7 October 2024
TITLE: AJIS U8 Rugby Festival
DATE: Monday 7 October 2024
J1
On Monday 7 October the J1 rugby team took part in the AJIS Tag Rugby Festival at The Armitage Sports Centre in Manchester. The children played a series of tag games and for some it was their first time involved in a rugby festival. The team played extremely well throughout the afternoon and developed their game understanding as the festival progressed. At the end of the festival, the team were very pleased with their performances and are looking forward to their next fixture.
TITLE: U11 Rugby vs AKS Lytham
DATE: Wednesday 9 October 2024
U11
On Wednesday 9 October the U11 Rugby team played AKS in a friendly fixture. The conditions were difficult, with the wind blowing fiercely down the pitch, but the children managed to string some good phases together and scored a number of team tries. There was also some very strong defending, as AKS had some good ball carriers who took some stopping when they got going. The fixture was very evenly matched and the children came off the pitch proud of their efforts and happy with how they played.
TITLE: U9 + U10 Rugby vs Scarisbrick Hall
DATE: Friday 11 October 2024
U9
On Friday 11 October the U9 and U10 rugby teams took on Scarisbrick Hall in a home fixture on the senior school pitches. The U9s fielded two teams and played two games, one after the other. The teams both played extremely well and there was plenty of tries scored and strong tackles made. With the introduction of contact this season, it was really exciting to see the growing confidence in the group and the progress they are making in the contact area.
U10
The U10s put on another strong performance in their fixture, scoring a number of tries and preventing the opposition from scoring on most occasions. This team came off the pitch extremely pleased with the performance and are already looking forward to their next challenge.
TITLE: Rugby vs George Watson's College
DATE: Thursday 10 October 2024
**NO PHOTO**
U14 (26-22)
On Thursday afternoon in perfect conditions Kirkham U14’s extended their unbeaten run to 6 games, but George Watson’s as expected gave them their toughest challenge so far this season, battling all the way and were in the lead on three occasions. It was George Watsons who scored first after 5 minutes, their line speed and strong tackling forcing KGS handling errors, which they took advantage of allowing their strong running centre to get over in the corner. Kirkham who slowly started to adjust to the increased intensity and pace of the game put a few phases together when Robinson spotted space out wide, launched a cross kick towards the left corner Cookson leapt to secure the ball, beat the first defender before releasing O Walker-Basham who powered over to level the scores. Watsons again took the lead when their inside centre charged through several defenders and scored from fifty metres to take back the lead but on the stroke of half time it was Robinson again with another probing kick which was secured by O Walker-Basham, good handling from Whileman and Robinson and a burst of power from Lawson allowed the industrious Rawlinson who is never far from the action to score, Robinsons conversion making it 12-10 to KGS at half time. Five minutes into the second half after several phases it was Watsons centre again who sprinted down the left to score in the corner, KGS responded well with Spencer-Hodge and Rawlinson making good ground, allowing Ince, Wileman and Lawson to release J Walker-Basham who made good ground and then a neat off load off the floor to the supporting Lawson who took the last two defenders over the line with him, Robinson converted again to take KGS into a four point lead with five minutes remaining, with both sides showing signs of fatigue the game was far from over and Watsons once again showed great resolve and after several phases created space for their winger to sneak in the corner with only 2 minutes remaining Kirkham needed something special, and up stepped skipper Lawson who had put in a strong defensive display all game, finally found some space and with a combination of good footwork, power, pace and determination beat several defenders to score in the corner to end the game. George Watsons will feel a little unlucky having matched Kirkham four try’s each, but Lawsons last minute intervention and Robinsons kicking out of hand and off the T ultimately making the difference.
TITLE: KGS Hockey vs Repton School
DATE: Thursday 10 October 2024
U16
The U16 squad had a long trip down to Repton School to play in their second match in the England Hockey tier 1 competition. The match started well with Kirkham retaining possession of the ball and working hard to create space to thread the ball through to forwards Melling and Greenwood. The squad absorbed plenty of pressure from an impressive Repton side with Bunday, Osborne and Bailey picking various tackles in the midfield. Repton opened the scoreline early on with a well worked short corner but Kirkham fought back. Great runs from Gut and Lewis down the left opened up space for Tomlinson to have opportunity on goal. A gritty all round performance from a young U16 squad and a team to watch moving forward! We look forward to welcoming Trent College next week in the third match of the league system in the top competition in the country.
TITLE: KGS Rugby vs Stonyhurst College
DATE: Wednesday 9 October 2024
U15 (48-7)
Kirkham U15s played their regional quarter final National Plate match against local rivals Stonyhurst. Straight from the off KGS came out of the blocks fast with physical carries from Wright and Martins with laid the foundations of a combative performance from the home sides. After a series of strong drives, slick hands in wet conditions, saw Lawson dive in the corner to make it 5-0. Kirkham consistently pounded the Stonyhurst line, but 2 good turn overs by the men in green saw them counter attack well. Luckily Walls' and Paraskeva's scramble defence shut out the attacks. After more pressure Kirkham managed to bag a second try through Wright which closed the half out at 10-0 to KGS. Stonyhurst had done a lot of defending in the first half and were caught trying to move the ball out of their own 22m, but a shuddering Paraskeva tackle created a turnover, which subsequently saw Gillett dive in for the first of his 3 tries on the day (17-0). The majority of the game saw the Blue Storm pile on the pressure and slowly built the scoreboard in their favour with tries from Wright, Lawson and 2 more from Gillett to all but end the game as a contest. Credit to Stonyhurst as they came back and scored a well worked try and almost scored a second, but a fantastic bit of defence from Smith, saw Walls pick up the ball runs 70m beating 3 defenders, he then drew the full back and passed to Grigg who out ran the remaining defence for a well-deserved try, which saw the game end at 48-7.
TITLE: KGS 1ST XV vs Berkhamsted at StoneX Stadium
Date: Wednesday 9 October 2024
1st XV (10-10)
Kirkham Grammar 1st XV faced Berkhamsted School at the iconic StoneX Stadium, home of Saracens, in their second long-distance fixture in just six days. Despite Berkhamsted dominating territory early on, Kirkham worked their way up the field and took a 3-0 lead through an Isaac Glue penalty. Carriers like Bray, Lyster, Atherton, and Sheldon made strong runs, while Krippner and Ferguson proved difficult to stop. Glue added to the score by finishing off a well-executed try following quick thinking from Iddon, making it 10-0 at half-time. In the second half, Kirkham had opportunities to extend their lead but were held back by a disallowed try and a shift away from their first-half play. Berkhamsted capitalised with a length-of-the-pitch try and a penalty to level the game at 10-10. Despite both teams searching for a winner in the dying moments, the match ended in a thrilling draw, providing valuable preparation for Kirkham ahead of the St Joseph’s College Festival.