitive with Harry Swann tackling like a demon. With 15 minutes to go, Lyndon produced almost a copy of his earlier try to restore the lead but Blackpool then paid for ball-watching as Leigh struck back aided by the wind. Scorpions win at last Ince Rose Bridge (u18s) 4 Blackpool Scorpions (u18s) 32 A DETERMINED defensive display earned injury-hit Scorpions their first win of the season. A succession of drives to the left saw Lee Greenwood force his way over from close in. Ally Whittam converted from the touchline. Mitchell burst through the centre to run 50 metres and score under the posts for a 12-0 interval lead. Greenwood forced the ball down on the last tackle for his second try nine minutes later. Pearce ran 40 metres to touch down before Whittam added a penalty. Lloyd Wood got the final try and Whittam took his kicks count to six out of six. Blackpool Scorpions (u13) 34 Rochdale Mayfield (u13) 16 Callum Prue collected a Joe Phelps’ pass for his first of three tries. Phelps converted. Scorpions turned the screw after the break to score another two tries from Prue which Phelps converted. Tries from Frankie Campbell and Jordan Curtis out on the left, were superbly converted by Jordan Tierney. George Higgins combined in a swift passing move for Tierney to touch down. Winning streak reaches seven FLEETWOOD RUFC under-16s took their unbeaten run to seven games with a 62-3 win at Leigh. Adam Dawson soon burst through for the opening try and a second quickly followed from Steve Preston. George Worthington and Henry Turner were strong, while second row Alex Maddern was back to his best after injury and combined well with Tom Hird and Jack Foden in the loose. Dawson scored two more tries in the first half, one of which was an 80-yard run. Danny Maher got the final try of the half. Man of the match Dawson scored his fourth in the second half and centre Kris Phillips bagged a brace, including a 90-yard run. Fleetwood's scrum was solid, with good work by the front row of Hird, Alistair White and debutant James Evans. Jamie Railton led an improved back line, while winger Joe Morgan went close after a great touchline run. Preston scored his second and hooker Ben Ruddlesdin dived over for the final try. Tom Evans converted. Fleetwood u9s scored two tries and their opponents West Park four. Annabelle Turner drove hard and Owen Christiansen broke through to score. An excellent lineout saw Turne feed Christiansen, who passed for Joseph Pratt to score. Fleetwood u7s/8s had two evenly-matched games with West Park. The first was drawn six tries apiece, with two each by James Amor and Kieron Butler, plus scores by Alex Ogden and Declan Riley. Ogden scored five tries as Fleetwood won the second match 6-5. James Amor got the other. Dazzling duo’s cup exploits ARNOLD School’s 1st XV and under-16 rugby union teams are both through in the Lancashire Cup. The seniors produced a dazzling display to crush a young Ripley St Peters 54-0 with seven tries shared by Tim Maguire (2), Adam Jackson, Tom Hart, Andrew Harbourne, Peter Armstrong and Richard Grindrod. The u16 match against St Edward’s College of Liverpool was a seesaw affair which Arnold won 16-12. St Edward’s took an early lead but a Josh Beaumont try and a further score from centre Nick Costello put Arnold 12-7 up at the break. St Edward’s hit back at the start of the second half to level but Beaumont hit two penalties to see Arnold through. In the block fixtures with Liverpool College, Arnold won five of the six matches. The Liverpool College 1st XV had enjoyed a seven-match unbeaten run, which included a win over King Edward’s and Queen Mary’s of Lytham, but they were sunk 32-0. Arnold established a 10-point lead in 10 minutes with a try by Andy Harbourne plus David Reed’s conversion and penalty. They stretched the lead through Tom Horam. In the second half, Reed added a drop goal before Peter Armstrong dived over in the corner. Armstrong completed the scoring with his second try. Richard Wardell inspired the second XV to a 45-5 win with a hat-trick of tries. The u15s A won 34-0 after being 15 points up in as many minutes with openside flanker Tom Eyre scoring a hat-trick. Captain Tom Armfield dummied through for another with Luke Smith also scoring before half-time. The highlight of the second half was a 50m run which brought Nathan Bolus a try. The u14 A’s 30-5 win brought James Aird his 32nd try of the season. Jacob Reid and captain Jacob Nickson got other tries. Arnold u13 A won 31-0 with tries by Tom Hammond (3), Alex Evans and Joe Roscoe. ON THE CHARGE: Poulton’s Alex Loudon Trio earn trials KIRKHAM Grammar School rugby first XV suffered a 15-0 reverse at the hands of Sedbergh. Kirkham’s Theo Mason and Alex Spratt put in a sterling performances in defence, while fly-half Daniel Bibby also stood out. Captain Richard De Carpentier and scrum-half Sam Kindred led a number of fine attacks. De Carpentier, Kindred and Tom Bowden have been selected for the North under-18 final trial, while Spratt and James Edgar have been nominated for the Northern Independent Schools trial. The second XV lost 34-11 having started well with a penalty by Joe Brown and Oliver Chambers try. Leading 19-8 at half-time, Sedbergh’s fitness began to tell, though Brown kicked a second goal. The u16 team lost 43-13 while the u15 A team lost 22-14, having led 14-12 at the break. The u15 B XV lost 31-19 despite an outstanding display by captain Jonathan Davies, who scored two tries. Winger Henry Hesketh scored the try of the match, while Jake Wilson and Oliver Rowlands kicked goals. The u14s lost 27-8 to a relentless Sedbergh side who led 22-0 at the break. Sam Hall’s try rewarded a brave second-half fightback. Taster sessions go down a treat A MAJOR new schools rugby union initiative is in full swing in Blackpool and Wyre. Eight schools are involved in weekly league competition at under-12, under-13, under-14 and under-16 level and forming the line-up are Baines, Broughton, Cardinal Allen, Kirkham Carr Hill, Fleetwood, Garstang, Lytham St Annes and St Aidan’s. The aim is to give schoolchildren a taste of regular rugby in a well-organised and suitably competitive environment. Some will already have played competitively in either school teams or at clubs but many won't have had that opportunity. To further handling and all-round skills, no kicking from hand or to touch is permitted and there aren’t any kicks for goal. Only tries count in scoring terms and this keeps the games fluid. Organiser Alan Holmes, Fylde RFC’s rugby development manager, has been delighted with the response. He said: “We’re halfway through the competition and start again after the February half-term. We play games on Tuesday afternoons after school hours so we’ve to suspend the league until there’s more daylight. At the halfway stage, Cardinal Allen lead the under-12 table, Broughton the under-13s; Lytham St Annes the under-14s and Fleetwood High the under-16s. Fylde Rugby Club's Mini-Junior (M-J) ranks are booming. In the light of the excellent England performance in the recent Rugby World Cup and the Club's efforts to spread the rugby gospel amongst schools and in the community generally, the numbers at the Club on Sunday mornings have rocketed by almost 20 per cent. Chairman Roger Grocott said: “This is fantastic news and a tribute to the coaching and facilities at the Club as well as to the very positive public image of rugby set by the never-say-die attitude of the England senior squad. We have an army of volunteer parents who invest a vast amount of time in organising the almost 400 registered players from under 7s to under 16s.” One particular group has expanded beyond all expectation. The Under-7s have almost 60 youngsters who either play regularly or have expressed interest in joining. The team’s coach Justin Kimber is delighted at the level of interest. “The kids come from many different schools in the area and they bring their friends the following week,” he said. WHAT A TRY: The Fylde under 7s show just what they think of the new rugby initiative Email us and tell us about your stories!