Sat 15 Apr 2023
A broken fibula & dislocated ankle for popular hooker Mikey ‘vegas’ Hartley marred the final encounter of a much improved season for Globe Holidays sponsored Stocksbridge Rugby, as they were eventually beaten by promoted Halifax RUFC by 52pts to 24pts. Stocksbridge travelled more in hope than in expectation, with veteran kicker Scotty Bowskill restored to the fly half berth, & the fit again Ben Tyers marshalling a youthful looking back line with both Logan Hannah & Harvey Norman included from the start against a powerful, robust & confident Halifax outfit. Wily Head Coach Andy Lawrence, produced a cunning game plan to upset the Halifax promotion party, & there was success as the home side seemed to lose their discipline almost from the first whistle, conceding a high number of penalties which allowed Stocksbridge to nudge their way up field. Halifax received a total of 4 yellow cards for their misdemeanours & were lucky not to receive a straight red for a poorly timed high shot on flying winger Hannah towards the end of the clash. Stocksbridge rattled their high flying opposition early on, with ‘clock tower’ Beal handing out some punishing hits in defence, one in particular silenced the vocal home scrum half, much to the joy of the travelling band of Stocksbridge supporters. The visitors even took the lead when Bowskill converted a 30 metre penalty for a ruck infringement, before the luckless Hartley suffered his injury in a rather innocuous looking challenge & play was suspended while the medics looked after the stricken hooker. Young Joe ‘half pint’ Martin jnr taking his place in the front row. Although Stocksbridge defended well in parts, & cleared their lines when the home side infringed, there was always a threat when the pacey Halifax backs were on the ball, & the blue line was eventually breached as ‘Fax’ ran in two tries before the break to leave the half time score: Halifax RUFC 14pts – Stocksbridge Rugby 3pts.
The home side shuffled their big forwards around to maintain their dominance, but the hard working Reece ‘diesel’ Aspin & fellow back rower, the bulky Pete Newton tackled manfully, Beal was a constant thorn in the home side & Whitaker produced some telling moments of maturity. Stocksbridge attacked when they could & young flier Harvey Norman danced his way to the line for a Stocksbridge score after good approach work from the pack, Bowskill converted. As the home side continued to stretch the Stocksbridge defence with further scores, there was a 2nd try for Norman as he chased a Whitaker hack thru, & outpaced the Halifax defence to register a further score, which Bowskill duly converted. The visitors began to creep back into the game & took advantage of further Halifax indiscipline, won a line out, & a pick & go sequence eventually lead to ‘slamin’ Sam Whitaker, sponsored by S&M Pipework, steaming onto a short pass from that man Frith to plunge over the whitewash, leaving Stocksbridge just one further score short of a try bonus point to raise them above Aireborough in the final Counties 4 Yorkshire league ladder. Bowskill’s trusty kicking boots added the extras but, that was the final score for the plucky visitors, as Halifax sealed their promotion with a late flurry of tries thru a tiring Stocksbridge defence to leave the final score: Halifax RUFC 52pts – Stocksbridge Rugby 24pts. Stocksbridge end the season in 7th place, with 9 wins & a draw from the fixtures, & the campaign will be celebrated at the Club’s Awards Evening on Friday 19th May, tickets are on sale now & in demand, so don’t miss out.
The Fox Catering Man of the Match award went unanimously to the ‘clock tower’ Andy Beal, kindly sponsored by Mr Mick Gribbins, for a majestic & physical display in a losing cause, Spencer, Norman & Hannah also showed up well in defeat.
Afterwards Head Coach, Andy Lawrence paid tribute to the players, & to all the playing roster who have represented the 1st XV throughout this campaign, ‘the boys have all bought in to what we’ve been trying to achieve, & it’s nice to see the teamwork & camaraderie that has been built during the season’, before adding, ‘there is a foundation that we can build on, & we can look forward to a rest & what next season has to offer us’.
Report written by Andrew Tyers
