Sat 23 Sep 2023, 15:00
A youthful looking team, a clear Autumnal day & an expectant crowd were treated to a feast of flowing Rugby & a dozen tries, as Globe Holidays sponsored Stocksbridge Rugby got off the mark in fine style in their Round 4 clash with North Yorkshire based Richmondshire RUFC. Young gun Jacob Crosby was recalled to the front row, whilst Head Coach Andy Lawrence partnered the promising Jack Leary & Harrison Norman at fly half & centre, there was a recall for veteran, & newly married Scotty Bowskill at full back, whilst father & son the ageless Ricky Christopherson & son James occupied the replacement bench. Home match days at Coal Pit Lane are sponsored by Premier Stone Worktops Ltd & they didn’t have long to wait to register the first try of the afternoon as slammin’ Sam Whitaker sponsored by S&M Pipeworks bulldozed his way over the line from close range, this was quickly followed by Jack Spencer finishing a quality back line move to cross in the corner, whilst young prospect Jack Leary, kindly sponsored by Mr Mark Logan, scored a brace in quick succession again finishing an excellent handling move involving forwards & backs. ‘Lawrenceball’ seems to be in good order as the burly bulk of Pete Newton sprinted fully 50 metres to register the next score, Newton is sponsored by Mr Andy & Mrs Shelley Bell, this time close enough for Bowskill to tag on the extras. Although a defensive lapse let the visitors in for a score of their own, normal service resumed as Jack ‘milky’ Martin, sponsored by Asphalts Grid Systems & the dancing Harrison Norman, kindly sponsored by Mrs Diane Woodcock, took the game away from Richmondshire, Leary adding a conversion. Newton & Whitaker kept the floodgates open, both registering their second scores of the afternoon to leave a healthy half time score of : Stocksbridge Rugby 51 pts – Richmondshire 5 pts.
With the game effectively over as a contest, Head Coach Andy Lawrence took the opportunity to give the bench players some valuable gametime, & the Christopherson duo entered the fray with good effect. Ricky snr, produced a break to send Norman dancing through another gap in the visiting defence, with Leary converting. Further scores came at regular intervals with Jack Pearson, John , Callum ‘whippet’ Green & Christopherson jnr crossing the whitewash & adding a couple of conversions to boot. Leaving a final score, & a new club record league victory margin of : Stocksbridge RUFC 80p.ts – Richmondshire 5 pts.
This victory lifts Stocksbridge Rugby off the bottom of the Yorkshire 4 Counties league table as they begin to look upwards & build on this performance, the Fox Catering Man of the Match went to No 8, Pete Newton for his part in creating several of the tries plus his own long range effort, turning the clock back. Club Caption, that man Adam Frith said afterwards, ‘this was a solid performance from all the squad, & something we can take confidence from’, before adding ‘the junior players really stood out for me, & if we can keep providing enough good ball, then I’m sure we’ll see more quality tries like today’. Stocksbridge Rugby are on the road next week as they travel to Knaresborough, before the next home game when the visitors will be York based, Nestle Rowntree on Saturday October 14th, with a 3pm kick off.
The Funding Solutions September Man of Steel has been announced as youngster Harrison ‘dancing feet’ Norman for a string of dazzling performances, some great tries & a positive attitude, something Head Coach Andy Lawrence is particularly pleased with.
Report written by Andrew Tyers.
