Crosfields 24 Woolston Rovers 12

BRAGGING rights were at stake in this pre-season ‘double header’ between the open-age teams at Crosfields and Woolston Rovers.

In the main event at Hood Lane, it was Jimmy Williams’ Soap side who won through after recovering from a poor start.

John Fieldhouse’s Rovers got off to a flyer, with centre Lewis Hoarty going over twice to give his side an 8-0 lead.

However, this only served to stir Crosfields into action as Chris Hull got their first score of the afternoon, with Brad Stanway adding the extras.

Home stand-off John Whittaker then nudged Soap ahead, with half-back partner Stanway again converting to give Williams’ men a 12-8 lead at the break.

After the interval, it was Rovers who found the next score when Hoarty put Justin Becker over, but the failed conversion meant the scores stayed level.

Parity lasted just eight minutes, though, as Whittaker squeezed over in the left corner to give Crosfields a lead they would not relinquish.

Soap stand-off Whittaker then put the result beyond doubt by completing his hat-trick, with Stanway converting to ensure he finished with a perfect record from the kicking tee.

Crosfields: Tyler Whittaker; Dan Reid, Chris Hull, Kane Ditchfield, Alex Clutterbuck; John Whittaker, Brad Stanway; Phil Brazendale, Hayden James, Tom Millington, Joe Moore, Jordan Williams, Joe Clarke. Subs: Sam Hickey, Matt Mahoney, Jordan Ansell, Matt Barber, Bailey Hartley.

Woolston: Will Chadwick; Justin Becker, Aaron Barber, Lewis Hoarty, Alex Dunne; Theo Holt, Conner Muir; Dan Fearnley, Ryan Brown, Jack Sherratt, James Jones, Anthony Clayton, Harry Files. Subs: Dec Leonard, Callum Harnett-Smy, Cameron Davies, Christian Taylor, Kieran Moore.

Crosfields A 10 Woolston Rovers A 18

WOOLSTON edged home in the opening contest of the afternoon as the ‘A’ teams played out a closely-fought match.

It was not until the 26th minute that the deadlock was broken, with Soap hooker Danny Lee crossing for a try that was converted by Jack Williams.

Tom Woodward’s try, improved by Liam Sullivan, levelled matters before tries from Josh Bray and Billy Maunder gave Rovers a measure of control after the break.

Matt Lomax moved Soap closer late on, but Woolston held on.

Crosfields A: Matt Lomax; Dave Newman, Bailey Hartley, Josh Whitham, Nathan Hamilton; Louis Walsh, Jack Williams; Troy Holcroft, Danny Lee, Mitch McJay, Jordan Chilton, Ash Catterall, Sam Hickey. Subs: Tom Sutherland, Dave Boden, Rob Bonehill, Elliot Bridge, Phil Atherton, Ben Kenwright, Dave Manfredi.

Woolston A: Liam Sullivan; Olly Parr, Danny Griffiths, Callum Moore, Josh Bray; Jake Eccles, Billy Maunder; Matt Clarke, Kieran Moore, Matt Davy, Niall Toher, Tom Woodward, Phil Risley. Subs: Sam Driscoll, Nathan Evans, Richard Potts, Tom Wrench, Conor Clarke, Tom Harvey, Max Ainsworth.