Sat 9 Jan 2016
After Extra Training During The Christmas Break, A Strong Stocksbridge Rugby Squad Travelled To Baildon Determined To Start The New Year Off With A W.
After extra training during the Christmas break, a strong Stocksbridge Rugby squad travelled to Baildon determined to start the New Year off with an away win, against a side for their League Division Three survival.
The pitch was passed fit after an early morning inspection, & the merry band of Stocksbridge Rugby supporters took their seats, also in expectant mood.
The visitors had loaded their interchange bench with further heavyweight forwards, Lambert, Smith & Donaldson as the underfoot conditions would soon sap the energy levels of the starting XV.
Nobody expected an error strewn match, played on a glue pot of a pitch, with neither side able to gain any decent possession to launch any worthwhile attacks. Bowskill dropped just short with a long range penalty effort for Baildon off side.
Stocksbridge Rugby started well enough with No 8 Ben Brown & towering 2nd row Andy Beal driving hard, & making good yards down the slope, Bowskill's kicking from hand also penned Baildon in their half for long periods.
Every time the visitors created a position from which to launch a worthwhile attack, it was halted by some committed defence or by an unforced error, in what would become a pretty ill disciplined performance by Stocksbridge Rugby.
The home side offered little in attack, & were largely snuffed out by some strong defence with back rowers Spencer, Brown & Aspin covering most of the mudbath in the cause. Even Donaldson was unable to make many yards as his bull like charges were thwarted by a combination of desperate tackling & a lack of traction on the rain sodden pitch. Unsurprisingly a nil all half time scoreline was about a fair reflection of a mostly unforgettable first half.
The 2nd half followed a very similar pattern, with the home side making the most of the errors & the poor discipline of the visiting Stocksbridge team. Talismanic centre Liam O'Leary was given a yellow card after a perceived late hit, & a further Stocksbridge indiscretion lead to a successful penalty kick for the home side to take a slender lead on 54 minutes, Bowskil slipped as he attempted to convert a penalty to bring the scores level. As Stocksbridge fought for possession & territory they were their own worst enemy with 6 penalties out of a total of 15 during the match, for holding on. This must be a concern for Coach Tyers & the rest of his coaching team. A further sin bin for centre Dave Potts & a converted penalty gave the home side a 6 point margin which they held on to, despite a late effort from the visitors where Smith & Beal both went close. A very relieved & jubilant home side celebrated a rare victory at the final whistle, whilst Stocksbridge Rugby were left to lick their wounds, & wonder just what went wrong.
The result sees Stocksbridge Rugby drop to fifth in the league table, picking up a solitary bonus point for their efforts. Andy Beale took the Bradfield Brewery Man of the Match award in what was a pretty disappointing performance all round.
'I have no complaints' said Head Coach Andy Tyers afterwards 'we were the architects of our own downfall, & we have to take it on the chin' adding 'credit to Baildon, they are fighting for their survival & I think they wanted it a bit more than we did today'
'they offered very little, & their gameplan seemed to focus on stopping us rather than creating anything of their own, but it worked, so fair play to them. We're leaking too many penalties, & it is killing us, it is an area we will be working hard on during training this week'
Stocksbridge Rugby face a stern examination of their character next week, with a tough trip to league pace setter Thorn, but Tyers is relishing the challenge 'deep down we're still a good side, this was just a bad day at the office, & I will be looking for a positive reaction this week in training & on Saturday'
A supporters bus is running to Thorne with seats available, please contact the Club for further details, or to book.
The pitch was passed fit after an early morning inspection, & the merry band of Stocksbridge Rugby supporters took their seats, also in expectant mood.
The visitors had loaded their interchange bench with further heavyweight forwards, Lambert, Smith & Donaldson as the underfoot conditions would soon sap the energy levels of the starting XV.
Nobody expected an error strewn match, played on a glue pot of a pitch, with neither side able to gain any decent possession to launch any worthwhile attacks. Bowskill dropped just short with a long range penalty effort for Baildon off side.
Stocksbridge Rugby started well enough with No 8 Ben Brown & towering 2nd row Andy Beal driving hard, & making good yards down the slope, Bowskill's kicking from hand also penned Baildon in their half for long periods.
Every time the visitors created a position from which to launch a worthwhile attack, it was halted by some committed defence or by an unforced error, in what would become a pretty ill disciplined performance by Stocksbridge Rugby.
The home side offered little in attack, & were largely snuffed out by some strong defence with back rowers Spencer, Brown & Aspin covering most of the mudbath in the cause. Even Donaldson was unable to make many yards as his bull like charges were thwarted by a combination of desperate tackling & a lack of traction on the rain sodden pitch. Unsurprisingly a nil all half time scoreline was about a fair reflection of a mostly unforgettable first half.
The 2nd half followed a very similar pattern, with the home side making the most of the errors & the poor discipline of the visiting Stocksbridge team. Talismanic centre Liam O'Leary was given a yellow card after a perceived late hit, & a further Stocksbridge indiscretion lead to a successful penalty kick for the home side to take a slender lead on 54 minutes, Bowskil slipped as he attempted to convert a penalty to bring the scores level. As Stocksbridge fought for possession & territory they were their own worst enemy with 6 penalties out of a total of 15 during the match, for holding on. This must be a concern for Coach Tyers & the rest of his coaching team. A further sin bin for centre Dave Potts & a converted penalty gave the home side a 6 point margin which they held on to, despite a late effort from the visitors where Smith & Beal both went close. A very relieved & jubilant home side celebrated a rare victory at the final whistle, whilst Stocksbridge Rugby were left to lick their wounds, & wonder just what went wrong.
The result sees Stocksbridge Rugby drop to fifth in the league table, picking up a solitary bonus point for their efforts. Andy Beale took the Bradfield Brewery Man of the Match award in what was a pretty disappointing performance all round.
'I have no complaints' said Head Coach Andy Tyers afterwards 'we were the architects of our own downfall, & we have to take it on the chin' adding 'credit to Baildon, they are fighting for their survival & I think they wanted it a bit more than we did today'
'they offered very little, & their gameplan seemed to focus on stopping us rather than creating anything of their own, but it worked, so fair play to them. We're leaking too many penalties, & it is killing us, it is an area we will be working hard on during training this week'
Stocksbridge Rugby face a stern examination of their character next week, with a tough trip to league pace setter Thorn, but Tyers is relishing the challenge 'deep down we're still a good side, this was just a bad day at the office, & I will be looking for a positive reaction this week in training & on Saturday'
A supporters bus is running to Thorne with seats available, please contact the Club for further details, or to book.
