Creditable start for Lancashire in chase for title

May 5 2008 by Staff Copytaker, Liverpool Daily Post

LANCASHIRE made a reasonable start in their campaign to regain a County Championship title they have won four times in the last six seasons, but did run out of steam in the final quarter.

Full-back Steve Nutt, once with Waterloo but now at Fylde, finished off an excellent handling move with a try that he then converted with a kick that bounced off the bar midway through the second half.

Lancashire’s fifth try gave them a decisive 35-13 lead, but once they began to ease up and make several substitutions, they lost their grip, conceded two tries themselves and in the end were greatly relieved not to be caught.

They will certainly need to generate a bit more energy forward if they are to claim a second victory at Cheshire’s expense this coming Saturday and show they have the power to retain their group title by beating a very tough Yorkshire side at Harrogate in a fortnight’s time.

In this match they hardly gained any possession at all in the first 20 minutes, relying on a couple of Nutt penalties to keep in touch.

However, once their pack started to win a little good ball, their very pacy backs demonstrated just what they could do, helping their side claim five excellent tries before the whole team lost their momentum.

Wingers Oliver Brennand (2) and Nicholas Royle (both from Fylde) showed considerable pace when given a chance to do so and were joined as try scorers by the impressive number eight Seb Moss (Manchester), who ran from the halfway line on the half hour.

Fly half Alex Davies from Waterloo got things moving very impressively and centres Jason Duffy and Richard Kenyon ensured that on the rare occasions they got quick ball they were part of a truly formidable force.

Newly-promoted Warwickshire played quite well, but lacked a pacy fly half.

Prop forward Phil Boulton from Rotherham barged clean through the defence to claim their first try early on, but their other two came towards the end from winger Kurt Johnson and flanker Simon Morris.

Chris Brown put over two penalties, despite missing a sitter, and improved Boulton’s first half try, with Ben Russell adding a late conversion of the Morris pushover.

Quite what Lancashire will have learned remains to be seen, but coach Mark Nelson knows he must work hard to try and ensure quicker and more frequent possession if they are to regain their title.