Eccles 3rd XV 0 – Glossop 3rd XV 43
Saturday 16th February
Glossop travelled with a squad of only sixteen over to Eccles and it proved to be more than adequate as they dominated the game from start to finish. For the second game in a row however Glossop’s opposition couldn’t provide a front row (despite bringing on a placement prop in the second half which still confuses me) and so scrums were once again uncontested.
It’s surprising how irritating something as little as having the scrums uncontested can be in a game of rugby especially for the forward obviously and Glossop did show their frustration show early on in the game, giving away a string of needless penalties however they also managed to rally when it mattered most and started putting points on the board fairly early on. With the referee deciding that number eight pick ups weren’t allowed in the match it gave Glossop a perfect opportunity to bring the backs into the game a little more than usual and the balance of both the forwards driving play and the backs running game tore Eccles apart. It became clearly apparent in the opening minutes that Eccles couldn’t contest with Glossop’s rolling maul which is a move that has been used to devastating effect so far this season by Glossop and it was again said move that gave Glossop their opening try with captain Kev Swift setting a fine example to follow, grounding the ball after a huge drive forward. At one point the Glossop pack drove over half the pitch from a rolling maul and so saw it was a great opportunity to not only use it, but also continually practise their technique. Eccles really had nothing to use against it. Where Eccles strengths did lie was with the tackling displayed by their backs. A pumped up and frustrated Ian Marshall playing at prop displayed some fantastic crash ball running with tacklers often bouncing off him as he went forward but to give Eccles backs credit there were occasions where even Marshall couldn’t break over the game line. It was another game that Glossop really showed their quality for not conceding points as their tackling was hard and accurate, never really having their own try line threatened in the whole game. Will Reddington did have to call on his fantastic speed however in the second half as a lucky break led to an Eccles back with pretty much a clear run to the line but Reddington ran from far out on his wing to not only catch the Eccles player but also make him spill the ball giving Glossop the scrum. Reddington also once more got on the score sheet running in and grounding the ball after fantastic phase play from Glossop. Playing at centre this week Jon Openshaw had a promising fifteen minutes from the start of the game but an unfortunate hamstring pull meant he had to leave the pitch injured. This gave Chris Bourke his first start of the season coming on as wing pushing Ben Thomasson into the unusual position of centre for him. Thomasson through his own admission said that centre felt foreign to him but his pace and tackling skills were still on display and he had a good game despite not getting on the scoreboard for the first time in weeks. Second row Rob Smith came incredibly close in the last play before half time but the ball slipped from his outstretched arm as he tried to place it after a low drive for the line. Whiston playing at fly half also had a good game especially when it came to conversions as he managed four of the seven attempts, the missed ones also being incredibly close even when from out wide. (Well if you give a man enough tries to practise from it’s bound to happen eventually!) Kev Swift had an impressive game all round with many mini breaks and fantastic mauling getting on the scoreboard twice and if buying a jug for a hat trick wasn’t an issue I’m sure he would have claimed a third that was grounded by Phil Littlewood playing at eight and Swift simultaneously. Swift did once however display one of the well known facts in the game of rugby in that props really shouldn’t try and kick unless to cause amusement. Alderdyce playing in his regular position of scrum half had another great game finding gaps in the Eccles defence that many others would probably miss. His two tries helped seal an impressive victory over a slightly struggling Eccles team. The second a magnificent break away from around his own ten metre line leaving team mates and the Eccles defence in confusion at just how he had managed to break away from the maul the ball appeared to be within.
There have been many refereeing decisions this seasons that have been frustrating and dubious and having a ball surrounded by Glossop players over the oppositions try line and still being called held up as the ref is on the wrong side and refuses to come around to look and use his common sense has got to be up there with the top most annoying ones. This was once again the case with yet another maul pushing over the try line and grounding the ball. Braughan playing at flanker was perhaps the most irate from the decision but channelled his frustrations in the best way possible, finding a gap and driving over after the resulting five metre scrum.
It was another game that Glossop clearly deserved the win and another game in which the opposition have been kept to zero. Next week’s opposition are Broughton 4th MV who have struggled to produce a front row all season and so it looks like the forwards might be frustrated once again however if they can channel this frustration into scoring points as well as they did against Eccles the winning streak should hopefully continue.
Team Sheet:
1.Swift 2.Williamson 3.Marshall 4.Smith 5.Deacon 6.Longsden 7.Braughan 8.Littlewood 9.Alderdyce 10.Whiston 11.Reddington 12.Snape 13.Openshaw 14.Thomasson 15.Fitton
Subs: 16.Bourke