Sat 19 Mar 2016
A bad day at the office for Stocksbridge Rugby
''A bad Day at the office' was how Head Coach Andy Tyers described their visit to lowly Aireborough RUFC in a Yorkshire League Division Three encounter at the weekend. 'It started poorly & got worse' he said.
Injury's & player unavailability resulted in back rower Tom Spencer having to operate in the centre berth alongside the recalled Dave Brown, & lacking cover on the bench 52 yr old stalwart Brendan Rowett was coaxed out of retirement to help out, & he was needed !
There were concerns during a pretty unimpressive warm up lacking the usual intensity & enthusiasm however, the visitors made a reasonable start to the game dominating early possession, with No 8 Ben Brown making good yards.
A couple of misjudged kicks gave possession away, & allowed the home side, who seem to have recruited very heavily recently & bore little resemblance to the team who visited Stocksbridge earlier in the competition, to mount a sweeping attack where only a last ditch cover tackle by the Deepcar Express Kazmierski saved a certain score. Another poor clearance kick, was easily gathered by the eager home side, who moved the ball swiftly to their speedy winger who fortunately for the visitors dropped the ball with the line at his mercy.
Stocksbridge Rugby just couldn't keep hold of the ball when they did get it, a loose 22metre restart went straight into touch allowing Aireborough easy yards & possession, & this time they moved the ball wide & did cross the whitewash in the corner, for the opening score, the try going unconverted.
There were periods of play when Stocksbridge Rugby did make some headway, & Frith was on target to register a penalty when the home side infringed after good link play involving Westby, Kazmierski & the ever willing Callum Green.
The game was close at 5-3 after the first half hour, but some of the warning signs just weren't heeded by the travelling Pigs, with the home side, fighting for their Division Three survival, clearly out-enthusing a sluggish Stocksbridge outfit.
More errors & weak tackling lead to another try for the home side, & although still in the arm wrestle it was becoming more of an uphill struggle for the visitors. A hammer blow on 40 minutes, with the half nearly up, bustling centre Dave Brown broke down the blind side however, his pass was grounded & hacked through for the home side full back to win a foot race to score under the posts, whilst Stocksbridge were left to contemplate how this happened from their attacking threat ? Half time Aireborough RUFC 17pts - Stocksbridge Rugby 3 pts.
Injury forced front rower Ricky James off at the interval, & big Jase Hurst was introduced to replace the tiring Rowett. An aimless clearance kick from the Aireborough fly half wasn't dealt with properly & the home side were gifted a try, early in the second half to seal a valuable bonus point for them in their quest to avoid the drop. Things went from bad to worse when both Kazmierski & David Brown were withdrawn through injury, meaning a first XV debut for Liam 'ginge' Richardson who performed well in a difficult first outing for him. Stocksbridge were forced to turn to the veteran Brendan Rowett when Sam Whitaker suffered a soft tissue injury, leaving the visitors bench almost empty. Such disruption, added to a generally inept display all round meant tries were scored at regular intervals by the rampant home side, clearly taking advantage of the Stocksbridge woes.
The game ended with another home try & another Stocksbridge Rugby injury to winger Ryan Smith who injured his ribs in a tackle. A final score of 48 pts to 3 pts in favour of the home side accurately reflected the difference in attitude, enthusiasm & intensity between the two teams.
There was not much to shout about for beleaguered Head Coach Tyers afterwards 'we got what we deserved here today' he said 'they simply wanted to win more than we did & it shone through' he added.
Sam Whitaker showed up well in parts, before his injury, Tom Spencer again gave his all, as did fly half Westby, but it just wasn't enough against a fired up opposition, Ben Brown took the Bradfield Brewery Player of the Day award for a strong running display, as brother David showed glimpses of what he can offer. Skipper Keenan offered no excuses, 'we were poor all round' he said, before adding 'we will be back, we are a resilient bunch, & our season is far from over. We move on'
Stocksbridge Rugby now have Easter off, which will give the injured players, & there are many of them, much needed time to recover physically & mentally from their ordeal, & get back on the horse for the visit of Bramley Phoenix, another team fighting for their own Division Three survival, on April 2nd @ Coal Pit Lane, kick off 3pm & entrance is free on the day.
Injury's & player unavailability resulted in back rower Tom Spencer having to operate in the centre berth alongside the recalled Dave Brown, & lacking cover on the bench 52 yr old stalwart Brendan Rowett was coaxed out of retirement to help out, & he was needed !
There were concerns during a pretty unimpressive warm up lacking the usual intensity & enthusiasm however, the visitors made a reasonable start to the game dominating early possession, with No 8 Ben Brown making good yards.
A couple of misjudged kicks gave possession away, & allowed the home side, who seem to have recruited very heavily recently & bore little resemblance to the team who visited Stocksbridge earlier in the competition, to mount a sweeping attack where only a last ditch cover tackle by the Deepcar Express Kazmierski saved a certain score. Another poor clearance kick, was easily gathered by the eager home side, who moved the ball swiftly to their speedy winger who fortunately for the visitors dropped the ball with the line at his mercy.
Stocksbridge Rugby just couldn't keep hold of the ball when they did get it, a loose 22metre restart went straight into touch allowing Aireborough easy yards & possession, & this time they moved the ball wide & did cross the whitewash in the corner, for the opening score, the try going unconverted.
There were periods of play when Stocksbridge Rugby did make some headway, & Frith was on target to register a penalty when the home side infringed after good link play involving Westby, Kazmierski & the ever willing Callum Green.
The game was close at 5-3 after the first half hour, but some of the warning signs just weren't heeded by the travelling Pigs, with the home side, fighting for their Division Three survival, clearly out-enthusing a sluggish Stocksbridge outfit.
More errors & weak tackling lead to another try for the home side, & although still in the arm wrestle it was becoming more of an uphill struggle for the visitors. A hammer blow on 40 minutes, with the half nearly up, bustling centre Dave Brown broke down the blind side however, his pass was grounded & hacked through for the home side full back to win a foot race to score under the posts, whilst Stocksbridge were left to contemplate how this happened from their attacking threat ? Half time Aireborough RUFC 17pts - Stocksbridge Rugby 3 pts.
Injury forced front rower Ricky James off at the interval, & big Jase Hurst was introduced to replace the tiring Rowett. An aimless clearance kick from the Aireborough fly half wasn't dealt with properly & the home side were gifted a try, early in the second half to seal a valuable bonus point for them in their quest to avoid the drop. Things went from bad to worse when both Kazmierski & David Brown were withdrawn through injury, meaning a first XV debut for Liam 'ginge' Richardson who performed well in a difficult first outing for him. Stocksbridge were forced to turn to the veteran Brendan Rowett when Sam Whitaker suffered a soft tissue injury, leaving the visitors bench almost empty. Such disruption, added to a generally inept display all round meant tries were scored at regular intervals by the rampant home side, clearly taking advantage of the Stocksbridge woes.
The game ended with another home try & another Stocksbridge Rugby injury to winger Ryan Smith who injured his ribs in a tackle. A final score of 48 pts to 3 pts in favour of the home side accurately reflected the difference in attitude, enthusiasm & intensity between the two teams.
There was not much to shout about for beleaguered Head Coach Tyers afterwards 'we got what we deserved here today' he said 'they simply wanted to win more than we did & it shone through' he added.
Sam Whitaker showed up well in parts, before his injury, Tom Spencer again gave his all, as did fly half Westby, but it just wasn't enough against a fired up opposition, Ben Brown took the Bradfield Brewery Player of the Day award for a strong running display, as brother David showed glimpses of what he can offer. Skipper Keenan offered no excuses, 'we were poor all round' he said, before adding 'we will be back, we are a resilient bunch, & our season is far from over. We move on'
Stocksbridge Rugby now have Easter off, which will give the injured players, & there are many of them, much needed time to recover physically & mentally from their ordeal, & get back on the horse for the visit of Bramley Phoenix, another team fighting for their own Division Three survival, on April 2nd @ Coal Pit Lane, kick off 3pm & entrance is free on the day.
