Against the odds, but playing down a slope with the wind at their backs, the plucky visitors were the first to strike, when Scott Bowskill, sponsored by Mr Byron & Mrs Teresa Turner, slotted a penalty in difficult under foot conditions, & a swirling wind. Stocksbridge had opportunity to score but couldn’t quite find the killer pass to unlock a keen Leeds Mods defensive line. Skipper Rowett, & 2nd row clock towers Beal & Whitaker causing the home side no end of problems with their surging runs. The home side took advantage of some hesitant Stocksbridge tackling to score 2 quickfire tries, although this was against the run of play, Leeds Mods took their chances when Stocksbridge Rugby didn’t ! Tom Spencer in his return to 1st team action tackled well, & produced a typically committed individual performance however, bulky prop Gary Woodcock was forced to retire with concussion after a heavy collision. Bowskill kept Stocksbridge in touch with another well taken penalty goal, & the visitors created further chances that went begging when ‘white line fever’ took over from playing simple, effective rugby. A quick tap penalty caught the visitors sleeping & Leeds Mods scored a further try to increase their lead. Hard working back rower Rees Aspin was also forced to leave the field with suspected concussion to add to the visitors woes. Bowskill was on target again with another penalty, as was his opposing goal kicker on the stroke of half time, leaving the score ; Leeds Mods 24pts – Stocksbridge Rugby 9pts.

The 2nd stanza was played almost exclusively in the Stocksbridge half, with the visitors seemingly unable to hold on to the ball, to mount any meaningful offensives. Inspirational 2nd rower Andy Beal became the third Stocksbridge player to succumb to injury, leaving the field with sore ribs after a heavy tackle. Although the situation was bordering on hopeless for the gallant but out gunned visitors, Rugby Supremo Rhys Keenan can take some pride in the attitude & effort his troops delivered, the circumstances were just too much to counter. A bout of hand bags saw a yellow card for one of the home forwards, shortly followed by a further one for a high shot on Piggy’s Skipper Rowett however, Stocksbridge remained unable to take advantage of their numerical advantage as Leeds Mods ran in a further four 2nd half tries as the visitors simply ran out of gas. A final scoreline of Leeds Mods 48pts – Stocksbridge Rugby 9pts was slightly flattering for the home side, & leaves Stocksbridge in 6th spot in the Premier league. All the players deserve some credit for their efforts & commitment, but it was slammin’ Sam Whitaker who again took the S&M Pipeworks man of the match award for his hard work in the loose & contribution to a dominant scrum.
Skipper Rowett was full of praise for his team afterwards as he said ‘with half a team missing, & other issues, we did well with what we had’ adding ‘we need to re-group & get stuck into Burley next week’.

Stocksbridge face a tough task this week as high flying Burley Rugby come to Coal Pit Lane in round 2 off the play off, kick off is 2.15pm & entry is free. Rugby Supremo Keenan will be hoping for some good news from the medical team during training this week, as he prepares his squad for this important encounter.

Match report by Andy Tyers | Director of Rugby