Orrell St James, Wigan St Judes NWML and Ashton Bears ‘A’ celebrate victory on NWML Cup Finals Day

Haresfinch ARLFC played host to the annual cup extravaganza as the winning trio from Wigan triumphed in the St Helens sunshine.

Here is a round-up of North West Men's League Cup Finals Day!

 

North West Men's League Cup Final:

In the showpiece Cup final, Orrell St James were on a mission to avenge their final defeat on home turf in 2024 to Haresfinch, their 2025 semi-final opponents. Standing in their way of redemption were Ashton Bears who, like Orrell, had nilled their semi-final opponents, Heysham Atoms, en route to the final.

It was the Bears that started strongly; St James barely surviving an immediate onslaught as centre James Stirrup knocked the ball on over the try line with just two minutes on the clock. The Ashton defence ripped into Orrell, forcing a goal line drop out on tackle one, which Stirrup profited from, finally getting himself and his team on the scoreboard. Stand-off Robert Sexton punctuated Ashton’s rapid start with a bullet of a conversion that struck the inside of the post and dropped over the crossbar.

Orrell were starved of possession in the opening ten minutes; Ashton had restricted them to just one possession of the ball, so it was going to take a special play to release their stranglehold of the game. From their own half, stand-off Joseph Charnock collected his winger Nathan Ellis’s cute grubber kick and with his run to the line being closed off by the Ashton defence, he played a speculative round-the-back pass to the supporting Jack McHugh. Despite cries of forward from the Ashton bench and fans, the full-back touched down under the posts, making Charnock’s conversion attempt a formality.

To quell their opponent’s growing momentum, Sexton elected to kick a penalty goal to restore his team’s advantage to two points. It was mere respite, however, as growing Orrell pressure created a 2-on-1 on the left-hand side. McHugh fired a pass to Lewis Round for an easy walk-in try. McHugh’s increasing influence on the match was brought to abrupt end as he was soon sidelined with a torn hamstring. His injury didn’t deter his teammates as they scored again soon after. Player of the match Christopher Doran showed superhuman strength to carry a number of Ashton players with him before shovelling the ball to Charnock, who simply had to dot the ball down in the right corner.

Both teams weren’t simply sharing momentum, they were wrestling it from each other’s grasp, no more evident than Ashton’s Luke Parkinson injecting some pace into his team’s fatiguing attack. The hooker picked the ball up in his own half and made the charge downhill, evading a couple of tackles along the way, to score under the posts and get his team right back in the game.

St James were adamant to have the final say of the half, however, as Ellis received a wonderful cut-out pass that put him in acres of space to run into. Hugging the touchline and with only full-back Matthew Ward to beat, he sent the ball back inside to the onrushing James Causey - the substitute deputising for McHugh at full-back - who showed a clean pair of heels to race 40 metres to score. Charnock’s easy two-pointer was the last action of a rip-roaring first half.

 

Half-time: Ashton Bears 14-22 Orrell St James

 

In almost a carbon copy of the first half, Stirrup started the second 40 brightest, but was once again adjudged to have knocked the ball over the line by the officials. Both teams continued to trade blows with the game firmly in the balance and it would take over twenty minutes for Ellis to get what would prove to be the try that would tip the match in favour of Orrell. Centre Liam McLoughlin played the ball out the back door and the winger squeezed in at the corner for a deserved score.

Ellis’ try appeared to knock the stuffing out of the Ashton defence, and last year’s beaten finalists looked set to right the wrongs of their 2024 defeat at the hands of Haresfinch. In the final throes of the match, with his team firmly camped on the Ashton try line, McLoughlin transitioned from provider to scorer as he crashed over the line to add a try to his try assist.

Ashton would, however, not go down without a fight, and with the clock nearing the 80 minute mark, winger Daniel Hill added a final flourish to the Bears’ valiant effort with a pacy finish from range. Sexton added the conversion as the referee’s whistle brought an end to proceedings.

Cup final redemption secured for Orrell St James on the ground of their conquerors from last year.

 

Full-time: Ashton Bears 20-32 Orrell St James

 

ASHTON BEARS

1. Matthew Ward 2. Max Ruddock 3. Connor Ashley 4. James Stirrup 5. Daniel Hill 19. Robert Sexton 7. Thomas Hopkins 8. Joseph Bradburn 9. Luke Parkinson 10. Matthew McGeown 11. Jordan Green 12. Callum Cottington 13. Ronny Broderick

Substitutes: 6. Harry Ireland 15. Lewis Goulding 16. Luke Sutcliffe 17. Kian Hampson

Tries: James Stirrup, Luke Parkinson, Daniel Hill

Conversions: Robert Sexton (x3)

Penalties: Robert Sexton

 

ORRELL ST JAMES

1. Jack McHugh 2. Lewis Round 3. Liam McLoughlin 4. Callum Taylor 5. Nathan Ellis 6. Joseph Charnock 14. Callum Wood 8. Thomas Whittle 9. James Dandy 10. Jonathan Griffiths 11. Christopher Doran 12. Joshua Wilde 13. Sam Lewis

Substitutes: 7. James Causey 15. Ben Tordoff 16. Jake Williams 17. Scott Taylor

Tries: Jack McHugh, Lewis Round, Joseph Charnock, James Causey, Nathan Ellis, Liam McLoughlin

Conversions: Joseph Charnock (x4)

 

Player of the Match: Christopher Doran (OSJ)

 

 

North West Men's League Trophy Final:

A bumper crowd was in attendance for the Trophy final contested between Wigan St Judes NWML and Golborne Parkside. Dynamic and flowing attacking rugby went by the wayside as the match quickly transformed into a fiery and tense war of attrition.

An early missed penalty from Wigan set the tone as both teams struggled to threaten each other’s try line. Golborne enjoyed the majority of possession, but a combination of wasted attacking opportunities and scrambling St Judes defence kept the game scoreless for almost the entirety of the first half.

Arguably against the run of play, the first score of the match came in the final seconds of the first 40. Wigan stretched the Parkside defence, shifting the ball left, and winger Callum Kneafcy flirted with the whitewash before squeezing in at the corner and receiving the confirmation for his try from the referee. Roman Shinks’ missed conversion attempt from the touchline was the last action of the half as Golborne were left wondering how they were behind at the break.

 

Half-time: Wigan St Judes NWML 4-0 Golborne Parkside

 

In the second-half, Golborne’s discipline began to evaporate as their penalty count against quickly skyrocketed into double figures. St Judes capitalised through a successful Shinks penalty goal from underneath the posts.

Second-rower Stuart Johnson was proving to be Golborne’s most potent attacking threat, launching sweeping attacks from deep with a surprising burst of pace - Wigan’s covering defence was able to snuff Johnson out on more than one occasion.

With territory now firmly established, Lewis Lingard thought he had finally got Golborne on the scoresheet. After Jacob Abbott was felled just short of the Wigan try line, substitute Lingard picked the ball up from dummy half and attempted to burrow his way over, only to knock on with the line in his sight.

Shinks’ two missed drop goal attempts saw tensions reach fever pitch with just ten minutes remaining. St Judes’ Peter Moore and Golborne’s Paul Wilcock were both given their marching orders for the remainder of the game after a fracas and lengthy stoppage. It was left to Lukas Heap to settle the match in favour of St Judes as the winger went in uncontested to seal the win and Trophy triumph for his team.

 

Full-time: Wigan St Judes NWML 12-0 Golborne Parkside

 

WIGAN ST JUDES NWML

1. Lewis Melling 2. Callum Kneafcy 3. Lewis Crosby 4. Lewis Topping 5. Lukas Heap 6. Callum Silcock 7. Roman Shinks 8. Deacon Ashcroft 9. Daniel Frost 10. Thomas Hillyer 11. Reece Aspinall 12. Rio Roberts 13. Peter Moore

Substitutes: 20. Rohan Green 15. Ramon Samuels 16. McKenzie Davies 17. Reece Ainsworth

Tries: Callum Kneafcy, Lukas Heap

Conversions: Roman Shinks

Penalties: Roman Shinks

 

GOLBORNE PARKSIDE

1. Reece Wilcock 5. Jacob Abbott 3. Callam Prescott 4. William Stones 2. Charlie Prescott 6. Deacon Tickle 7. Paul Wilcock 8. Charlie Maxted 9. Curtis Melvin 10. Craig Knox 11. James Tunstall 12. Stuart Johnson 13. Adam Heggie

Substitutes: 17. Lewis Evan 14. Lewis Lingard 19. Connor Wilcock 16. Dylan Spencer

 

Player of the Match: Lewis Melling (WSJ)

 

 

North West Men's League Shield Final:

The Shield final raised the curtain on cup final day, and Ashton Bears ‘A’ would fare better than their full, more senior side with a professional victory over Oldham St Annes ‘A’. Ashton’s half-back pairing of Billy Newton and Charlie Jordan would prove the difference on the day, and the two playmakers combined brilliantly to set up the first attack of the game.

Ultimately, centre Ethan Goodban failed to convert the smart short-range kicking game as he was adjudged to have knocked the ball on in his attempt to ground it.

It was Oldham who in fact scored the opening try of the game due to a handling error from Ashton full-back Robbie King. His opposite full-back, Luke Skilling, capitalised and strode through the Bears’ defence to open the scoring. First blood to Skilling in what would be a fantastic one-on-one battle between the two full-backs.

Newton’s influence on the game was growing, and after Matthew Sayer failed to convert another sweeping attack, Ashton finally made the breakthrough. Newton delicately chipped the ball over the St Annes defensive line and King was quickest to the ball, snatching it out of the clutches of Skilling and falling over the line. Honours even in this particular individual battle and on the scoreboard - Newton’s successful conversion edged Ashton ahead moments later.

Both teams’ attacking structure were fully on display, only handling errors at vital times stopped the manual scoreboard operator being overworked. Not to be outdone by his half-back partner, Jordan scythed through the Oldham defence, and with his team scrambling to recover, Elliot Mills held on for too long and was given his marching orders by the referee - St Annes reduced to 12 players as half-time approached.

 

Half-time: Ashton Bears ‘A’ 6-4 Oldham St Annes ‘A’

 

Ashton started the second 40 on the front foot and almost scored again, but winger Harry Lowton strayed an inch too wide and breached the whitewash in the act of touching the ball down.

After wasting a glorious 3-on-1 attack down the left-hand side, frustration got the better of Oldham’s Louie O’Reilly as he also received a yellow card for attempting to punch Charlie Newton. That moment would prove to be decisive as Ashton began to take the game away from their opponents. The Bears’ kicking game came alive and a ball over the top from Jordan, a percentages kick attempting to simply pin Oldham in their own in-goal area, wasn’t dealt with. Hooker Ross Pilling was the most alive to it and showed great composure to allow the ball to settle before getting a strong hand to it and pushing his team beyond two scores with Newton’s conversion.

The right boot of Jordan produced the goods once again with ten minutes left to play. To the surprise of many, the scrum-half elected to kick high on the fourth tackle. The kick was collected by Goodban, and on the final tackle of the set, Caine Thompson crashed over to score, a huge relief for the second rower after a frustrating afternoon prowling the touchline.

The game was beyond them at this point, but Oldham weren’t down and out just yet. Keen to end the contest on a high note, Mills pinned his ears back and scooted from just inside his own half, jinked past aa number of Ashton defenders and raced in under the posts. Isaac Baynham’s quickly taken conversion set up an exciting finish to the match, but Ashton were comfortable and held firm to take the Shield title.

 

Full-time: Ashton Bears ‘A’ 18-10 Oldham St Annes ‘A’

 

ASHTON BEARS ‘A’

1. Robbie King 2. Kyle Baxter 3. Ethan Goodban 9. Matthew Sayer 5. Harry Lowton 14. Billy Newton 7. Charlie Jordan 8. Isaac Mather 9. Ross Pilling 10. Callum Forshaw 11. Caine Thompson 12. Rees Watterson 13. Samuel Makin

Substitutes: 18. Patrick Jordan 15. Thomas Smith 16. Matthew Silvester 19. Thomas Cumberbirch

Tries: Robbie King, Matthew Sayer, Caine Thompson

Conversions: Billy Newton (x3)

 

OLDHAM ST ANNES ‘A’

4. Luke Skilling 5. James Tindall 3. Samuel Thackeray 19. Darren Fletcher 2. Taylor Thomas 6. Thomas Rosewarn 7. Isaac Baynham 8. Callum Giblin 14. Elliot Mills 10. Joseph Cooper 12. James Hall 11. Charles Hoy 13. Simon Topping

Substitutes: 15. Louie O’Reilly 16. Rhys Wareing 19. Jordan Strand 18. Luke McClean

Tries: Luke Skilling, Elliot Mills

Conversions: Isaac Baynham

 

Player of the Match: Charlie Jordan (ASH)

 

 

By Patrick Bratin