On a brisk Spring afternoon at Coal Pit Lane, Globe Travel sponsored Stocksbridge Rugby ran in 6 unanswered tries to put their struggling rivals Bramley Phoenix to the sword, eventually running out winners by 34 pts to 3 pts at the weekend, on the Club’s sponsors thank you day.
Despite missing prop Ricky James & the Deepcar Express at full back, Stocksbridge Rugby fielded a huge pack & welcomed Andy ‘the tower’ Beal, & Dave Potts back to add some quality to the interchange bench, alongside the evergreen Ricky Christopherson.
The visitors have a fearsome reputation as a no nonsense & abrasive side but this didn’t seem to bother the home pack who dominated the early exchanges, after the customary slow start where Ben Brown coughed up the kick off, with the match ball kindly presented by Donna Taylor.
Tricky fly half Ben Westby was forced off with a blood injury to the face, the victim of some dangerous rucking & Christopherson was given an early introduction. All too often Stocksbridge Rugby were guilty of handing possession over to Bramley Phoenix with some inprecise clearance kicking or loose passes however, the defence held firm to more than atone for these errors. A typically barnstorming break by the recalled Liam O’Leary, gave Callum Green a sight of the try line but he was forced into touch by the covering defence. The Stocksbridge scrum was dominant all throughout the game, with the Bramley 8 retreating at a rate of knots from most set pieces, & when Ben Brown broke from a scrum, Frith fed Christopherson who sent O’Leary on another marauding run, this time the ball was recycled & David Brown was able to stroll in for the first try of the afternoon to put Stocksbridge Rugby in front.
The pressure kept building as Stocksbridge kept the ball in hand, & the visitors could not handle their pacey off load game. Skipper Keenan fond a gaping hole in the Phoenix defence, who were looking for a further pass, when he opted to drop the should & force his way over from close range to extend the lead, Frith missing with the conversion attempt. Bramley were awarded a penalty just before half time & signalled their intent, by opting to take the points on offer, rather than risk further damage by running at the blue wall in front of them. Half time score Stocksbridge Rugby 10 pts – Bramley Phoenix 3 pts.
The half time message from the Coaching Team was simple, to keep the ball in hand & Stocksbridge responded with a forceful 2nd half display to delight the watching club sponsors. The forward dominance continued & Ben Brown was awarded a try following a pushover at scrum time, with Frith adding the extras. The powerful interchange bench was emptied to give the home side further impetus, & slammin’ Sam Whitaker was next on the scoresheet, latching on to a deft Frith pass to power through a tiring defence for the bonus point score, Frith on hand again with the extras.
O’Leary now operating at No 8, was tearing the beleaguered visiting defence up, & he was the beneficiary of another dominant Stocksbridge Rugby set piece to touch down at the back of the scrum. The game ended in a similar fashion, this time with a penalty try being awarded after the Phoenix pack simply couldn’t handle the power & force of the Stocksbridge eight, & the referee understandably lost patience with their efforts to collapse the scrum. A final score of Stocksbridge Rugby 34 pts – Bramley Phoenix 3 pts, would have been more but for goalkicking failures, the worst of which will haunt Ben Brown as he missed from right in front of the posts at the final whistle. This 9th win of the season sees the Piggys maintain their mid table position in the league with just 3 games left of the campaign, the Bradfield Brewery man of the match award went to Rees ‘diesel’ Aspin for another tireless display in the back row, whilst fellow breakaway partner Ricky Rowett has been awarded the Brewery’s latest Monthly award for his efforts during March. A rousing performance brought a smile to outgoing Head Coach Andy Tyers’ face ‘this is what we’re capable of, when the camp is in the mood’ he said , adding ‘ a strong bench helps the squad, & we showed them no mercy today, we’ll move onto next week with some confidence now’ Stocksbridge Rugby travel to high flying Goole next week, & there is a supporters bus for anyone wanting to make the trip, details from the club.
The club has also managed to book former England Captain, & Leicester Tiger legend Martin Corry for their annual awards dinner, to be held on May 6th at the Niagra Club, tickets are selling fast so please book early.