Halton Hornets u16s 12 Mary Port u16s 6

THE HEAVY conditions determined the style of rugby in this uncompromising First Round National Cup tie.

Against the run of play Mary Port took a 2-0 lead from a penalty. Sustained pressure from the Hornets saw Ste Yates charge into the corner to see Hornets take a deserved 4-2 lead. Ste Hunt steadied Hornets nerves scoring a converted try to leave Hornets 10-2 in front at half-time.

In the second-half Mary Port started more strongly and it came as no surprise when the try came leaving Hornets 10-6 in front. Both defences were now on top with Peter Hafferty and Liam McCann excelling in this department.

Chances were limited and it came as a relief when Mary Port were penalised for foul play, allowing Ste Hunt's penalty to stretch Hornets lead to 12-6.

The final 10 minutes were very tense but Hornets defence held out for a memorable victory which sees them go through to Round Two.

Hornets u15s 20 Leyland Warriors u15s 4

HORNETS had long spells of pressure in the first-half but many chances went begging as fancy passing moves broke down as a slippy ball went to ground.

Hornets then started to keep the play simple and think about their game and were rewarded with two fine tries by outstanding winger Ian Dourley.

The second-half again saw Hornets dominate attacking play. Man of the match Michael Grimes rounded off a fine passing move deceiving the advancing Leyland defence to touchdown.

Hornets forwards led by Daniel Stanley and Shaun Draycott continued to dominate. Their strong running and tackling being an outstanding feature of the game. Leyland never gave up and scored a fine 50 yard try to bring the score to 12-4.

Hornets rallied and Michael Grimes scored his second try after linking up well with Chris Plant to score in the corner. Chris Plant then added a further try late in the game diving over from the play-the-ball on the line. Their were also outstanding performances by Jamie Rowland, Paul Argent and Martin Scott.

Kings Cross u14s 0 Halton Hornets u14s

BARLA National Cup First Round

HORNETS ventured into uncharted waters for this National Cup game but any fears were soon dispelled in this 13 try romp against Kings Cross who battled pluckily but were clearly out of their depth against this magnificent Hornets team.

Prop Sean Loftus was first to score, quickly followed at regular intervals by Liam McGovern and then Ste Rowlands, and with two conversions, at 16-0 the writing was already on the wall. Ste Rowlands galloped 70 metres for his second and further tries came from David Prescott, Jamie Durbin and Mark Bevan. Two more conversions took the half-time score to 34-0.

The second-half was much the same as the first, being all one way traffic to the Kings Cross try line with Hornets playing some wonderful rugby which entertained the supporters who had travelled to Halifax and also drew rich praise from their opponents supporters.

Try scorers were Sean Loftus and Jamie Durbin who each got their second and Liam McGovern grabbed two to complete his hat-trick. Probably the best try of the lot came from winger Darren Burgess who finished superbly after being put away by his centre David Prescott.

So, 13 tries and seven conversions brought the final tally to 66-0 and the referee rightly blew for time seven minutes early to save Kings Cross from further punishment.

Halton Hornets u9s 38 Orrell St James u9s 4

THIS must go down as one of the best displays given this year.

Orrell were just outclassed in every way by an ever-improving young Hornets side.

Mom, David Jones and most effort, Craig Gallimore proved to be too powerful with their blockbusting running.

The Hornets defence forced Orrell into one-man rugby and with the crunching tackling of Joe Andrews the defence stood proud. Stephen Connor took the coaches award with his fine display of leadership on the field. It was only in the final minute of the game that Orrell went in at the corner for a consolation try.

Chorley u7s 26 Halton Hornets 40

HORNETS' defence was served well by all, the top tackle award going to Joe Turner who also scored a try. Jamie London also put in a great tackling display which earned him the coaches award closely followed by Daniel O'Brien who scored a hat-trick of tries and a conversion. Momwent to Gareth O'Brien who having made numerous tackles also scored a hat-trick of tries and a conversion. A Liam Hulme try and conversions by Lewis Goulding and Jamal Zarrugh - captain for the day - completed the Hornets' scoring.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.