A comprehensive dismantling of a very good team’ were the words of Assistant Coach Mick Shouler, as Stocksbridge Rugby mauled visitors Old Otliensians into submission at the weekend, adding ‘as good a performance as we have delivered this season’
Bradfield Brewery sponsored Stocksbridge Rugby continued their rich vein of form with a bonus point victory, bringing up their 5th win in a row as they halted free scoring Old Otliensians in a re-arranged Yorkshire League Division 3 encounter @ Coal Pit Lane.

Without injured trio Connor Brown, Pete Newton & Nigel Dowkes, Head Coach Tyers recalled Ricky James, Rhys ‘gez’ Aspin & Ben Westby to the starting line up, with Potts & club legend Gary Cooke making a rare appearance off the bench. After being provided with the match ball, sponsored by Bar Steward Selwyn Froggat, a prepared & enthusiastic home side tore into their opponents from the off, dominating both territory & possession in the opening minutes. Skipper Keenan & the Stocksbridge Tower, Andy Beal posing several problems for the visiting defence.

Fly Half Scotty Bowskill has grown in stature, & improved his all round game management, so with good ball from the rampant pack he was able to pin the visitors deep in their own half with some classy offensive kicks from hand. Beal stole a line out ball, the pack rolled the maul & rolled Otliensians back towards their own try line, & up popped barrel chested skipper Keenan to dive over the line from close range for the first score of the afternoon, Bowskill adding the extras.

The visitors were somewhat gifted a try almost from the restart, as the Pig’s exit strategy failed, & they pounced on a loose ball to round the covering defence & score in the corner, too far out to convert. Ensians dangerous looking back line were kept in check by some ferocious hits from uncompromising centre partners O’Leary & Brown, & when called upon, the ‘Deepcar Express’, Steffan Kazmierski was waiting at the right platform to crunch a couple of try saving tackles, aswell as aggressively returning any loose kicks with his adventurous running game. The Stocksbridge power game was taking a toll on the overworked visiting pack, allowing Bowskill the freedom to play a more expansive game and a perfectly executed training ground move gave Kazmierski the room to free the supporting Ben Westby, who was held up just short of the line.

Skipper Keenan was at the heart of everything Stocksbridge Rugby were throwing at Otliensians, & he was on hand for his 2nd touchdown of the Day, latching on to a short pass from Frith, & taking the full back over the line with him to score, again Bowskill on target with the conversion. More pressure with Sam Whitaker, Aspin & the foraging Rowett heavily involved, provided secure ball for Frith to release the backs, & Bowskill gave the bullocking Dave Brown enough room to slip the defence & score a further try, adding the conversion again for good measure. Otliensians are a dangerous side with threats from forwards & backs alike, & only a desperate tackle by O’Leary kept them out however, the referee judged the hit as high & he was sin binned on the stroke of half time, with the scoreline reading Stocksbridge Rugby 21 pts – Old Otliensians 5 pts.

The second half produced a more competitive clash as the visitors found some form & enthusiasm, which had to be met head on by the home side. Kazmierski was in close support as Joe Smith rumbled forward, he burst onto a well timed pass & fed winger Joey Jones for a foot race to the line, the covering defence made a last ditch tackle to avert another try for the jet heeled winger. As Stocksbridge pressed hard for the bonus point try, skipper Keenan ignored a kickable penalty opportunity & was rewarded when a reset scrum was illegally collapsed by the visiting front row, & a penalty try was awarded under the posts, & Bowskill does not miss these. As tempers frayed & the visitors again were unable to break the locked home defence, Stocksbridge were reduced to 14 men when Chopsy Lambert was sin binned for a technical offence, & then to 13 men when the unfortunate Gary Cooke, who had only been on the field for a few minutes joined Lambert in the bin, this mean’t the scavenging Rhys Aspin had to be sacrificed to replace the unfortunate prop. Still the Stocksbridge defence would not budge & further insult was added when the home side with 6 men managed to shove the visiting 8 man pack off the ball during a scrum. Much to the delight of the spectators.

A final result of Stocksbridge Rugby 28pts – Old Otliensians 5 pts accurately reflected the dominance of the home side, who are now up to 7th in the table, their highest position of the campaign. In a game where everyone played their part, full back & ‘Deepcar Express’ Steffan Kazmierski was named as man of the match just ahead of O’Leary & Bowskill, with Beal, Whitaker & James showing up well up front. ‘This group of people are capable of delivering this level of performance on a regular basis’ said Head Coach Andy Tyers afterwards ‘we’ve taken time to adjust to the higher standards required, & now all the yakka the boys are putting in during training is being rewarded in the games, & we’re looking in good shape’ he added.

Report by Andrew Tyers