Sat 19 Sep 2015
Stocksbridge Rugby avenged an earlier season Cup defeat at the hands of Baildon, to claim a bonus point victory & back to back wins in the process.
As Rugby World Cup fever gripped the Country, Stocksbridge Rugby avenged an earlier season Cup defeat at the hands of Baildon, to claim a bonus point victory & back to back wins in the process.
Missing the suspended Jase Hirst this week, a re-shuffled pack gave Connor Brown a starting place, with Ricky James switching to lock to accommodate Sammy Whitaker in the back row. Pope, Green & the experienced Wayne Hirst were added to the interchange bench.
With the sun shining, & a perfect day for rugby, the crowd were royally entertained by a near faultless performance from the buoyant home side. The huge Stocksbridge pack quickly asserted their physicality on the Baildon eight, & dominated from start to finish.
A worrying sign of what was to come for the visitors saw their opening scrum shunted back a number of metres with their own head & feed ! The home forwards were rampant with James, Beal & Whitaker in particular making inroads with good runs.
The pressure of the power of the home pack forced Baildon to retreat, & after just 5 minutes Ben Brown, who was to have a field day at the back of the scrum, controlled the ball perfectly at the back of a scrum & dived on the ball to open the scoring, Bowskill adding an easy conversion.
A poor kick off return brought Baildon some hope with good possession, the door was quickly closed by the centre partnership of David Brown & Liam O'Leary with some thumping hits. From a ruck infringement, Baildon chose to open their account with a penalty.
Most of the game was being played deep in Baildon territory, & when Brown dispossessed the visiting full back with a typical uncompromising shot, O'Leary pounced on the loose ball, & shrugged off a couple of defenders to break free, a good pass would have seen flying winger Ryan Smith in at the corner however, the ball went into touch, & the chance was lost. On 14 minutes, with the Baildon pack back peddling at a rate of knots, Captain fantastic Keenan latched onto the back of a maul & plunged over for another score, this time just too wide for Bowskill to convert.
More Stocksbridge pressure & a turnover scrum, gave Brown another easy score, Damien Pope replaced the busy Joe Smith for a blood injury, & still Stocksbridge camped out near the Baildon try line. As the visitors were hanging on for half time, a neat blind side move involving Brown & a well timed pass from Frith sent 'cockney' Joe Jones scampering down the wing. He was held up as he cut back inside & that man Brown was on hand again to crash over for a first half hat trick & leave the score Stocksbridge Rugby 22pts - Baildon 3pts Smiling assassin Pat O'Leary was introduced at half time, & made his mark almost immediately backing up some good work from the forwards, scoring from close range with Jones in support. Bowskill added the conversion.
Brown added his fourth try of the afternoon with perhaps the play of the game, a well rehearsed, training ground move, with Whitaker running an excellent decoy line, & Keenan sent the home No 8 through a huge gap on a bullocking 20 metre dash to the line for a great score & again Bowskill tagged on the extras. Callum Green was given some game time, & showed up well, & as the visitors faded the game became Stocksbridge offence versus Baildon defence with the home try line hardly ever in sight. The hardworking duo Smith & James were withdrawn with a job well done, & a stray pass in the final minute gave the visiting winger an interception opportunity that he took well, showing the home defence a clean pair of heels. It didn't matter too much with a final score of Stocksbridge Rugby 38 points - Baildon10 points Four tries & a commanding performance brought Ben Brown the Bradfield Brewery man of the match award, in what Head Coach Andy Tyers described was a 'total team performance, & pretty on the eye' adding 'when they deliver like this, they really are a joy to watch'
Jubilant skipper Keenan said afterwards 'we are seeing the benefits of our training being transferred into game play, & this result is a reward for our effort on the training park'
Stocksbridge have another home fixture next weekend, with a tough game expected from Thornensians who are expected to be amongst the front runners in the league this Year. Stocksbridge Rugby have shown they can hit the heights, & deliver, the challenge is now to repeat it, & find a level of consistency. Kick off at Coal Pit Lane is 3 pm & entry is free this weekend. So why not come & support your local club & get the World Cup fever.
Missing the suspended Jase Hirst this week, a re-shuffled pack gave Connor Brown a starting place, with Ricky James switching to lock to accommodate Sammy Whitaker in the back row. Pope, Green & the experienced Wayne Hirst were added to the interchange bench.
With the sun shining, & a perfect day for rugby, the crowd were royally entertained by a near faultless performance from the buoyant home side. The huge Stocksbridge pack quickly asserted their physicality on the Baildon eight, & dominated from start to finish.
A worrying sign of what was to come for the visitors saw their opening scrum shunted back a number of metres with their own head & feed ! The home forwards were rampant with James, Beal & Whitaker in particular making inroads with good runs.
The pressure of the power of the home pack forced Baildon to retreat, & after just 5 minutes Ben Brown, who was to have a field day at the back of the scrum, controlled the ball perfectly at the back of a scrum & dived on the ball to open the scoring, Bowskill adding an easy conversion.
A poor kick off return brought Baildon some hope with good possession, the door was quickly closed by the centre partnership of David Brown & Liam O'Leary with some thumping hits. From a ruck infringement, Baildon chose to open their account with a penalty.
Most of the game was being played deep in Baildon territory, & when Brown dispossessed the visiting full back with a typical uncompromising shot, O'Leary pounced on the loose ball, & shrugged off a couple of defenders to break free, a good pass would have seen flying winger Ryan Smith in at the corner however, the ball went into touch, & the chance was lost. On 14 minutes, with the Baildon pack back peddling at a rate of knots, Captain fantastic Keenan latched onto the back of a maul & plunged over for another score, this time just too wide for Bowskill to convert.
More Stocksbridge pressure & a turnover scrum, gave Brown another easy score, Damien Pope replaced the busy Joe Smith for a blood injury, & still Stocksbridge camped out near the Baildon try line. As the visitors were hanging on for half time, a neat blind side move involving Brown & a well timed pass from Frith sent 'cockney' Joe Jones scampering down the wing. He was held up as he cut back inside & that man Brown was on hand again to crash over for a first half hat trick & leave the score Stocksbridge Rugby 22pts - Baildon 3pts Smiling assassin Pat O'Leary was introduced at half time, & made his mark almost immediately backing up some good work from the forwards, scoring from close range with Jones in support. Bowskill added the conversion.
Brown added his fourth try of the afternoon with perhaps the play of the game, a well rehearsed, training ground move, with Whitaker running an excellent decoy line, & Keenan sent the home No 8 through a huge gap on a bullocking 20 metre dash to the line for a great score & again Bowskill tagged on the extras. Callum Green was given some game time, & showed up well, & as the visitors faded the game became Stocksbridge offence versus Baildon defence with the home try line hardly ever in sight. The hardworking duo Smith & James were withdrawn with a job well done, & a stray pass in the final minute gave the visiting winger an interception opportunity that he took well, showing the home defence a clean pair of heels. It didn't matter too much with a final score of Stocksbridge Rugby 38 points - Baildon10 points Four tries & a commanding performance brought Ben Brown the Bradfield Brewery man of the match award, in what Head Coach Andy Tyers described was a 'total team performance, & pretty on the eye' adding 'when they deliver like this, they really are a joy to watch'
Jubilant skipper Keenan said afterwards 'we are seeing the benefits of our training being transferred into game play, & this result is a reward for our effort on the training park'
Stocksbridge have another home fixture next weekend, with a tough game expected from Thornensians who are expected to be amongst the front runners in the league this Year. Stocksbridge Rugby have shown they can hit the heights, & deliver, the challenge is now to repeat it, & find a level of consistency. Kick off at Coal Pit Lane is 3 pm & entry is free this weekend. So why not come & support your local club & get the World Cup fever.
