'Stocksbridge Rugby win on the road'

Globe Travel sponsored Stocksbridge Rugby made the short trip to Rotherham Phoenix at the weekend, & enjoyed the better of a hard fought encounter, eventually winning by 11 pts to 3pts to record their first win of the new campaign.
Talismanic centre Liam O'Leary made a welcome return to partner Dave Brown, & Pat O'Leary was added to the interchange bench. Stocksbridge suffered an injury during the warm up, when Dom Mannion was forced to withdraw with a back injury.
The much vaunted home pack were put under severe pressure by the travelling Stocksbridge eight right from the first whistle, as towering lock forwards Beal & Whitaker tore holes in the home defence. Stocksbridge dominated the set piece & most of the first half was played deep in the home sides territory. Phoenix caved under pressure & after a couple of near misses, skipper Keenan scuttled through a gap to open the scoring with a well taken try. Stocksbridge Rugby grew in confidence & only some desperate defending denied big Jase Hirst a second try. When the ball went wide the eager Ryan Smith made some good ground, in a generally impressive display from the winger. Rotherham continued with their forwards first approach but got little change from the Stocksbridge pack who kept them at bay. The visitors went further ahead with a simple Scotty Bowskill penalty for a ruck infringement.
The burly Joe Smith was introduced to add more fire power with 10 minutes of the half remaining, but Stocksbridge just couldn't find that killer touch & the half ended with Stocksbridge leading 8pts to nil.
The second half followed much the same pattern as the first, & the visitors off load game gained valuable yards, Hirst was on hand to back up a bullocking run from Smith but couldn't take the final pass with the try line begging. As Rotherham tried eventually to out flank the visitors, the centre paid of O'Leary & Brown held firm, & Ryan Smith made some telling tackles on his opposite man. The home side last some discipline & a bout of hand bags ensued after scrum half Adam Firth was raked, the unfortunate Hirst was singled out by the referee & received a red card for his part in the melee.
The Stocksbridge scrum held firm even with 7 against 8, & when Beal succumbed to a hamstring strain, young Connor Brown proved an able replacement to further grease the wheels of the smooth running visiting forwards. It was a bit of stalemate with neither side able to turn pressure into points, until Rotherham opened their account with a penalty & 3 points, leaving a final 10 minutes with all to play for. Stocksbridge drove forward yet again & restored their lead with a well taken Bowskill penalty after more good work from the forwards who, unlike last week, managed to stay the distance.
The final whistle blew & a dominant Stocksbridge Rugby sealed their first league win by 11 points to 3 points.
Assistant Coach Mick Shouler said afterwards 'we dominated throughout, our forwards were strong today & the scoreline doesn't really reflect the balance of play' adding 'they didn't really look like scoring, so we can build on this performance for next week'
The Bradfield Brewery man of the match award went to Sam Whitaker, sponsored by Olympic Protein for a strong all round game, Ryan Smith sponsored by Stan Plusa tin works pushed him close in what was a decent all round team performance.
This week Stocksbridge entertain Baildon looking for revenge after a recent Yorkshire Cup exit at their hands, kick off at Coal Pit Lane is 3pm & all are welcome.