New Brighton 15 Sandbach 21

 

Report by Doug Thorpe

Team Sheet: 15. Vinnie Dutton, 14. Gareth Simpson (Neil Cross), 13. Simione Mafi, 12. Sean Ellis, 11. Andy Signal, 10.Anthony Birley (Nick Aldersey), 9. Alan Hesketh, 1. Paul Lewis, 2. Phil Buckley, 3. John Williams, 4. Keith Mahon, 5. Paul Roberts, 6. Tevita Liku (Jack Stott-Sugden), 7. Kieran Hibbs, 8. Loa Tupou

General opinion on the terraces took the view that Sandbach, being the more imaginative side on the day, deserved their victory but they were well assisted by the problems New Brighton have in turning possession and territory into points. It is not that the Blues lack talent in the side. Birley has played at three levels higher than the club’s current position, Mafi has power and pace to force his way through a gap and Sean Ellis is no slouch either. Gareth Simpson and Andy Signal on the wings are both capable of making a considerable contribution but feature too rarely in the game.

A great start by the Blues some great driving play by the forwards and fluid movement involving both backs and forwards in the open pushed the game into the Sandbach half from the kick off. For the whole of the first quarter Sandbach were almost totally pinned in their own half but the Blues failed to find the way to unlock the determined defence and had also failed to convert an eminently kickable penalty.

Sandbach, having defended their line successfully made the break out, putting the pressure on the New Brighton defence and completing a move which saw flyhalf Cargill steaming through a gap to score on 25 minutes. A conversion by the same player put New Brighton 7 points in arrears when conceivably they should, by that time, have been 10 points in the lead.

Although Loa Tupou reduced deficit to two points when forced over the line by a well organised drive soon after, the Blues still struggled to get onto the front foot. Sandbach restored their lead at the end of the half after a sustained attack created an opportunity for Cargill to again ghost through, though, on this occasion his boot let him down and he failed to claim the extras.

Half Time Score New Brighton 5 – 12 Sandbach

A penalty goal bringing the score to 5 – 15 on 46 minutes added to the problems which were exacerbated as New Brighton were again forced back to within 10 metres of their line immediately from the restart.

Remarkably, the line remained intact and it was much against the run of play that Paul Roberts got on the score sheet as he was bundled over the whitewash after a quickly taken tap penalty some 8 metres out. Mafi, substituting at flyhalf for the injured Birley, supported by Sean Ellis had made the break to set up the position and Paul Lewis, taking over the kicking duties, popped over the conversion to reduce the arrears to 3 points. It was now game on.

Lewis for New Brighton and Cargill for Sandbach exchanged penalties but a further penalty goal on the 70th minute pushed the Sandbach lead to 6 points. With Sandbach second row Stockdale in the sin bin for the final minutes of the game the Blues had the opportunity to grab a victory but as at the start of the game the visitors defence prevailed.

Final Score: New Brighton 15 – 21 Sandbach

Match Photos

 

New Brighton 7 Lymm 20

 

Report by Doug Thorpe

Team Sheet: 15. Vinnie Dutton (Adam Pitt), 14. Gareth Simpson, 13. Steve Ashcroft, 12. Sean Ellis, 11. Andy Signal, 10. Anthony Birley, 9. Luke Thompson, 1. John Williams (Andrew Wall), 2. Phil Buckley, 3. Mohammed Mustafa, 4. Paul Lewis, 5. Paul Roberts, 6. Keith Mahon, 7. Simione Mafi, 8. Loa Tupou

A heavy fall of sleet laden rain late morning caused a slight delay to the kick off for slush and water to be squeegeed off some small areas of the pitch at the referee’s request. Though, this did leave the pitch eminently playable the inevitably uncertain footing and biting cold combined to make for difficult conditions with which neither side managed to cope particularly well.

Lymm stormed into match from the kick off. With a powerful pack establishing a domination early the visitors virtually monopolised possession and but for repeated errors and a determined defence from the Blues they should realistically have sewn up the game by half time. As it was, the 12 point lead at the break – a brace of tries by Joe Knowles and Chris Griffiths and a Knowles conversion - looked a bit meagre as the Blues enjoyed their own purple patch early in the second half. An excellent try Gareth Simpson, converted by Anthony Birley, was followed almost immediately by a penalty award which the normally reliable boot of the fly half just failed to convert into points, which, had it been successful, would have reduced the lead to a mere 2 points.

New Brighton might then have grabbed the initiative but with the pack struggling they were never able to build up the momentum and, as the effort and the conditions took their toll on stamina and Keith Mahon in the sin bin, the visitors rounded off the final quarter with the ensuing penalty and a very well constructed late try by blind side Oliver Higginson.

New Brighton had been hit by injuries and a number of unavailablities which necessitated both personnel and positional changes. The iconic Kati is out with a broken arm and Loa Tupou, replacing him at No8 ,was incredibly adept at picking the ball up at the back of a retreating scrum and carrying it back at the opposition. Considering that Simione Mafi, Kieth Mahon on the flanks and Luke Thompson at scrum half were all playing in positions with which they are not normally associated they did every bit as well as could be expected. Andy Signal, Luke Thompson and Sean Ellis were all key in the lead up to Anthony Birley’s perfectly placed cross kick for Gareth Simpson’s try in the corner. Vinnie Dutton at fullback proved to be very competent under the high ball and, though at times ill advised, he did make determined attempts to attack from deep. He was unfortunate to attract a yellow card when following up his own kick he absolutely crunched the catcher, who was deemed to be off the ground at the time, with a superb tackle.