In their second Papa John’s cup final at Worcester Sixways Stadium, Wirral lost out to Oundle in the
final 20 minutes as Oundle used their more powerful forwards and speedier backs to overcome a
strong display by the Wirral side.
Wirral made one change in the backs with JIMMY ANNETTS returning to centre with TOM COLE
returning to the wing in place of WILL MORRIS. In the forwards CHRIS BURROWS started in the back
row whilst JOSH STEAD was on the bench, his head still bandaged from last week’s injury. The other
substitutes were LEON LEHANE, DAN CARROL, WILL MORRIS, CHRIS DERMODY, MARK EDWARDS,
GEORGE BURROWS and SAM VICKERS.
There was a slight breeze blowing with a female referee in place, supported by referees on the
touchline. Wirral started well and had play in the Oundle half and penalties took play deep in the
20m area and this was followed by a 5m line out to Wirral, taken at the front and passed on to MATT
RINGER who from a few metres out crossed over to score. From the touchline JIMMY ANNETTS kept
the ball low to convert the try, 7-0 (7 minutes).
It was apparent at the outset that Oundle had the speedier backs and the ball moved down the
backs well. As a result Oundle put pressure on the Wirral line but stout defence kept the line intact.
A further Oundle break was stemmed by a great tackle from RHYS JAMES in the corner, a metre from
the line. On 17 minutes an Oundle line out was won and another attack allowed Oundle to score5
metres from the posts, the conversion was missed, 7-5. On 21 minutes Wirral had a penalty kick but
unfortunately the chance was lost.
On 30 minutes a penalty was taken quickly by CHRIS CROWLEY to put Wirral again on the attack in
the opposition 20m area. All the pressure was coming from Wirral as they worked hard to break
through this strong Oundle defence. On 39 minutes the Oundle second row was sin binned and
enabled Wirral to renew pressure on the Oundle line, try as hard as they did they could not break
through the defence with RHYS JAMES being stopped just short of the line, so the half finished with
Wirral leading 7-5.
Wirral had played well to lead at the interval and the second half started with Oundle attacking with
greater intensity, LEON TAHANA had come on for ADAM DON.
On 41 minutes a break by CHRIS CROWLEY 40m out took play up to the Oundle full back where a
pass to the back-up player, TOM AKEHURST was on hand to catch and score close to the posts, the
conversion hit the post and went dead, 12-5 to Wirral. Further pressure came from Wirral but still
could not force their way over, the ball was taken by Oundle and spun wide allowing them to clear
down field. On 60 minutes a well executed move by Oundle enabled them to score under the posts,
duly converted to leave the scores level at 12-12. 2 minutes later, Oundle were in the lead when
superb passing down the line enabled their backs to show their strength where a pass to the left
wing saw him cut through the Wirral defence to score close to the posts, the try was converted, 12-
19 (62 minutes).
From the kick off, CHRIS BURROWS jumped for the ball but the referee deemed it a foul and as such
was sin binned. Again pressure came from Oundle but again Wirral held out but on the 70 th minute
took the title with their fourth try, again not converted, 12-24.
Further pressure from Wirral then followed and a further penalty to Wirral was awarded against the
Oundle second row, nothing was done until the linesman intervened which resulted in the second

row being red carded. This should have been undertaken earlier given the number of times he was
spoken to by the officials.
A further break by JIMMY ANNETTS was made on to TOM AKEHURST but a strong tackle was made
to end this attack and so the match ended. Towards the end of the half changes were made with
SAM VICKERS, GEORGE BURROWS, JOSH STEAD and WILL MORRIS coming into the team.
Thus the season ends, quite successful in finishing 4 th and making our way to the Papa John’s finals,
unfortunate that we should lose in the final.
Richard McNeil