Miller Homes Leagues Division 5 West, 27th Oct 2007

Liverpool SH 4th 21 v 21 New Brighton 3rds

What a game! This match had everything. Two sides hell bent on playing open rugby, especially in the second half. A mighty fracas as the half time whistle blew, of which no-one can be proud, and in between, some superb running and handling from both sides, of which players at a much higher level could well be proud.

The visitors had much the better of the early exchanges, and had they converted some easy penalty chances, which their forward dominance had earned, might have found themselves with a handy lead. However, they elected to run every penalty chance, all to no avail, and it was only when outside half Williams decided to attack the defensive line with ball in hand, after a spell of forward pressure, that New Brighton opened their account. Cardus converted . The lead was short lived however as before half time, Reilly crossed near the posts after some crisp passing by the young L.S.H. threequarters. Swift's conversion levelled the scores at the interval.

The second half was a credit to the players of both sides. New Brighton immediately took the game to their opponents and scored two magnificent tries. Newman scorched under the posts from a set scrum move, and then Williams seized on a handling mistake to race away to the posts. Two Cardus conversions looked to have put New Brighton into an unassailable position, but from the second kick off, L.S.H. hit back. Ian Darlington, defying the rigours of his advancing years, caught the restart kick, and almost made it to the line. However, as he was tackled, McKeown was on hand to pick up and score. Five minutes later the scores were level. Bushell, on as a substitute for the injured Harrison, drove over in the corner, and Swift coolly slotted over the touchline conversion to bring about the right result, as neither side, on this showing, deserved to go away tasting defeat.

Brian Ball.