PUBLISHED 08 November 2021
AKS 1st XV had a tough battle one their hands, against Merchant Taylors last week in the Lancashire Cup.
From the start this game was high paced and gain with two very evenly matched teams going head-to-head. With the wind in their favour Merchant Taylors pushed AKS deep in their half and started to apply pressure. AKS showed great resilience with strong tackling from Fraser, Louis and Matt S kept the visitor at bay and for much of the early exchanges AKS looked dangerous with ball in hand. It was Merchant Taylors who broke the deadlock with a breakaway try, which was then converted.
With words of encouragement from the teams' leaders, AKS picked straight back up from the kick-off and continued to cause problems for the Merchants defence, this eventually resulted in a powerful run from Harry to crash over the line. This was then followed by Daniel cutting a line through the defence and a flat ball from Morgan and he danced around the fullback to score under the post and convert his own try.
In this bruising encounter both teams took it in tern to exchange blows, a notable moment in the game as tight head prop John, broke the line for a 40-meter charge down the field only to be tackle 5 meters for the try line. On the stroke of half time, Merchant put themselves back in the driving seat with a fine try which saw a number of passes to unlock the AKS defence. Half time score 12-14 to Merchant Taylors.
In the second half Daniel took charge of the game using the wind to good effect and pushed Merchant Taylors deep into their own half and with fantastic chasing by Fraser and Brandon pressured the turnover a number of times. AKS were quick to capitalise on the advance with Tristan bulldozing his way over the line (converted by Daniel) to put AKS back in the lead. AKS continued to pressurise the Merchant Taylors half and as the game got a little fractious, Tristan was quick to capitalise with a quick tap penalty and a dash for the corner (converted by Daniel), to put 2 scores between the teams and with the clock ticking AKS felt comfortable in the game. This was short lived however, as Merchant Taylors rallied to get back in the game and started to find space in the AKS defence and with 5 minutes left on the clock crossed the line for a converted try, which meant they needed a converted try for the win. Both teams used every ounce of energy battling for ascendancy and despite challenging the AKS defence and breaking the line on a number of occasions AKS were able to hold on to the lead to progress through to the Semi-Finals of the Cup.
This was another fantastic performance by AKS and with a number of outstanding performances including Morgan, Tristan and Harry. Man of the Match goes to John.