Liverpool Collegiate 10 – 34 Aspull
Aspull travelled to Liverpool this weekend with six of the squad already on holiday, before two further players rang in sick on Saturday morning with the dreaded sickness bug. A quick reshuffle, a few phone calls and off we went.
Liverpool initially teased us with a lovely wide pitch that would have suited our game perfectly, before directing us to a postage stamp 10 minutes away from the clubhouse. The changing rooms had one of the best views we've seen, although getting there involved climbing what felt like 300 steps – more Wetherspoons toilet run than pre-match warm-up! I didn’t think old Jonty was going make the pitch at one point …
Playing with the steep slope in our favour in the first half, Aspull made sure to take full advantage, doing much of the damage before the break.
Our fast, mobile forwards dominated a lot of the collisions, giving Henry Ryder plenty of space to work around the ruck and make countless breaks.
The early pressure soon told. Man of the Match Ellis Clarke came off his wing looking for work, and after some lovely midfield play, Harvey Brehney spotted Ellis in space. The pass was delivered and our speedster did the rest, touching down for the first of what would be a hat-trick of tries.
Not long after, Liam West, who was pushing hard for Man of the Match honours himself, made one of his trademark breaks. Eating up the ground, he drew three defenders before throwing a lovely 30-yard looping pass to Ellis, who hit the afterburners once again to score in the corner.
Captain Rhodri Carlton Jones was impeccable with the boot all afternoon. Not only did he nail a difficult touchline conversion, but he went on to land all four conversions and two penalties, keeping the scoreboard ticking over nicely.
The final try of the half came from Joe Knight. Following some wonderful work through the middle of the field, Joe collected the ball and set off, finishing with his trademark dive in the corner.
Half-time: Liverpool Collegiate 3 – 24 Aspull.
The second half was always going to be a different proposition. Facing a huge slope, it was time to dig in, bed ourselves in defensively and wait for Liverpool to throw the kitchen sink at us. And that’s exactly what they did.
But Aspull’s defence isn’t one of the best in the league for nothing. Liverpool’s big number eight and powerful-running number 12 came at us time and again, but our dominant pack controlled the collisions and stood firm.
In what was more of a battle of attrition than anything else, there was still one moment of real quality.
Ellis Clarke received the ball deep inside his own 22 and set off on a wonderful individual run, beating four defenders on his way to the line. A fantastic try and a real pleasure to watch. After a few quieter outings, Ellis has well and truly announced himself back into first-team contention. Three tries and a Man of the Match performance – not a bad afternoon’s work!
Aspull had to dig deep for this one, and the final scoreline probably doesn’t reflect just how tough a contest it was. There will certainly be a few sore bodies come Sunday morning.
Hero of the day – Jake Greenhalgh.
Having retired back in April, Jake answered the call at 11am on Saturday morning after our second late withdrawal of the day.
The only running Jake has done over the last six months has probably been after the fairer sex, but he dusted off his old number seven shirt and put in a tireless performance until his lungs finally gave up around the 70th minute!
A true club man, and Aspull are lucky to have so many people like him willing to step up when needed. Brilliant effort, Jake.
It was also great to see my old mate Hughie Bloor back on the pitch. After a few knocks, Hughie needed a bit of a rest, but he showed he certainly hasn’t lost his appetite for the biff, taking and delivering some big collisions throughout.
All in all, another solid outing for the Emus’ 1st XV. Five more points on the board, and equally pleasing to see our young Aspull 2nd XV picking up a big home victory of their own.
Next up, we move straight into next week for the ridiculously rearranged fixture against Garstang.
For anyone who has forgotten, we were leading 29–21 with 70 minutes played at the beginning of the season when the referee unfortunately pulled a muscle and was unable to continue. The game was subsequently abandoned.
Now, despite having already played the 70 minutes and come away with what we believed was a hard-earned victory, the lads have been told to give up their well-earned free weekend and do it all again.
We’ll dust ourselves down, get everyone ready and relish the challenge Garstang will bring.
Back to this week …. Another five points. Another big shift from the boys. What a time to be alive
