EIGHT-TRY STAFFORD TURN ON THE STYLE TO CONTINUE THEIR FINE RUN OF LEAGUE RESULTS
STAFFORD ran out 48-17 home winners against LONGTON in their Counties One Midlands West North meeting.
The two teams last met in November with the County Town team coming home empty handed from Trentham Fields on the wrong end of a 40-0 loss.
Since then, the mighty Blackberry Lane side had started to rebuild and drag themselves away from the base of the table building a healthy seven wins against twelve losses.
In contrast Longton hadn’t managed to capitalise on their excellent November showing and sat second from bottom with a difficult three wins against seventeen losses.
The sunny Stafford morning had disintegrated into a grey and somewhat drizzly afternoon to welcome the players onto the pitch. Some typical bruising rugby from the visitors opened the match and within the first five minutes, Longton had battered their way to a one try lead.
Stafford responded from the restart with some tenacious play which dragged the North Staffordshire side around the field. Slick passing outwitted the opposition and Henry Perks collected the final ball to cruise past the defence for an equalising try, converted by Alex Rock.
The Stafford XV were making their presence known and playing all of the rugby deep in opposition territory. Struggling to cope with the assault some clumsy Longton defence was eventually penalised within striking distance of their line. An ever-alert Alex Rock took full advantage with a quick tap and wove through some static bodies for a try. Longton wouldn’t lie down and reverting back to some effective basic rugby snatched back all the momentum.
Strong work saw the visiting team earn two well taken tries and reclaim what was becoming a slippery lead.
As Stafford tried to cauterise the attacking phases a yellow card added to the pressure, reducing the home team to fourteen for the remainder of the period. This spurred the County Town team back into life and they were suddenly everywhere on the pitch. Longton were having to plug rapidly appearing gaps but were managing to hold out with a scrambling defence. Just as time looked to be up, a sublime step by Gregor Lennon confounded the opposition and he carried two bodies across the line for a final try. Stafford went into half time drawing 17-17 but having to work hard against an ever-dangerous Longton.
With a few minutes of the half elapsed, Stafford were restored to a full XV on the field. The home side had the best of the opening plays and set up camp by the raucous club house.
Longton dug in and weathered the storm, eventually reclaiming possession through turn over ball. However, the subsequent clearance kick was badly sliced and the tremendously sticky hands of Henry Perks snatched the ball out of the air and he cruised across the line for his second try of the afternoon, converted by Alex Rock. With all of their younger contingent now on the field the Stafford engine started to roar.
The visiting XV couldn’t contain the flowing attacks which were starting to rain down from every part of the field. The swarming defence eventually pushed the referee’s patience too far and they were punished with a yellow card. With Longton in slight disarray, Stafford stepped up the tempo and Will Turner weaved his way through for a try, converted by Alex Rock. Tom Kirby was the next to open up the tiring opposition with a devastating foray down the wing. With the hard yards made, the ball flicked between hands and Archie Bent crossed for a try, converted by Alex Rock. Longton then had their best period of this half and spent some dangerous periods threatening the Stafford line.
However, all of the hard work was quickly undone when a loose pass was seized by Jerry Qasenivalu who proceeded to run the ball out of the red zone. The charge was taken up by Will Turner and a supporting Archie Bent provided the wheels to finish off an end to end try. The visitors were still standing proud and continued putting their bodies on the line for the final torturous five minutes. A strong Stafford finish kept the visitors pinned within their own half as the home side clawed their way towards the noisy club house end. As the clock ticked down it looked as if the game had descended into an exhausting stalemate. But the Blackberry Lane XV had time for one final flourish.
With the ball whipping around a rowdy park, the opposition line
was pulled out of shape. With gaps appearing Tom Kirby burst through to sprint away for the final try of the afternoon. Alex Rock stepped up to take the conversion aiming for the fifty points but as the ball curved in it struck the upright to deny the crowning points.
SANDBACH were beaten 38-24 at home by Wirral in Regional One North West.
At the start of the day, Northwich, Leek and Sandbach were equal on points at the bottom of the table. Two teams will be relegated and with three league games remaining, all had everything to play for.
Sandbach were eager to set a marker and play with intensity as the match kicked off.
After several early penalties against Wirral, the Bach found themselves with an attacking lineout, near to the try line.
Player/head coach Tom Holmes showed his prowess to take the high catch and a maul was formed. As they edged closer to the line, the ball found its way to Ryan Arundale, who scored.
Five minutes in and after Nick Allsop slotted home the conversion, Sandbach led 7-0.
The penalties started to mount up and the referee had a word with both captains, which was a warning for the rest of the afternoon.
Minutes later and another penalty against Wirral and the first yellow card was duly given. Despite being a man down, they would regain possession and frustratingly break through the Sandbach defence as their full-back went over on the wing.
After 18 minutes and the scores level, centre Jack Leech burst through to put Sandbach back in the lead as they finally made the most of their extra man advantage.
With Wirral on the attack, Ed Vitta showed courage in defence and Allsop showed his astute game management before another Wirral player was sent to the sin bin.
The ever-reliable Josh Brookes would get Sandbach’s third try as he found space in attack to score under the posts. With 11 minutes remaining in the first half and the scores at 21-7 there was optimism within the team.
The referee would once again be speaking to the Wirral’s captain about the penalty count, who then hastily convened a team talk.
Wirral would regather and show their strength as they earned a second try, however moments after the restart they conceded another penalty. The Bach opted for the points and Allsop stepped up to hit his mark, ending the half at 24-14.
Discipline continued to be the main theme as the second half got under way and Wirral picked up another yellow card almost immediately. Wirral were getting used to playing with a man down and they dominated for the next five minutes but couldn’t create anything significant.
Wirral picked up a fourth yellow card 52 minutes in, but Sandbach would see their first player sent to the sin bin minutes later, which proved to be the catalyst for Wirral’s fightback.
Wirral pointed to the posts and an ambitious penalty kick would reduce Sandbach’s lead.
With 22 minutes to go and with Wirral back to 15 players, they capitalised on the extra man advantage as Sandbach continued to give away penalties. Wirral’s quick ball found a gap in the Bach’s defence to score and after the conversion, the teams were level at 24-24.
As Wirral continued to dominate, Sandbach earned another yellow card and over the next eight minutes, Wirral took the lead and increased it with two almost identical and bold drop goals with a try sandwiched in between.
The Bach would find another player in the sin bin before the game was out and Wirral added three more points to their tally before the final whistle blew. At 24-38, a disappointing second half left Sandbach dejected and with thoughts of what could have been.
Elsewhere, both Northwich and Leek lost their games, although Leek managed to secure a losing bonus point moving them one point ahead in the table.
The Bach will travel to Rossendale on Saturday for an incredibly tough contest as the fight to avoid the drop continues.