Runaway Tries Halt Forward Dominance

Tough, Gritty Performance Against Top Of The League

January blues continued this week. Player unavailability meant that several second team regulars went away with the first team, including Ryan Hargreaves and James Amor who made their first team debut. This is after some very spectacular performances this year for the second string.

Despite the unavailability issues, the team still looked strong on paper and there was a full contingent of 18 players available. Unfortunately a couple of lads cried off in the morning and a no show from Fleetwood's version of George Best, Adam Kerr.

There was a delay to the kick off, as the away team had forgotten to bring their kit with them. After some deliberation with club and match officials, Skipper Foden managed to source them some kit to wear at short notice.

Fleetwood started the game on the back foot and took an extended spell on the defence. Fleetwood managed to hold their own for a good 15 minutes or so before Colne managed to spot a gap in the defence to score. 0-5.

Not to be deterred, Fleetwood hit back at their opponents. Using their larger pack, Fleetwood bullied their opposite numbers all over the park and especially in the scrum.

After some constant bombardment of the Colne line, Fleetwood's James Gregson managed to wiggle himself down to place the ball on the line to score. Jackson missing the conversion. 5-5.

With this, Fleetwood felt the confidence grow and started expressing themselves more, really taking the game to the league leaders. 'Fleet probed with the forwards and the backs tried their best to find the gaps out wide. Just as it looked like the men in Green and Gold were about to take the lead, the away team ripped the ball in a tackle, shipped it wide to the wing to score a full length try. 5-12.

Half Time: 5-12

Buoyed by their efforts in the first half, the home side felt like a scalping against the top of the league was on. More of the same was in order, but just trying not to get caught from deep.

Fleetwood went straight back on the attack, again using their forwards making some big bulldozing runs. All was starting to look Fleetwood's way.

Colne and Nelson though had other ideas, now back in their regular Black colours after having them delivered at half time, pounced a spilled ball and in almost a carbon copy of their last try, shipped it out wide to score in the corner again. 5-17.

Annoyed by this Fleetwood elected not to let the next opportunity slide by. Big forward carries from the front row of O'Hara, Pook and Foden got Fleetwood in range and allowed James Gregson to crash over under the sticks for his second try. Conversion by Jackson 12-17.

Seeing the hard work of his team mates, Birthday Boy Alex Seymour decided that he wanted a run out. To be fair to Alex, he had a decent start to his spell on the pitch. But after he spotted a gap and tried to run through it, he slipped and landed chest first on the ball. Being winded, he had to take himself off after a disputed "8 minutes", earning himself the Prestigious Dick Of The Day Award.

Fleetwood again tried to bully themselves up the pitch in an effort to win the game, but Colne managed to win the ball back, and again scored from deep. 12-22.

The home side never gave up their pursuit to win the game, but by this point tired legs had kicked in and Colne and Nelson exploited a gap to score the final try of the game. 12-29.

Full Time: 12-29

This was a massive improvement on the previous weeks cricket score against Tarleton. The effort here against top of the league was immense, let's hope this level of performance continues. The game also marked the senior debut of former colt Ollie Fearn. Ollie put in a decent performance despite playing out of position and gave a good account of himself.

Man Of The Match

This was a tough one this week. The forwards in general put up an immense effort. O'Hara continues to improve every week, Joe Kirton, who left work early to help out put a massive shift in as did No. 8 Jackson. In the backs, Nautical College lads Kieran O'Driscoll and Jamie Hearne both did some great work.

The award goes to James Gregson, his constant ball carrying rewarded him with two tries.

The Weekly Sam Pook Report

After coming into some criticism for being a little to negative towards Sam, this week's round up will be a little more positive.

Sam wasn't on a boat this week. He played 80 minutes. He didn't say much during the game. Some of his line outs were straight. Made to look fantastic in the scrum due to his Props. Seems to have gotten the Rugby Bug back.

A respectable solid 6.5 out of 10. Keep up the good work!

Next Week

The Second String is back on the road again away to Bolton. Please get in touch if you fancy a game.

Photos

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Squad: 15. Hearne; 14. Fearn; 13. Fyall; 12. Platter; 11. Obiorah; 10. Crompton; 9. O'Driscoll; 1. O'Hara; 2. Pook; 3. Foden; 4. Willamson; 5. Gregson; 6. Heer; 7. Blunn; 8. Jackson; 16. Kirton; 17. Seymour.