National Schools Cup quarter-final

St Bernard's 20 Wade Deacon 44

A ST BERNARD'S team lacking match practice and with very little training under their belts put up a battling display in defeat against the former National School champions.

The scores were tied at 20-across with 15 minutes to go at Walney's Central Drive before the Widnes side scored four unanswered tries in the closing stages to seal a semi-final spot.

St Bernard's started well, and got right into the faces of the opposition, with Martin Brun proving to be a handful, with his powerful direct running and all-round strength.

With only a few minutes on the clock, the ball was moved out to the left, and Will Hadwen powered over in the corner.

Some heated exchanges followed, but St Bernard's were looking good with ball in hand, with Luke Broadbent, Hayden Poole and Rio Corkill making good yards.

It was only some bad decisions and last-ditch tackles that prevented the home side going further ahead.

Wade Deacon started to look dangerous in attack, and it was obvious to see why this team had played at Wembley and lifted this trophy two years ago. And they did eventually breach the home side's try-line to level the scores at 4-4.

Some ferocious tackling from Matty Henderson, Ryan Wilson, Poole, Brun and Hadwen kept the Widnes side at bay, but they would eventually take the lead to make the score 10-4.

Wade Deacon started to get on top, passing the ball well and using the space on offer, and they eventually stretched their lead with an unconverted try.

St Bernard's finally got the ball in hand again and some strong drives from Ethan Waddington, Jaxon Saleh and Jack McKechnie, pushed the home side towards their opponents' line.

The ball was whipped to Brun, who crashed over under the posts to make the half-time score 14-10 to the visitors.

Wade Deacon started the second half brightly, moving the ball well, and they once again broke through to score.

The Barrow team then began to click into gear, and after good work from Broadbent, Henderson and Diddsy, Hadwen crashed over for his second to get them to within four opoints at 20-16.

Despite missing a few of their regularvplayers, St Bernard's were on a roll, and on the last tackle, Corkill's delicate chip found Sam Beattie, who caught the ball cleanly, to touch down just to the left of the posts.

The conversion was missed means the score was tied at 20-20 with 15 minutes to go.

Mistakes were to prove costly for St Bernard's though, and Wade Deacon capitalised with two well-taken tries and conversions to stretch their lead to 32-20.

The away team had their tails up, and within minutes they scored again to guarantee their victory. Inevitably St Bernard's heads dropped, and it was obvious that lack or no match practice and training as a team, played a big part in their downfall.

Wade Deacon scored again with the last set, with the scoreline slightly flattering them.

St Bernard's will have one last chance in this competition in their final school year, and it's been agreed by the school to bring in some local amateur coaches to help out, as well as organize some competitive matches, as it seems the West Cumbria Schools simply won't entertain playing any county finals.