Year Summary 2003
After the disappointment of relegation the previous season, alarm bells
began to ring when a combination of injury, non-availability and lack of
cohesion saw the first four League games lost.
Former Saracens captain and highly successful coach of the Manchester club,
Alex Keay, became Director of Rugby and although things began to stabilise,
the Club was still precariously near the foot of the table at the turn of
the year. A run of five successive victories including unexpected but
well-deserved wins away at high-flying New Brighton and Tynedale eased the
pressure but with the strong possibility that 5 teams could be relegated
there was no room for complacency. A draw in the penultimate game against
Liverpool St Helens made Hoppers mathematically safe.
With the League programme completed, the Club then enjoyed a real fillip to
morale by carrying off the Thwaites John Burgess Lancashire Cup for the
first time in its history. A home win against Widnes was followed by a
notable victory over Fylde (away) while National I Manchester were put to
the sword in the semi by 60 - 12. A spirited final against West Park St
Helens resulted in a win rather easier than the 34 - 31 score suggests,
Newcomers Anton Cramont, Richard Morton, Alex Moffatt and Darren Clark (in
his second spell with the Club) were all influential and Chris 'Cocker'
O'Toole was an inspired mid-season signing as cover at scrum half for the
hard-working Charlie Du Pre. Tongan International Sengili Tuihalamaka was
making his mark but missed the second half of the season through injury.
Veteran John Chesworth led the team well and Gary Monaghan and Oliver Viney
were among the League's highest try scorers and Viney along with Paul Bailey
appeared in the victorious Lancashire side at Twickenham.
An essentially young squad are all available this season and with more
quality players emerging from the highly successful mini-junior 'production
line' the outlook is encouraging.
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