Sponsored By Aldi
This was a brave performance from a heavily depleted Glossop side. Their willingness to run the ball from anywhere on the field against what appeared to be insurmountable odds was tribute to the way Glossop aim to play the game.Coalville, not surprisingly came out all guns blazing, they smelt blood and weren’t going to be sympathetic. It took only a matter of minutes for the Leicestershire side to cross the line and convert, taking them into an early 7-0 lead. The response from Glossop was immense; chasing the kick off and forcing errors they gained a line out in the Coalville half. Dan Clark, again proving his ability, secured solid lineout ball, the rolling maul gained a few more extra yards and skipper Kit Brammer cut through on the angle. The support came in the giant frame of Adam Thompson who caught the ball handed off the challenge and dived over. An awesome response. Glossop were back in the game at 7-5.
The next period of the game saw Glossop become even more expansive in their play with Sean Cassell, the Murphy brothers and Stuart Harrison looking to run the ball with the sort of abandon rarely seen on Leicestershire rugby fields. Unfortunately with Glossop a man down their enterprise was not rewarded, as Coalville capitalised on the inevitable mistakes of a team playing such cavalier stuff. The first half petered out with Coalville scoring some good counter attacking tries.
During the half time team talk the sense of excitement in the Glossop huddle was tangible, they were losing but some how felt in the ascendancy. Coalville dampened spirits slightly by scoring a minute into the second half. Undeterred Glossop hounded down the restart and pushed Coalville back into their own 22. The Derbyshire sides pack secured the ball, but knocked on in the second phase, a scrum was awarded to Coalville just five metres off their own line and Tamplin managed to steal the turnover ball for Glossop. Brammer arrowed a pass wide and it was fitting, on the weekend that NFL comes to Wembley, that Glossop’s very own grid iron specialist, Chris McGrail dived over in the corner for Glossop’s second try.
To be fair their was little doubt that Coalville were ever in danger of losing the points, but in rugby you can walk off the field head held high if you’ve given your all. It was evident for both players and spectators alike that Glossop had strained every sinue in battling for eighty minutes. It bodes well for next weeks fixture, Oakham at home, that there is a grit and determination bout this current team, which is not characterised by dour, one dimensional rugby, but a cavilier spirit that deserves reward.