Sat 14 Jan 2023
‘it wasn’t pretty, but we got the job done’ were the thoughts of vice-captain ‘slammin’ Sam Whittaker after Globe Holidays sponsored Stocksbridge Rugby ground out a hard fought victory over 4th placed Aireborough RUFC at the weekend, a third home win on the spin & a thrilling 1pt victory to cement 7th place in the Counties 4 Yorkshire league ladder. On a cold, windy & wet afternoon at fortress Coal Pit Lane flowing rugby was always going to be at a premium, & the game was littered with errors from both sides from the first whistle until the last. Despite the weather the pitch was firm & relatively dry thanks to the excellent work of Charlesworth Landscapes, who also kindly provide the match balls. The visitors had requested un-contestable scrums due to their availability issues, so Head Coach Andy Lawrence selected accordingly, moving Gill & Hawksworth into the front row berths to add extra fire power around the field. The versatile Liam O’Leary was selected at No 8, & the mercurial Paul Kelly partnered that man Frith at half back, with Christopherson jnr at full back & the veteran Christopherson snr on the finishers bench, along with rampaging bull Joe Smith back available after serving a suspension. Playing up the slope in the first half, Stocksbridge had the better of territory & possession without troubling the scoreboard, all too often promising attacks were brought to an end by stern defence or unforced errors, ‘clock tower’ Andy Beal made himself a nuisance to the visiting defenders with his constant & physical forward drives. Aireborough were forced to concede a number of penalties due to the relentless nature of the home side’s attacking intent. Surprisingly, Stocksbridge spurned a couple of kickable penalties, but skipper Frith decided to ask Scotty Bowskill to open the scoring with a close range penalty effort for another infringement by the visitors. Play continued in a similar vein until the half time whistle with the scoreline: Stocksbridge Rugby 3pts – Aireborough nil.
Playing with the slope & down wind in the 2ndstanza, Stocksbridge hoped to pile on the pressure in their search for tries, somehow the visitors kept them out as the 2nd half shaped up similar to the previous one. Aireborough could not break out of their own red zone, & try as they might, Stocksbridge could not find the killer blow to cross the whitewash. As the home side huffed & puffed, something had to give & eventually the bustling Liam O’Leary dived over from close range after further good work from the forward pack, Bowskill narrowly failing to convert. Any thoughts the home side had of adding to their points tally were dealt a blow as O’Leary turned from hero to villain, receiving a yellow card & ten minutes in the sin bin for a high tackle offence. Aireborough took advantage of their numerical supremacy & launched a wave of attacks on the hard working Stocksbridge defence, & were rewarded with a well worked try & conversion to bring the scores within 1pt of each other. Stocksbridge managed to hold out any further attempts from the visitors, & remained in control, just, to hold on for the final whistle & a score of: Stocksbridge Rugby 8pts – Aireborough 7pts.
‘A tight finish, a gritty win & a committed, dogged performance saw us home today’, said a jubilant skipper Adam Frith afterwards, adding ‘this is a statement win for us today, taking down 4th place in the table. Now we move on to next week’.
The Funding Solutions Man of the Match award went to Liam O’Leary for a barnstorming display, with Beal, Pearson & young Christopherson also showing up well. Head Coach Andy Lawrence must now prepare his troops for a tricky but winnable clash, as they look to complete a league double on York based Nestle Rowntree next week, before free scoring Otliensians are the next visitors to Coal Pit Lane on Saturday 28th January, kick off 2.15pm, & all are welcome.
match report written by Andrew a Tyers.
