26th January 2008 Pilkington Recs 26 - 14 Blackbrook SEVERAL flashes of class from young scrum half Ryan Rogers illuminated this derby battle and inspired Recs to a victory that maintains their position as dark horses for the North West Counties Premiership Division league title.
The rangy youngster is far from the traditional build for a number seven, but his growing confidence and creativity is posing huge problems for some of the league’s top teams.
Recs took command early with a Barry Pope penalty giving them a lead that they never surrendered. Minutes later full-back Mark Ashton split the visitors’ defence on the right flank before superbly swapping passes with winger Danny Davies and touching down for a try goaled by Pope.
And with momentum building as Pilks attacked down the slope, Rogers sneaked over after picking up his own grubber kick which had deflected off a Brook defender.
Substitute Richard Rafferty made a big impact off the bench for Pilks with a tireless stint, though the likes of Brook’s Carl Lamb and Ste Woods proved a handful for the home side.
At 12-0 down, Mark Lee’s side dragged themselves back into the game when Recs were caught napping on the blind side and winger Tommy Cunningham finished in the corner.
The gap was eight points at the break, but it was Pilks who struck next, also via a blind side move that saw centre Andy Lyons jink his way over from close range.
Rogers displayed exceptional vision to create Recs next try, with his long cut out pass evading the Brook winger and sending substitute Mark Rigby in at the corner.
But Brook pulled themselves back into the contest when sub Mike Loughlin found a gap in Recs’ line beneath the posts. Greg Peters goaled and with the gap down to ten Brook enjoyed their best spell of the match as the jitters appeared to be setting in for the home side.
But with Brook camped on Recs’ tryline, Lyons made a vital interception to relieve the pressure and from the next phase of play, Brook’s Woods was sin binned for a high tackle.
The balance swung back towards the home side, and Rogers produced the moment of the match as he dummied and sidestepped through the Brook defensive line 25 yards out on a sprint to the tryline.
Cunningham scored his second for Brook following an excellent move, but it was purely consolation for Mark Lee’s men.
Rogers was the Commhoist man of the match for Pilks, with stand off Jamie Smith also outstanding, and subs Rafferty and John Ford making telling contributions.
Andy Dobson was the Motor House man of the match for Blackbrook. 12th January 2008 Bank Quay Bulls 6 - 19 Pilkington Recs (NWC Cup Qtr Final) A TREMENDOUS display of determination and guile earned Recs a superb cup victory over a Bulls side previously unbeaten this season.
They more than matched the Warrington outfit's aggression before taking command with a clinical attacking performance to serve notice that Recs aim to mount a challenge for honours in the coming months.
Pilks have an uncanny knack of hitting top form on the Bulls' home patch and with several of John Ledger's younger players standing tall they took the game to the side.
Props Neil Morris and Rick Shaw led the pack as the visitors withstood the muscular challenges early on, while through the boot of scrum half Ryan Rogers they gained a tactical edge.
Early pressure was rewarded with a try as Ste Rawsthorne's grubber to the corner was touched down by winger Danny Davies Barry Pope was wide with a difficult conversion but later missed a more straightforward penalty kick that would have stretched the lead to six.
Recs repelled onslaughts by the Premier Division league leaders' but finally cracked in the 33rd minute for a converted try which left the score 6-4 at half time.
The visiting support became infuriated with some of the referee's decisions, but Pilks kept their composure and grew in confidence.
Rogers and Jamie Smith took a grip on the game and it was the latter's inside pass that sent John Rees to the tryline.
Big hits by the likes of Andy Burns, Peter Cahalin, Davies and Smith set a fierce tempo in defence, but the quality of attacking play was of equal measure.
Andy Lyons sparked and finished the next score with a magnificent piece of centre play. On half way he drew the defence to put winger Pope clear before taking a return pass and outpacing the cover to touch down.
With confidence flowing through Recs, Rogers jinked down the blind side for a try that took the lead to 12 and later struck a drop goal to tie up the victory.
Rogers took both the Commhoist and Taylors Taxis man of the match awards, while centres Lyons and Mark Rigby both had strong games. 5th January 2008 Stanningley 18 - 10 Pilkington Recs (National Cup Rd 2) | 12th January 2008 Pilkington Recs A 26 - 32 Orrell St James THIS was Pilks A's first game in two months due to their withdrawal from Division Three of the NWC.
Speedster Stu Rawsthorne scored first but Orrell responded quickly in what was a tit-for-tat game for the full 80 minutes.
Recs' new boy Adam Fogerty weighed in with two tries, the second from a cheeky chip over and dive.
Veteran Steve O'Neill also got a try on his return to Recs after a sabbatical in union and summer RL.
Tries dried up for Recs in the second half with only Craig Holden barging under the sticks to make up for an earlier sin binning.
Recs tried hard to get the winner with the scores locked at 26-26.
Unfortunately Orrell sneaked in for a late try. Best for Recs man of the match James Lacey was run close by Webster and young Luke Smith.
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