Sat 30 Jan 2016
Stocksbridge Rugby missed a golden opportunity to take full points from their lengthy trip to Northallerton at the weekend
Stocksbridge Rugby missed a golden opportunity to take full points from their lengthy trip to Northallerton at the weekend, allowing a 12point advantage to slip from their grasp.
With Kazmierski, Donaldson, Folliard & Potts unavailable, along with long term injury victims Whitaker, Newton & Rowitt, Stocksbridge welcomed back hard working prop Ricky James, talismanic 2nd Row Andy Beal, & hard running centre Dave Brown to the starting line up, with Hartley & Fletcher amongst the interchange options.
A bitter wind dictated that most of the game would be played in a small section of the pitch, & Stocksbridge Rugby took advantage of the conditions, with Bowskill kicking accurately to force the home team back, the forwards exerted pressure with Ben Brown, & Tom Spencer driving hard, & Keenan being productive in the loose. The visitors took the lead as Bowskill manged a swirling wind to slot a penalty for an infringement after just 2 minutes. Northallerton struggled to gain possession throughout the first half, as Stocksbridge pressed hard, further reward came on 14 minutes, as Bowskill slotted his second penalty of the afternoon. A sharp blind side move involving Frith, Westby & Beal nearly put winger Jones into space, but there was just enough cover to ease the pacey winger into touch. Bowskill made it three from three on 20 minutes when Northallerton were penalised trying to halt another Stocksbridge attack illegally. Stocksbridge maintained the pressure & another penalty was converted by Bowskill on 38 minutes, to give the visitors a 12 point advantage with half time fast approaching. Stocksbridge didn't deal with the kick off very well, & a touch of panic resulted in a Northallerton scrum for just about their first serious attack of the day, predictably the heavy Northallerton forwards rolled the maul but the tenacious visitors help firm. Front row forward Lambert suffered a head injury & back rower Spencer a neck injury for their heroics in defence as the first half went into added time, to add insult to injury the referee decided that Stocksbridge deliberately dragged a maul down & yellow carded Ben Brown on the very stroke of half time. Northallerton opted to scrum, & made the extra man pay as they rumbled their way to the line for a score to bring them back into the game.
Half time - Northallerton 5 points - Stocksbridge Rugby 12 points.
The home side's game plan, for the 2nd half was clearly evident as they kicked each & every ounce of possession with the wind, deep into the Stocksbridge red zone looking for errors. Stocksbridge should have dealt with this bombardment better, but struggled themselves to get much decent possession.
The home side stole a line out, & again rumbled over for a close range forwards try to leave the visitors hanging on by just 2 points. As the pressure mounted so did the penalty count & the visiting pack struggled against a tough home scrum & dominant line out, O'Leary was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away after conceding a penalty, & again Northallerton made the numbers pay, with another rumbling forwards try, which their kicker finally converted to take them into the lead for the first time in the game. This prompted a final 5 frenzied minutes of furious attacking play by Stocksbridge Rugby, as player after player tried to smash their way through a stubborn home defence, not noticing the spaces & opportunities out wider which should have been exploited, & could have led to a vital score for the luckless Piggy's.
A disappointing final score of Northallerton 17pts - Stocksbridge Rugby 12pts gave the lions share of the points to a grateful home side, with the plucky visitors claiming just a losing bonus point for their efforts.
Stocksbridge Rugby drop a place in the table to 6th & must be reflecting on a win that got away. Andy Beal took the Bradfield Brewery man of the match award for a storming display on his return.
Head Coach Tyers was a frustrated figure afterwards 'we've only got ourselves to blame, we had this game in the bag' he said, adding 'if we are to be serious challengers at this level, we have to learn to close these games out, stop panicking & take our chances'
'Discipline is an issue, we are conceding too many yellow cards, & it is hurting us. Our set piece struggled today, & our line out need attention, but it's nothing we can't fix'. Stocksbridge will rue their missed chances in the final minutes, ignoring clear overlaps in the search of glory, & they must learn from it.
Stocksbridge Rugby now have a welcome week off, which should help clear their injury list, & are back in action on 13th Feb when Leeds Medics & Dentists are the visitors to Coal Pit Lane.
With Kazmierski, Donaldson, Folliard & Potts unavailable, along with long term injury victims Whitaker, Newton & Rowitt, Stocksbridge welcomed back hard working prop Ricky James, talismanic 2nd Row Andy Beal, & hard running centre Dave Brown to the starting line up, with Hartley & Fletcher amongst the interchange options.
A bitter wind dictated that most of the game would be played in a small section of the pitch, & Stocksbridge Rugby took advantage of the conditions, with Bowskill kicking accurately to force the home team back, the forwards exerted pressure with Ben Brown, & Tom Spencer driving hard, & Keenan being productive in the loose. The visitors took the lead as Bowskill manged a swirling wind to slot a penalty for an infringement after just 2 minutes. Northallerton struggled to gain possession throughout the first half, as Stocksbridge pressed hard, further reward came on 14 minutes, as Bowskill slotted his second penalty of the afternoon. A sharp blind side move involving Frith, Westby & Beal nearly put winger Jones into space, but there was just enough cover to ease the pacey winger into touch. Bowskill made it three from three on 20 minutes when Northallerton were penalised trying to halt another Stocksbridge attack illegally. Stocksbridge maintained the pressure & another penalty was converted by Bowskill on 38 minutes, to give the visitors a 12 point advantage with half time fast approaching. Stocksbridge didn't deal with the kick off very well, & a touch of panic resulted in a Northallerton scrum for just about their first serious attack of the day, predictably the heavy Northallerton forwards rolled the maul but the tenacious visitors help firm. Front row forward Lambert suffered a head injury & back rower Spencer a neck injury for their heroics in defence as the first half went into added time, to add insult to injury the referee decided that Stocksbridge deliberately dragged a maul down & yellow carded Ben Brown on the very stroke of half time. Northallerton opted to scrum, & made the extra man pay as they rumbled their way to the line for a score to bring them back into the game.
Half time - Northallerton 5 points - Stocksbridge Rugby 12 points.
The home side's game plan, for the 2nd half was clearly evident as they kicked each & every ounce of possession with the wind, deep into the Stocksbridge red zone looking for errors. Stocksbridge should have dealt with this bombardment better, but struggled themselves to get much decent possession.
The home side stole a line out, & again rumbled over for a close range forwards try to leave the visitors hanging on by just 2 points. As the pressure mounted so did the penalty count & the visiting pack struggled against a tough home scrum & dominant line out, O'Leary was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away after conceding a penalty, & again Northallerton made the numbers pay, with another rumbling forwards try, which their kicker finally converted to take them into the lead for the first time in the game. This prompted a final 5 frenzied minutes of furious attacking play by Stocksbridge Rugby, as player after player tried to smash their way through a stubborn home defence, not noticing the spaces & opportunities out wider which should have been exploited, & could have led to a vital score for the luckless Piggy's.
A disappointing final score of Northallerton 17pts - Stocksbridge Rugby 12pts gave the lions share of the points to a grateful home side, with the plucky visitors claiming just a losing bonus point for their efforts.
Stocksbridge Rugby drop a place in the table to 6th & must be reflecting on a win that got away. Andy Beal took the Bradfield Brewery man of the match award for a storming display on his return.
Head Coach Tyers was a frustrated figure afterwards 'we've only got ourselves to blame, we had this game in the bag' he said, adding 'if we are to be serious challengers at this level, we have to learn to close these games out, stop panicking & take our chances'
'Discipline is an issue, we are conceding too many yellow cards, & it is hurting us. Our set piece struggled today, & our line out need attention, but it's nothing we can't fix'. Stocksbridge will rue their missed chances in the final minutes, ignoring clear overlaps in the search of glory, & they must learn from it.
Stocksbridge Rugby now have a welcome week off, which should help clear their injury list, & are back in action on 13th Feb when Leeds Medics & Dentists are the visitors to Coal Pit Lane.
