WATERHEAD WON their first piece of silverware of the season as they lifted the Standard Cup on Easter Monday.
Coach Andy Sands was elated as his side defeated Rochdale Mayfield, also from National Conference League, Division One, 25-24 following a thrilling final.
“I won the Standard Cup seven times as a player, but this meant more to me as a coach as the little decisions I made helped us win the game,” he explained.
Sands added the 17 players who featured in the final deserved the plaudits saying he could not have asked any more of them.
“You cannot take anything away from our display as we were playing against a full strength Mayfield side,” he continued.
Sands even had three 16-year-olds involved in the game – winger Chris Green who started the game and scored a try while Marcus Heath and Jack Fairbrother were on the bench.
The win against Mayfield made up for the disappointment of losing 18-16 to Saddleworth Rangers in the league having been 16-0 ahead in the latter stages of the game. Last season there was two divisions separating the two teams.
“We only had ourselves to blame and threw it away with not long to go,” he continued.
Sands has been hugely encouraged by how newly-promoted Waterhead have acquitted themselves at a higher level.
They have beaten Eccles and lost narrowly to Oulton and Saddleworth Rangers.
Sands said: “We could have won three of our four league games. We have been there or thereabouts and it is the little things which make the difference in this division.
“We have shown we can mix it with the best and just need to instil discipline.
“We have made some good signings and there is a lot of potential in this young side. We will be fine.”
SADDLEWORTH RANGERS saw out March with a bang after welcoming a new chairman to the helm and picking up their first points of the season against derby rivals Waterhead.
Shane Wilson has taken over the reins from chairman of six years Terry Flanagan, and vowed to continue the good work of his predecessors to develop the community club.
“I wanted to do the job and follow in the footsteps of Terry and also Ronnie Hardaker who I always had a lot of respect for,” said the Rangers committee member and trustee.
“The committee has been doing more since Terry announced he was stepping down and it’s been working well with everyone doing their own little bit.
“We just need to keep doing that and hopefully attract more people to get involved as well.”
Shane, 42, joined Rangers at under 11s level and has played in every team, coached the seconds, and being assistant to Keith Brennan with the firsts.
He now coaches the under eights where his son Freddie plays and hopes his experience across the board will give him an advantage.
“It’s important we’re all striving for the same goal – not just in the open age but we have to embrace the youth set up as well,” he said.
“I want the club to be one big happy family. There’s lots of support and volunteered help from parents in the youth section and we want to encourage that.”
And results on the field will boost the new chairman’s mood after the first team took their first two points of the season with an 18-16 victory over Waterhead in front of 1,187 fans.
“Emmerson is doing a great job,” Shane said. “Paul Ashton, his assistant, did well coaching Oldham reserves and he’s now making a good contribution here.”
