LEEK’S UNBEATEN RECORD IS ENDED, WHILE GLENN’S RED PUTS PAID TO LONGTON BID
LEEK suffered their first Midlands Two West North defeat of the season - but remain top of the table - after losing 38-28 at Moseley Oak.
The Moorlanders found themselves with a 10-point deficit to claw back after just seven minutes following a slow start.
The first try on five minutes came as a clearance from just outside the Leek 22 was kicked straight into touch, from the resulting line-out after two quick phases, Oak spun the ball wide to their outside centre who burst through to score.
The second score followed on seven minutes as a poorlystruck box kick from the Moseley Oak scrum-half was touched in flight, as the ball was contested in the air it spilled forward with a fortuitous bounce straight into the Oak winger’s grasp, he raced unopposed over the try line.
Leek now stirred into action and began to dominate possession, and on 19 minutes, after continuous pressure, James Floyd used superb footwork to step his man and drive for the corner. He was tackled but after 11 phases of play, lock Harvey Bullman crashed over the line to score, Liam Mcdermott took the successful conversion to bring the score to 10-7.
The hosts were then awarded a penalty on the Leek 22 and the kick sailed straight through the posts.
From the restart, Oak caught the ball cleanly, but flanker Billy Kidd tackle the player into touch giving the Moorlanders the line-out.
Once more the blue boys piled on the pressure forcing Moseley to concede a number of penalties.
On 29 minutes, from a line out on the Moseley five-metre line, a maul was formed. Driving towards the try line as the attack faltered, the back spun the ball wide and Joe Byrne ran at the outside centre; with a fleet of foot he spun out of the defender’s grasp and scored by the posts. Liam Mcdermott added the conversion and the visitors took a 14-13 lead into half-time.
Soon after the restart, on 42 minutes, Leek faced a Moseley penalty for offside – the kick was accurate and the hosts retook the lead at 16-14.
Oak now moved up a gear and began to dominate possession and territory penning Leek inside their own 22.
Moseley continued to have the upper hand and following a penalty on 52 minutes elected to kick to the corner; the hosts then moved through two quick phases and then moved the ball through the backline to score wide the conversion was missed.
The hosts continued to push the North Staffordshire outfit back and following some frantic defence after a series of scrums deep inside the Leek 22, Moseley were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck, the kick was once more successful and the hosts’ lead increased to 24-14.
Elliot Anderson replaced Joe Byrne and the visitors now fought back, a forward pass in the Moseley half gave Leek a scrum and after four phases of play, Will Midwinter broke through the Moseley defence and drove for the line.
He was tackled just short but strong rucking from the Leek pack allowed Rob Mcdermott to recycle the ball and find Joel Booth, who bludgeoned his was under the posts to score, Mcdermott added the conversion, moving the score to 24-21.
With the game finely poised, on 74 minutes a penalty to Leek saw the ball kicked to the corner, 15 metres from the try line. The resulting line-out was secured by the visitors and a driving maul bulldozed it was over the try line with Lee Williams scoring the try. Once more, Mcdermott converted.
Unfortunately, Moseley Oak were not beaten yet and despite a valiant effort from the visitors the hosts drove Leek back and following a move of 10 phases, Moseley once more used their backs to spin the ball wide and score right in the corner. The kick was converted to give them a 31-28 lead.
From the restart, Leek had to throw caution to the wind, but it was not to be, and on 84 minutes, from a scrum as the Leek backs blitzed forward trying to turn over possession, the ball was spun to the Mossley right winger, who beat his man and raced trough the visitors defence to score under the posts.
The conversion was good and Leek only had the try bonus point to show for their efforts.
· LONGTON were beaten 61-21 at home by high-flying Walsall in Midlands Two West North.
Walsall were quickly off the mark with a try after just three minutes, which was successfully converted.
They scored again shortly after to extend their lead, before Longton managed to put their first score on the board.
Pete Wilshaw took a quick tap penalty and charged through the Walsall defence to cross over. Grant Hallam converted.
Longton were then reduced to 14 men when hooker George Glenn was sent off - a decision which will be hotly contested.
That gave Walsall the advantage and they ran in three more tries before the break to lead 35-7.
A similar theme followed in the second 40 and the visitors led 54-7 before Longton had something to cheer as they notched their second score.
Walsall put another try on the board, but Longton had the last play of the game and crossed to round off matters.
· STAFFORD beat Tamworth 4129 in Midlands Two West North.
Stafford settled and some probing attacks put them in sight of the opposition posts, Kevin van der Leest kicking the subsequent penalty for a three-point lead.
A fumbled restart gifted Tamworth an immediate penalty to draw the sides level.
High tempo rugby saw Ben Chatfield chasing hard to secure the ball and Stafford shipped the ball through the hands.
A few phases saw Nick Oxley taking charge and busting through most of the defence to run in a try from the half way line, converted by van der Leest.
An unfortunate injury to a Tamworth player saw the game temporarily halted and the visitors having to shuffle their positions on the pitch.
The resulting Stafford scrum gave a returning Dan Smith the space to peel off and batter through several players before making the ball available.
Swift hands distributed the ball for Nick Oxley who exploded through to take his second of the afternoon.
With their tails up Stafford continued to ramp up the pressure bombarding the Tamworth try line.
Several players came agonisingly close before Nick Oxley brushed off the defence to take his third of the afternoon, converted by van der Leest.
The visitors continued to scrap hard finishing the half the strongest, two converted tries narrowed a commanding lead to only five points. Stafford went into half time leading 22-17, but having to contain a resurgent Tamworth response.
The start of the second half saw Stafford having to engage in an early reshuffle of the team.
Quade Boal stepped in to join the forwards and was soon called into action for what turned out to be a dominant scrum.
A few plays later, Quade Boal secured the ball, stepped through the opposition and crashed across for the bonus point try, converted by van der Leest.
Tamworth regathered and launched a blistering assault which pinned Stafford on their own try line.
An exhausting period of play saw Tamworth held up on several occasions and some ferocious tackling. Stafford eventually incurred a yellow card which reduced them to 14 for ten minutes.
But it took another series of bruising confrontations before Tamworth managed to grab a tiring try.
With a full squad back on the pitch, Stafford resumed control of the encounter.
The defence was strong but it couldn’t contain Jerry Qasenivalu as he sliced through the opposition for the fifth home side try of the afternoon.
Stafford continued to play for each other and the rugby was brutal at times as they continued to give the opposition no room to breathe.
A Tom Williams charge split the defence and the Stafford stalwart came within touching distance of the try line before he was brought down.
Van der Leest was on hand to scoop up the ball and crossed under the posts before converting his own try.
Tamworth poured on the pressure for the final 10 minutes of the game as they went searching for a consolation try bonus point.
The match settled back into hard assaults repelled by equally solid tackling.
Just when time looked to have eluded them, the visitors found a way through to score the final try of the afternoon and earn a
consolation point to take home with them.
SANDBACH were left frustrated after losing 35-14 at Midlands Premier leaders Sheffield.
Sheffield’s set piece and organised defence were the key to them winning the game, but Sandbach were competitive throughout the game.
However, a couple of lapses in concentration and a key refereeing decision cost them, as their opponents took full advantage of their opportunities.
Sheffield opened the scoring after just three minutes with a Finn penalty, but Sandbach replied with two of the same from Cargill.
Sheffield then regained the lead with a try from full-back Fisher, who took advantage of a kind bounce from a kick over the line and a couple of neat off-loads, saw him over.
Sandbach inched back ahead with Cargill’s third penalty but a home try just before the break, saw this slender lead wiped out.
Sheffield counter attacking from a Sandbach deep kick, managed to slip a tackle, then good support put Sheffield flanker Adcock under the posts. Finn then adding the simple conversion.
Turning round 15-9 down, Sandbach were still very much in the game and the Bradwall Road boys were certainly causing the home defence some distress.
So, the controversial score 15 minutes into the second half as
Adcock got his second try proved the turning point.
Referee Ewan Leadbeater had signalled for a penalty for Sandbach, who sensing a free play saw fly-half Mark Bird punting a cross field kick to release winger Jack Leech.
Leech was held in the tackle and had the ball stripped but as Sandbach waited for the whistle for the penalty, the referee claimed the advantage was over and Adcock joyfully scooted home from the halfway line.
This rather knocked the stuffing out of the Cheshire boys, and they quickly conceded a couple more tries, both in a similar manner with Sandbach caught in two minds hoping clearance kicks would gently bounce into touch. Neither of which unfortunately did so.
Quite the contrary, as is the want of a rugby ball they bounced each time in the opposite direction into the welcoming arms of the onrushing attack, resulting in scores for Sheffield giant second row Parsons and winger Cooke.
Sandbach were now chasing the game and did get the consolation of a fine try from Josh Brookes as multiple phases finally outflanked the home defence and had further chances when a driving lineout was held up just short.
It proved to be too little too late and any hopes of even a losing bonus point had gone before Sheffield had the last word with a Cooke penalty on the final whistle.
· STOKE’S hopes of making it 10 Midlands One West wins on the trot were ended as they lost 21-17 at Hereford.
The first 35 minutes were quite even territorially but Hereford took advantage of some ill-discipline from Stoke to kick three penalties to give them a 9-0 lead.
As the half drew to a close Sam Clarke made a good break down the right wing, Will Sant supporting on his inside took the ball to 15 metres out. With the Hereford defence sucked in, the ball was moved to the left, the remaining Hereford defender gambled on the interception, successfully hanging on to the pass and passing the ball to his winger who went the length to score the first try of the game.
At the start of the second half Stoke managed to maintain the momentum built at the end of the first. James Salt, Carl Williams and Josh Bailey were all carrying the ball well but the home defence was resolute.
As the game entered the final ten 10 minutes Hereford managed to break out of their half and score a second try under the posts giving them a commanding 21-0 lead.
At this point it may have been understandable to see heads drop, fortunately this did not happen.
Stoke replied with a try from Joe Maskrey who burst through a gap at pace following some good work from the forwards.
It was all Stoke at this point with the forwards held up over the line twice in quick succession. Winger Sam Clarke scored a try in the corner to make the score 21-10 with time running out.
With the final play of the game Stoke gained a losing bonus point when Jordan Grimshaw was driven over after a line-out, Andy Marsh did well to add the two extra points.