Woolston reigned victorious in a ferocious game that was decided by the last play of extra time. They are now the NWC Development Plate champions. After comprehensively defeating Oldham on no less than 3 occasions already this season, Woolston went into the game brimming with confidence and ready to defeat Oldham for a fourth time and win their first cup final. However they found a much improved outfit. Oldham were the better team for long periods of the game, however Woolston came up with the goods at the right time and snatched a hard fought victory.
Jordan Ross deservedly managed to win the man of the match award, as selected by NWC officials, in a good all round performance. In which he tackled superbly, and put in several try saving cover tackles, he also looked dangerous whenever he had the ball in hand. His defensive efforts were backed up by the big hitting Adam Clare, Martin Ball and Luke Wyke. Adam Files' hard work around the play the ball area aided Woolston with his pressure relieving runs from dummy half.
Woolston's forwards, although constantly under strain, ran hard and Josh Clarke, Joe Kanzces and Jacob Ward all drove the ball in hard in their stints on the field. Joe Delooze, Stu Simm and Dominic Ball all coped well despite being put under pressure from the Oldham kicking game.
Woolston started very well. The defence was solid, and Woolston were making good inroads into Oldham territory. After more pressure, a pass by Adam C found Jake Whittaker who threw a long ball out to Alex Milbourne who brushed of a would be tackle and strolled over the whitewash. The conversion however was missed. Woolston again looked dangerous and Oldham were lucky to escape when a searing Jordan Ross break was brought to a halt on the 10 metre line, despite the attention of two defenders Jordan managed to offload in the tackle, only for Martin to fumble the ball with the tryline at his mercy.
After early Woolston pressure, Oldham fought back and put Woolston under some sustained pressure, and with the moments ticking down to the end of the first half an Oldham player sold a dummy and raced away to score a try. The conversion was also added to leave Woolston facing a half time deficit.
Half time Woolston Rovers 4 - 6 Oldham St Annes
Oldham carried on from where they left of in the first half, and took a 12 - 4 lead leaving Woolston staring a bitter and disappointing defeat in the face. However captain Adam C gave Woolston a glimmer of hope when he sold a dummy, stepped through the Oldham line and raced over from 30 metres out. Jake added the conversion to leave Woolston trailing by 2 points. However Woolston failed to seize the initiative and looked truly dead and buried when Oldham added another try to open up a 6 point gap. With time ebbing slowly away defeat was looking more and more likely, that was until Jake and Adam C combined to send Jordan through a gap, he then raced around the full back and under the posts for a great try. Jake kept his cool to add the conversion to tie the game up again.
The remaining moments of the second half was a battle of two defences, with both teams holding firm. Pete Levenston and Chris Goddard put in good hits and helped Woolston keep Oldham scoreless for the remainder of the game. The full time whistle sounded with both teams deadlocked at 16-16, the game would shortly go into extra time. Extra time would be two periods of 5 minutes.
Full time Woolston Rovers 16 - 16 Oldham St Annes
The first half of extra time was scoreless as once again both defences on top. However signs of things to come were shown with the re-introduction of Tom Cann and the introduction of Ste Bennet who both offered Woolston more go-forward. Despite working their way into good positions Woolston couldn't capitalize and this ensured the first half of extra time ended pointless. The second half however proved to be a different affair.
After big drives By Jonny, Tom and Ste got Woolston deep into Oldham territory, Woolston took advantage. A massive crossfield kick by Adam C found Joe Delooze out wide, who managed to gather the kick and score in the corner. The conversion was missed which left Woolston with a slender four point advantage. This however counted for nothing, when slack defending and crucial one on one tackle misses enabled Oldham to score a try to level the scores up. Thankfully the conversion was missed.
The last set of six saw Woolston battle their way into Oldham territory again, and when the last tackle arrived Adam C put up another high, hanging crossfield kick. And to the jubilation of everyone involved with Woolston, Joe Delooze again emerged with the ball to cross for his second of the game, and the try that clinched a hard fought victory for Woolston. The conversion was missed, but this didn't matter as there wasn't enough time left for any more action to take place. So the full time whistle sounded and the ecstasy and agony of a final was on show for all to see.
Despite giving everyone a scare Woolston managed to snatch victory and crown what has been a highly successful season for a vastly improved Woolston outfit. Credit must also be given to Oldham who played their part in what was a great spectacle of junior rugby league.
AET Woolston Rovers 24 - 20 Oldham St Annes
Trys: Joe Delooze 2, Adam Clare, Alex Milbourne, Jordan Ross
Conversions: Jake Whittaker 2
1. Jordan Ross 2. Dominic Ball 3. Martin Ball 4. Alex Milbourne 5. Joe Delooze 6. Adam Clare 7. Jake Whittaker 8. Joe Kanzces 9. Adam Files 10. Tom Cann 11. Josh Clarke 12. Jacob Ward 13. Jonny Wilson 14. Luke Wyke 15. Stu Simm 16. Ste Bennet 17. Pete Levenston 18.Chris Goddard 19. Steven Dean
