Finalists show BARLA National Cup remains ‘huge competition’

Thatto Heath Crusaders are celebrating winning the BARLA National Cup, but their opponents Orrell St James learned a lot from their first final appearance too.

BOTH winners Thatto Heath Crusaders and runners-up Orrell St James have pledged to commit to the BARLA National Cup for the foreseeable future.

The Crusaders took the famous trophy – and the prestigious Tom Keaveney MBE Wilkinson Sword Player of the Match accolade, which was won by fullback Sean Leicester – back to St Helens after having withstood early pressure to notch a 24-8 win.

Two tries by winger Keane Gilford (the first a superb solo effort with a darting run to the posts from territory established by Leicester) gave the National Conference League Premiers an early 8-0 lead and Orrell, of the North West Men’s League, never quite recovered. 

The Heath were 20-0 up, having added touchdowns for Ryan Houghton and Andy Lea and two Leicester goals, before outstanding winger Jack Gallagher paved the way for St James’ first try, scored by Kye Siyani shortly before half-time. And after Gilford’s hat-trick score early in the final quarter Orrell, for whom Ben Cottrill kicked a penalty, at least had the last word when Bradley Kelk bustled over at the death. 

Two players from each side were yellow carded (Lea and Connor Dwyer for Thatto, and Cottrill and Josh Wilde for Orrell) in a game that was played in good spirit. 

Heath coach Mike Woods revealed: “I said at the start of the year that we should enter, and I sold it to the lads. It was a great moment the evening after the game because they were so made up, and four days later they were still busy posting images of the occasion on social media. You can have 20 years in the game and never win a trophy.

“Another thing that was good was that there are some lads who have been with Thatto for a long time who now have some silverware to show for it. There’s not much on offer theses days, with the Lancashire Cup and the St Helens Cup gone there’s only the NCL left for us, so the National Cup is even more important. “It’s a great competition, we share with our neighbours Pilkingtons the record of winning it four times, and we’ll be aiming to set a new benchmark next year.”

Orrell St James’ head coach Sean McHugh spoke for the entire club when he insisted: “The BARLA National Cup is a huge competition and we will be doing our utmost to be there again next year and hopefully go one better.

“Kevin Brown, who is an Orrell product and remains heavily involved – coaching the Under 12s and having turned out for our second team – was available for the final but we opted not to play him as it would have gone against our philosophy. The lads who represented us at Featherstone did us and St James proud and epitomised what we are all about – a club that focuses entirely on local lads and which aims to maximise their opportunities. 

“We didn’t start very well against Thatto, conceding two early tries, but we dug in well and came away with our heads held high. Crucially, we learned lessons and we’d dearly love to be back.”

Leicester admitted: “I was unaware of what the Tom Keaveney Trophy actually was. It’s quite an accolade to be awarded it.

“I think one of my strengths is my versatility. I’ve only played six or seven games at fullback, up to the age of 18 I was a halfback and since moving to open age I’ve also played in the centre, in the second row and at loose forward.

“I’d been out of the game for a couple of years through getting married, plus work commitments, but I’m delighted to be back in the mix. 

“Maybe having played in a few positions gives me a good insight at fullback, for example I can see if the forwards are tiring and I really understand what it means when the ‘back five’ are asked to help out. I’m still learning and it’s really helpful to have Mike Woods, who was a fullback himself, as coach.”

Orrell’s Jack Gallagher, for all his colossal personal input in attack and defence, recalls a crucial moment after the Crusaders had gone 20 points clear: “We were in the huddle behind our sticks and one of our lads said, ‘Thatto are nothing special, we can come back from this.’ That gave us all belief, it relaxed us and we knew that we could get back into the contest, 100 percent.

“I played football until three years or so ago, although my brother Bradley plays for Orrell and my dad, Chris, is physio. My grandad, Brian, was physio when my dad and Sean McHugh played together in what they still call the ‘class of 82’. It was my dad who suggested I switch to St James after I got a bit fed up with football. I’m glad I did, the camaraderie in rugby league is fantastic, maybe the sport engenders team-spirit in a way that’s harder in football.”

Gilford said: “For my first try I managed to shrug off my opposite number near the touchline, spotted a gap on the inside and just went for it when the sticks came into view. It was all about instinct really.

“My second try owed something to experience regarding finishing, with a dive in at the corner, that I picked up with St Helens, who I was with last year. And my third owed everything to Ryan Houghton’s superb long pass.

“My first try gave us momentum, and my second gave us a 10-0 lead. We ended up going in at the break 20-4 up and Mike stressed how important it is to hold onto leads like that and not move off our gameplan. We didn’t need reminding as we’ve let a few leads slip recently, including the previous week at Wath Brow when Hornets came back from 16-0 down to edge us 20-16.”

The player whose exhortations helped galvanise Orrell was in all probability captain Jake Davies who said: “There was a sense in the changing rooms beforehand that some of the lads felt that Thatto, as an NCL side, represented too big a step, but I and others felt differently. They may have more intense competition week-in, week-out but that doesn’t mean that they’re a better team, and I’m sure we all learned that. Other than on three occasions when we switched off and they scored, there wasn’t anything between the teams. 

“If anyone had told me at the beginning of the season that I’d be leading Orrell St James out at Featherstone I wouldn’t have believed them. We always enter the BARLA National Cup, and we always will. Featuring in our first final will help us to move on to even bigger things – including, hopefully, lifting that trophy – in future. But, for now, simply having taken part in the occasion is huge.”

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 501 (October 2024)

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