Tuesday 9th March 2010
Miller Home League 5 South
WILMSLOW HAWKS – 59 SANDBACH 4th XV – 0
Due to the large number of re-arranged games in this second half of the season, the Wilmslow Hawks Development Squad took to the pitch under floodlights for the first time, a new experience for many of the players. This being a mid-week match, it was going to be interesting to see how the Hawks reacted to their surroundings.
In the first 10 minutes, they were obviously keen to stamp their authority on the game, but failed to do this in a satisfactory manner. A couple of turnovers at the Rucks and some strong scrummaging from Sandbach’s experienced forwards saw the Hawks struggling to settle down in to their normal rhythm.
It took a good break from his own half by Ben Day, returning from long term injury, to break into the Sandbach 22 before being tackled, but he was able to offload to Ben “Benny G” Goodman who followed up on his heels to take the pass and go over for the first try of the evening. Rob “Jonesy” Jones just failed to convert,
This settled the team down a little and they started to put together some good phases of rugby, winning several rucks and scrums to work their way up the pitch again. The culmination of this good work was seen in the Sandbach 22 when the Hawk’s pack were able to produce some quick ball from the ensuing ruck for Craig Stewart to take the ball over for a try in the far corner, again making it very difficult to convert.
The Hawks now settled into a more relaxed game of rugby. The forwards were working hard but effectively with each other and the backs were looking particularly good running with the ball. This was seen when the Hawks won the ball from another ruck for Steve “Kiwi” Braddock to burst through the opposition backs and offload to Ben Day who went over for the first of his evenings tries. This was converted by Jonesy.
Then came a fight back from Sandbach, working their way down the pitch through a series of rucks and mauls, to arrive just outside the Hawks 22. They had a penalty awarded them for the Hawks handling in the ruck. Unfortunately for them, the kick was just wide, leaving the score at that time at 17 – 0. A bit of a let off for the Hawks from a couple of minutes sloppy play.
The Centre pairing of Gareth Jacques and Steve “Kiwi” Braddock were beginning to make real inroads through the Sandbach defence with several attacks being thwarted with last minute desperate tackles coming from Sandbach. However, one such break could not be stopped. As the ball came down the line in the Hawks 22, Kiwi burst onto the pass from Gareth and through the Sandbach defence. A couple of body swerves later, saw him running the full length of the pitch for an excellent individual try.
Despite being somewhat breathless after his romp down the field, Kiwi was once again able to benefit from some good straight running from Man of the Match Gareth Jacques and take the ball over the line from 15 meters out for his 2nd try of the evening.
By this time, Ben Day was settled into his role at Fly Half and was enjoying his first game of rugby for many months. More good works from the forwards and some excellent srummaging saw the backs once again presented with good ball, backing each other up with great support running for Ben Day to score his 2nd try of the game.
Another excellent individual try, this time from Rob Jones who was able to outrun the Sandbach backs from his own half to score under the posts, making it easier for him to convert. Half time and the score stood at 45 – 0.
Several changes were made at half time, which may be the reason the Hawks were not as coordinated at the start of the 2nd half. Several handling mistakes and some strong determination from Sandbach saw the Sandbach forwards pushing the Hawks back into their own half on a number of occasions.
Club Coach Giles Heagerty, playing his first game in 3 years, had the ignominious pleasure of bursting into space at Flanker, to take a pass from another well won scrum, only to drop the ball and knock on, much to the amusement of the watching crowd of players he had been coaching shortly before. Not in the least intimidated by this Giles settled into a good solid performance for the rest of the game, but this was not sufficient to lose him the well earned title of Dick of the Day. Oh how easily we fall victim to the vagaries of this game!!
Despite a 3rd try from Ben Day, the Hawks still looked a little disjointed, appearing to have lost some of their focus from the first half. Again, Sandbach pushed back, never allowing the Hawks pack to rest. Some hard work and strong running from their own 22 saw the Sandbach forwards push the Hawks back to their own 22 before hard tackling and strong defence allowed the Hawks stop this thrust, to again work their way into the opposition half. This led to replacement Centre Joel Williamson taking the ball at pace, side stepping his way through the Sandbach defence to score under the posts for his first and the Hawks 9th and final try.
Although the score appears to say otherwise, the Sandbach pack were big and strong, giving almost as good as they were getting. It was testament to the Hawks discipline and hard work up front that saw the pack produce such good quality ball for the backs to benefit from.
All round, a good performance with just a small lapse of concentration from the Hawks in the 2nd half. Excellent, sturdy work from the forwards with great running and support work from the backs. Gareth Jacques was awarded Man of the Match for his solid work and straight runs from the Centre, although questions may be asked at the next court session about his ability to turn up for a Tuesday match, whilst so far being unable to appear for Tuesday training sessions. Mmmmm, I wonder how THAT will turn out!
Sandbach were magnanimous in their congratulations and wished the Hawks well in their future endeavours. Next match away at Bowdon 3rds. Another difficult step for a hard working, but so far, successful development squad.