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Saints start new year with a home victory
Tony McArdle12 Jan - 09:28
Anselmians run in seven tries
With only two games on in North 1 West, Saints welcomed Bowdon to Eastham for the first game of 2026. The game was preceded by a minute’s silence for Fred Howard well respected international referee and friend of Anselmians rugby club RIP Fred.
The weather was bright and the pitch in excellent condition as the Wirral luckily seemed to miss out on the recent snow. Saints where straight into Bowdon, with powerful runs from the kick off, Holmes charging through the centres before the pack drove the ball forward, quick recycling allowing Sanders to jog over the line from 5m out, converted by Baldwin 7-0 with only 5 mins on the clock.
Unfortunately, Big Fred Clark was injured and was replaced by the returning Will Grabe. Saints’ dominant in the scrum were making ground whenever they had the ball, and when Holmes found himself 10m out there was no stopping him going over, conversion missed but 12-0 ahead with 15minutes on the clock.
With Saints pack making good progress in the loose, and driving the scrum backwards it was only a matter time before yet again Sanders came off the back of a maul to cross the whitewash for his 2nd, again converted by the reliable Baldwin and an 19-0 scoreline. Saints where guilty of throwing the ball around and trying to force the game buoyed no doubt by the scoreline however Bowden are a decent team who never give up, and a poor pass was intercepted to allow them to put some points on the board.19-7 at Half time.
Saints came out renewed with the lineout functioning well, strong scrummage, Oscar Crowe smashed through a tackle 20m out and raced towards the line only to be brought down by an excellent cover tackle 2m out, unfortunately for Bowdon though Lewis Kincart picked up the ball and dived over to score, converted by Baldwin 26-7. With Saints dominant forward play Whittaker came off the back of a maul to drive over and at this point it looked like Bowdon had no response 33-7.
With a couple of subs on Bowden looked a different outfit, and when a minor scuffle resulted a yellow card to each side, Bowdon’s backs where the quickest to react taking a quick tap penalty and going over in the corner for their 2nd try and 33-12 scoreline. Nolan on for Holmes was making some solid runs through the centres, the ball being spread along the backline by Dodd and Baldwin, Ben Jones found himself clear on the halfway line and sprinted up the pitch to score converted by Baldwin 40-12.
With the game probably won Saints play looked a bit complacent, Bowden’s backs found themselves in space and where unluckily held up over the line, however the restart saw them score a try in the corner after a well worked passage of play, converted 40-19 and give them hope for a 4th try and bonus point. Last score however went to saints with Oscar Crowe smashing his was through beside the sticks, easily converted by Baldwin and denying Bowden bonus point.
Next week away to Blackburn
The weather was bright and the pitch in excellent condition as the Wirral luckily seemed to miss out on the recent snow. Saints where straight into Bowdon, with powerful runs from the kick off, Holmes charging through the centres before the pack drove the ball forward, quick recycling allowing Sanders to jog over the line from 5m out, converted by Baldwin 7-0 with only 5 mins on the clock.
Unfortunately, Big Fred Clark was injured and was replaced by the returning Will Grabe. Saints’ dominant in the scrum were making ground whenever they had the ball, and when Holmes found himself 10m out there was no stopping him going over, conversion missed but 12-0 ahead with 15minutes on the clock.
With Saints pack making good progress in the loose, and driving the scrum backwards it was only a matter time before yet again Sanders came off the back of a maul to cross the whitewash for his 2nd, again converted by the reliable Baldwin and an 19-0 scoreline. Saints where guilty of throwing the ball around and trying to force the game buoyed no doubt by the scoreline however Bowden are a decent team who never give up, and a poor pass was intercepted to allow them to put some points on the board.19-7 at Half time.
Saints came out renewed with the lineout functioning well, strong scrummage, Oscar Crowe smashed through a tackle 20m out and raced towards the line only to be brought down by an excellent cover tackle 2m out, unfortunately for Bowdon though Lewis Kincart picked up the ball and dived over to score, converted by Baldwin 26-7. With Saints dominant forward play Whittaker came off the back of a maul to drive over and at this point it looked like Bowdon had no response 33-7.
With a couple of subs on Bowden looked a different outfit, and when a minor scuffle resulted a yellow card to each side, Bowdon’s backs where the quickest to react taking a quick tap penalty and going over in the corner for their 2nd try and 33-12 scoreline. Nolan on for Holmes was making some solid runs through the centres, the ball being spread along the backline by Dodd and Baldwin, Ben Jones found himself clear on the halfway line and sprinted up the pitch to score converted by Baldwin 40-12.
With the game probably won Saints play looked a bit complacent, Bowden’s backs found themselves in space and where unluckily held up over the line, however the restart saw them score a try in the corner after a well worked passage of play, converted 40-19 and give them hope for a 4th try and bonus point. Last score however went to saints with Oscar Crowe smashing his was through beside the sticks, easily converted by Baldwin and denying Bowden bonus point.
Next week away to Blackburn
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