Match Report by Doug Thorpe

 

New Brighton 10 – 16 Wilmslow

 

Team Sheet: 15. Sean Ellis, 14. Waisale Navunidakua, 13. Andy Signal, 12. Taniela Delaitamana, 11. Vinnie Dutton, 10. Jim Yarranton (John Williams 56 min.), 9. Alan Hesketh, 1. Paul lewis, 2. Lewis Mullen, 3. Lee McCourt (Grehan Conan 75 Min.), 4. Ryan Stead (Adam Pitt 70 min.), 5. Paul Roberts, 6. Ikuna Manuofeta, 7. Ryan McKibbin, 8. Katilimoni Tuipulotu.

 

As New Brighton kicked off to restart the game for the second half, trailing Wilmslow by 6 points to nil at the break, it was the ever industrious Ryan McKibbin who grabbed possession in the air to carry the ball deep into the visitors 22 and set up the position for the forwards to take charge with Kati finishing the move with a peach of a try.  This could have been the defining moment but the Blues paid a heavy price of not having a specialist goal kicker as although Kati was able to cross for his second try late in the half against a single try by Wilmslow replacement David Carberry, fly half Robert McCallum slotted over three penalty goals and a conversion which more than made up the difference and gave the visitors the win.

 

New Brighton carried the game to the visitors from the kick off. Both sides responded to the fine dry conditions by giving the ball plenty of air, a high risk strategy which saw possession switched frequently. The forwards led the charge with Ryan Stead and Ryan McKibbin particularly coming in to the line with great effect and making deep inroads into the Wilmslow defence. But the finish was not there and it was Wilmslow who went into the lead with a penalty goal on 13 minutes. They went further ahead with a second penalty goal after an ‘off the ball’ offence at the end of the half though they might have felt that in the face of lung bursting defence by the Blues they were less than fortunate not to have been able turn some good possession into a try.

 

Half Time Score: New Brighton 0 – 6 Wilmslow

 

McKibbin had set up the attacking position from the restart, putting the defenders under pressure to force a penalty and Kati opted for a kick to touch and a line out catch and drive. The move was successful with Kati the scorer and though the conversion was missed, the deficit was duly reduced to a point and it could have provided the impetus needed for the home side to take the game by the scruff of the neck. 

 

A series of penalties conceded by the Blues put them on the back foot and the moment was lost. A successful attempt at a penalty goal on the hour had extended the difference and David Carberry’s try converted by McCallum some 5 minutes later left the Blues with a big hill to climb. A copy book penalty to touch 5 metres out and a confident catch by Ryan Stead set up the drive for Kati again to seal a score just 5 minutes before the final whistle.

 

Final Score: New Brighton 10 – 16 Wilmslow

 

This was another one that ‘got away’ for the Blues when at the beginning of the first half and again at the beginning of the second it seemed to be there for the taking. Despite some good individual performances and among those one could pick out Sean Ellis and Lee McCourt as well as those mentioned above, the whole did not quite click. That has been the strange story of the season. Of the 22 league matches of the season the 11 played over November to February provided 9 wins and 18 league points out of a total of only 10 wins and 2 drawn games over the whole season. The Hartsfield faithful have seen their team holding up the whole league before rising to within a whisker of a chance of a Play Off place, only to sink back to a sixth place!! There may be many reasons but it does not stop one pondering on what might have been

 

 

Report by Paul Lewis Snr

 

SANDBACH 15 - 15  NEW BRIGHTON

 

As the season draws to a close it was good to see two teams for whom promotion or relegation were not an issue contest such a spirited and entertaining match.

 

The Blues with less than the normal late cry-offs, only two this week, were probably the stronger team on the day and had the majority of the ball but were thwarted by some strong defence work by the home team and a couple of missed tackles .

 

The opening twenty minutes was played out almost entirely in the home half and New Brighton seemed to be heading for an easy win such was their dominance in all aspects of play but the home side were able to hold their line. When the Blues missed a penalty on the 27^th minute which should have settled any nerves it gave Sandbach the opportunity to break away and with the strong wind at their backs kick deep into the New Brighton half. A mistimed throw in at the line was snapped up by the home side and some slick inter-passing created a gap in the centre for tight head Caen to touch down between the posts. Number 8 Pickles making the easy conversion and the home side led 7 to nil.

 

The Blues responded with some trademark forward drives with Ryan McKibbin, rightly awarded the man of the match award, very prominent. The referee who was very hot on any transgression at the ruck (for both sides), penalised the home side at their 22m line and Gareth Jones was able to pull back 3 points.

 

There had been a number of stoppages in the half and it was in the 41^st minute that the home side missed a penalty which many thought would signal the end of the half but there was more to come. From the 22 dropout New Brighton launched an attack along the right wing with Kati and his pack driving deep into the visitors half, an attempted interception led to a scrum for the Blues and on the back of a powerful drive Kati broke free towards the defending stand off. Some neat offloading through several hands saw Andy Signal within 5 metres of the line and he carried the defenders with him to cross the whitewash, Gareth Jones made the conversion and the half ended fairly, if somewhat surprisingly, with the Blues up by 10 - 7.

 

Had they been able to put their dominance of the first 20 minutes into points the match would by then have been settled, they didn’t and the crowd of two hundred or so spectators enjoyed an entertaining second half.

 

The home side regained the lead in the 63^rd minute when wing Massey touching down in the corner following further missed tackles to make it 12 - 10, Pickles missed the long range conversion opportunity.

 

The Blues never really took advantage of the strong wind behind them managing to kick the ball dead with little effort. Gareth Jones at stand off made some excellent runs and is improving in each game.

 

The game developed into an end to end affair with both sides able to clear the danger, Paul Lewis managed a spiralling clearance from his own 22 to his opponents 22 and from the ensuing lineout a strong forward drive led to another try for skipper Kati, the conversion was just missed in the wind but the visitors now led 15 - 12. The game was in its final stages and a further transgression gave the visitors the chance to seal the match but sadly the kick was just wide again, in the closing moments it was the Blues turn to transgress and from just outside his 22 Pickles levelled the match.

 

The referee yellow carded three players in the course of the afternoon, Will Stockdale the ex-Macclesfield lock now with Sandbach and Lewis Mullen of New Brighton for killing the ball at the ruck (although both naturally denied it) and Jones of Sandbach for excessive use of the mouth. This all led to the seesaw nature of the game with both sets of supporters experiencing highs and lows and at the final whistle it was generally agreed that a draw was a fair result.

 

That concludes the away fixtures for this season and the team wishes to thank its valiant band of travelling fans who have supported the players through the highs and lows of a very mixed season.

 

The league season ends on April 18^th when we entertain Wilmslow; Mark Dorrington will be playing his final game for the club, lets try and make it memorable for all the right reasons.