Rossington Hornets 12 Stocksbridge 32

This was a lacklustre match in which Bridge did not have to be at their best and they were not. After an early Scot Bowskill miss from near to the posts Stocksbridge set out to grind the opposition down, surely the wrong decision with the lightweight pack they started with? Rossington with hands in every ruck slowed the ball at every opportunity, legally and illegally making it a slog even though conditions were perfect. A raid down the right, Bowskill entered the line and his forward pass missed by the ref did find the admirably consistent Dave Potts who bulldozed over. Hornets were causing some problems with their big men running into the channel outside the scrum half and they did venture into Stocksbridge territory. They had a penalty in front of the posts, which they ran, but it foundered on the blue wall and Bridge broke out and camped inside opposition territory. Scrum half Adam Frith spotted the gap and just stretched out to touch down on the line, with Bowskill converting from wide out. The lineouts were a bit of a dogs breakfast and following a penalty for position, Hornets won theirs and strolled through a weak tackle to score between the post and the conversion brought the score uncomfortably close. Stocksbridge lost lively back row Reece Aspin just before half time and the rearrangement, bringing on Paul Wingfield into the second row and dropping Ricky Rowett to his preferred position in the back row certainly worked.
The first scrum in the second half was on the 5 metre line and Bridge simply and cleanly pushed it over. You could see No 8 David Dowkes licking his lips as these tries are meat and drink to him. Callum Green was held up just short but the ref awarded a penalty. This was very poorly executed with the first receiver standing far too deep but the second receiver Ricky James made it good trundling over under a pile of bodies. I don’t think the ref would have given it but a little voice from under the ruck squeaked “I’m over Sir”. The fourth try and bonus point secured! Rossington then made the most of some sloppy play to edge closer, but the introduction of Ben Westby at stand off brought some life to the threequarter play and after a little dart he gave Ben Senior aka The Bald Headed Assassin space to kill off the opposition. Scot Bowskill ended the game with a neat drop goal and Stocksbridge retain second place in the league.
Man of the Match - David Potts

The second team had their best result of the season with a 38-0 drubbing of Hemsworth. Tries from Andy Beal, Curt Newton and Jack Jones were added to 2 each from Joe Westby and Tom Bowskill, Wayne Hirst adding 2 conversions and it was good to see Beal back and fit after his illness.