ST BENEDICTS 3 – ANSELMIANS 78
With not having played for 4 weeks Saints made the 31⁄2 hour journey to St Benedicts in Whitehaven, Cumbria.
They were met with bright but cold conditions and a decent pitch; a rarity this winter.
Saints came out firing and within three minutes Ewan Nolan, playing at number 8, swept in from the wing to score under the posts, with Morley adding the extras.
St Benedicts replied with a penalty two mins later; these turned out to be their only points of the game although they did miss two more penalties in the first half.
Saints now stepped up a gear with a dominant scrum and faultless line out. Both full-back Andy Cummins and James Whitehouse were making significant yardage towards the try line.
With Whitehouse and Nolan adding their second tries within the space of five minutes, it was going to be a tough afternoon for the Cumbrians.
It was one-way traffic. Not helping themselves, St Benedicts had two players yellow carded for foul play, leaving gaps in the backline for Tommy Banks and Grebe to score.
HT 3-35
The second half was more of the one-way traffic, with Nolan grabbing his third try Whitehouse his second, and also Banks with his second.
Morley bagged a try and a penalty to add to his 11 conversions. There was also a try from former under 9s winger, prop Brookes with a slick sidestep. Brian Atwine grabbed a try on his return to the side.
Final score 3-78.
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | #ERROR! | TB | LB | Pts | Adj |
| 1 | Anselmians | 19 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 880 | 172 | 708 | 16 | 1 | 90 | |
| 2 | Rochdale | 18 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 573 | 209 | 364 | 12 | 0 | 81 | |
| 3 | Keswick | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 390 | 371 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 64 | |
| 4 | Winnington Park | 17 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 504 | 384 | 120 | 9 | 1 | 56 | |
| 5 | Warrington | 19 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 461 | 376 | 85 | 4 | 3 | 49 | |
| 6 | Leigh | 17 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 340 | 329 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 44 | |
| 7 | Tarleton | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 363 | 395 | -32 | 5 | 4 | 39 | |
| 8 | Cockermouth | 19 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 301 | 483 | -182 | 6 | 2 | 36 | |
| 9 | Southport | 21 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 300 | 514 | -214 | 1 | 5 | 34 | |
| 10 | Bolton | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 393 | 491 | -98 | 4 | 2 | 33 | -5 |
| 11 | St Benedicts | 21 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 264 | 652 | -388 | 3 | 4 | 29 | |
| 12 | De La Salle (Salford) | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 209 | 360 | -151 | 1 | 4 | 20 | -5 |
| 13 | Orrell | 19 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 358 | 600 | -242 | 4 | 6 | 17 | -5 |
St Benedicts
15 Andrew Middleton
14 Zac Ellison
13 Damien Tinkler
12 Reece Billington
11 Alex Wilson
10 Ryan Fisher
9 Aiden Pirie
1 Joshua Jenkinson
2 Jamie Jardine
3 James Finnegan
4 Liam Woodburn
5 Glenn McKitten
6 Russell Burns
7 William Wilson
8 Gary Gibbons
St Benedicts Subs
S1 Kevin Christian
S2 Barry Boyd
Anselmians
15 Andrew Cummings
14 James Whitehouse
13 Thomas Banks
12 Ransford Otutaha
11 Adam Bramhall
10 David Morley
9 Liam Sadler
1 Stephen Brooks
2 Daniel Salisbury
3 Jonathan Bonner
4 Niall Cavanagh
5 Jack Richards
6 Ewan Nolan
7 Thomas Gilbert
8 William Grabe
Anselmians Subs
S1 Derek Salisbury
S2 David Edge
S3 Brian Atwine
Anselmians 1st XV’s next game is away to Macclesfield on Saturday 19 March for a 2.15pm kick-off in the Cheshire Cup.
Image credit: Derek Salisbury Snr
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