Stocksbridge Rugby were rescued by the one man wrecking ball that is Craig Donaldson who scored two tries to eventually see them home against lowly Aireborough RUFC by 26 pts to 11 pts at the weekend.
A sizeable crowd to watch the double header, braved the cold, wet, blustery conditions & were treated to a poor start straight from the kick off by the home side, as they failed to claim the ball, & handed territory, possession & the initiative to their visitors.
A couple of penalties later, Stocksbridge Rugby found themselves 6 nil down, & further poor defensive covering allowed the visiting winger to scorch down the touchline for a score, almost before the home side had even touched the ball in anger.
With slammin Sam Whitaker back after injury, James ‘chopsy’ Lambert replaced the unavailable Ricky James in the front row, Stocksbridge had the strength & power required to win the forward battle that ensued.
Aireborough’s early dominance provoked a reaction from Head Coach Tyers, who threw on O’Leary, Smith & that man Donaldon in a bid to breathe some life into the home team,
Donaldson signalled his intention almost immediately, receiving a pass from skipper Keenan, with nothing seemingly on, he blasted his way through a stunned defence to score the first points of the afternoon for the home side, & the recalled Scotty Bowskill added the conversion to leave the half time score Stocksbridge Rugby 7 pts Aireborough 11pts, & all to play for.
More changes at half time saw Hughes & Ben Brown introduced, Stocksbridge, with the slope & the better of the conditions, tore into the creaking visitors.
With all the play now in the Aireborough red zone, it was a bit like attack versus defence. The scrum dominated & Hughes found Bowskill at outside half, a quick step & cool offload split the defence & Dave Brown followed up well to collect & claim a further score to nudge Stocksbridge Rugby in front for the first time, Bowskill converted as he began to pull the strings for the home side. Straight back on the attack, a deft grubber from Bowskill saw Joe Jones scampering into the corner to win the race for the touchdown.
That man Donaldson had the last word with another show of strength, crashing over from short range to seal a bonus point victory, Bowskill notching his third successful conversion of the afternoon, as the home side won the 2nd stanza 19 points to nil.
A final score of 26 to 11 was probably a reflection of the home sides dominance, but the introduction of Donaldson, & a resurgent performance by Scott Bowskill who took the Bradfield Brewery Man of the Match award, helped tip the scales of power back to Stocksbridge.
Back to back home wins takes the Piggy’s upto 8th in the Yorkshire League Division Three, & Head Coach Tyers praised the character of his charges ‘we started poorly, & had no ball or territory for about 15 minutes’ he said, adding ‘I’m a believer in the team ethos but Craig Donaldson was something else today, a beast. Bowskill should also be proud of his work, he proved a point with his performance today’
Stocksbridge Rugby face a stern test this weekend with a tough away trip to Bramley Phoenix, although the Pigs won there last time out, a robust, physical welcome is always handed out, & Stocksbridge Rugby will have to be ready for it.
A bus is available for away supporters, please contact the club for details & join the band of blue army ?

Thanks
Andy Tyers
Head Coach
Stocksbridge Rugby