Pre-Season Match v's New Brighton

Hoylake 17
New Brighton 21

Hoylake put in a respectable performance against a New Brighton side in a pre-season 'squad' match at Melrose Avenue.

In fact, it was the hosts that were the dominant force for the majority of the game against a young New Brighton side who are in the process of rebuilding after several seasons of turmoil.

Hoylake took the opportunity to blood a few youngsters whilst allowing some of their more seasoned campaigners to shed some of the pre-season cobwebs.

Hoylake's points came via tries from veteran prop, Ian Stevenson, young right winger, Matty Ross and regular 1st XV left wing, Matt MacLaren. There was also one conversion for scrum-half Joe Lavin.

Hoylake were actually leading 17-0 going into the final quarter before New Brighton took advantage of the tiring Hoylake legs and scored 3 quick fire tries, all of which were converted. That proved to b the difference.

There were some real positives for Hoylake. The return of Phil James after a year long absence, added much needed guile and weight to the pack. Hopefully, his injury problem is now behind him. New fly-half, James McLaughlin put in a creditable performance on his debut and we look forward to seeing much more of him this season. The pack generally put in a strong performance with Matt O'Hanlon, Tom Corkhill and Ian Griffiths standing out. The backs were solid but without really igniting.

All in all, a reasonable performance but Hoylake were disappointed to miss out on taking the scalp of their more illustrious neighbours. However, we still look forward to the return of skipper and points machine, Steve Young who is still recovering from foot surgery.

Hoylake's next fixture is on the 28th August, away to Ramsey (IOM) in the Cheshire Cup.