15 January 2024
Wednesday 10 January 2024
U17 v Old Swinford Hospital School 1st XV
Lost 33-24
Kirkham Grammar School U17 squad (pictured right) travelled to Stourbridge Rugby Club to play their first fixture of 2024 against a strong Old Swinford 1st XV. In the first half OSH scored two tries and Kirkham's Littler scored Kirkham's only points of the half, making the half time score 12-5. Kirkham started the second half with a bang with Glue and Gildea scoring tries and Glue converting one. The score now 17-12 to Kirkham. With eleven players on the Kirkham bench, there were many substitutions in the last 30 minutes and this proved to disrupt Kirkham's flow. OSH scored three converted tries, however Kirkham finished the game with a fantastic team try. Hill spotted space out wide and kicked the ball cross field to Marsh, Blackburn was in support and made a break for the try line, Kelso was on Blackburn's shoulder for the final pass and Kelso touched the ball down under the posts. Glue added the extras making the final score 33-24 to OSH.
Saturday 13 January
U16s v Rodillian Academy (pictured top of page)
Won 57-0
The U16s team travelled to Wakefield to play Rodillian Academy. The boys had a near full strength side and were prepared for a physical encounter against a team filled with lots of rugby league talent. After a very brief but intense warm up, the boys were up for the challenge; they scored 40 unanswered points in the first half. Anton and Jack led the attack who provided quick ball due to the forward packs brute strength going forward. Thumping tackles by Rohan, Charlie, Harry and Archie amongst others meant that the home side could gain no momentum. The second half was more of the same; Kirkham simply did not stop with their clinical display of attacking, free flowing rugby. A pleasure to watch. Final score 57-0.
U14s v Rodillian Academy
Won 45-12
Kirkham Grammar School U14s started 2024 with a good performance against Rodillian Academy. Straight from the off, KGS' ball movement caused many problems to the visitors and after some nice phase play, Nuttall burrowed in from short range. Shortly thereafter, Kirkham scored again, after some good ball carrying from Taylor, which created space for Wright to score, with Faith adding the extras. Kirkham managed to score two more tries through Gillett and in the last play of the match, Clarke went 70 metres to close the half out at 26-0. The second half ended as the first, with Kirkham coming out of the blocks fast, which saw Grigg and Walls score to powerful tries off the back of some physical play from Smith, to all but end the match as a contest. The game from here on was a bit more even, with the visitors powerful carriers trying to punch holes in the KGS defence, but the hosts were more than able to step up. It was laps in concentration that saw Rodillian make a good line break, with then some fantastic handling, which resulted in a try for their winger in the corner. KGS responded well, with the front row of Taylor, Peters and Davies shoving their opposition off their own put in at a scrum, the ball was moved into the hands of Gillett, who scored his second try. In the last play, the visitors grabbed a consolation try to end the game 45-12.
U13s v Rodillian Academy
An enlarged Kirkham Grammar School U13 squad took on Rodillian Academy in a game of four quarters. The A team started very brightly with plenty of early possession allowing Kirkham to use the outside channels effectively with tries from Walker-Basham, Elleray, Milligan and Ince. Kirkham continued to dominate the quarter and were stopped short of the line on several occasions. The second quarter saw Kirkham continue to dominate with five more tries added by Gilchrist, Walker-Basham, Lawson, Elleray and Milligan.
The B team put in a very spirited effort against a strong Rodillian side, only conceding a single try with the highlight being a very sound defensive effort from all the boys. The second period saw Kirkham tire a little but none-the-less, the effort and spirit remained. However, Rodillian started to gel as a team and put some effective phases together scoring four tries in the process with one in reply from Fowara.
U12A v Rodillian Academy
Lost 20-5
U12A played away at Rodillian Academy in Wakefield on Saturday morning. The boys defended with spirit and tried hard to move the ball to space in attack. Rodillian took their chances well and Kirkham found themselves four tries to zero going into the last quarter of the game. Kirkham's front rowers Sumner and Cox carried hard and competed at the breakdown all game and centre pairing Winstanley and Dunn defended well. Freddie Butler put in some fantastic tackles and halfback pairing Parker and Swindlehurst moved the ball with accuracy. Kirkham finished the game strong with one final try.