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Della edge it in tight finish
patrick tyson18 Oct 2015 - 09:05
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De la salle 30 Fleetwood 27
Saturdays visitors to Lancaster Road were Fleetwood traditionally a tough nut for Della to crack.The weather was set fair for the game but the pitch was not looking its usual pristine self,in need of a cut and as i found out to my cost in need of marking out,now as i have done my fair share of perambulator pushing over the years i was volunteered for the job.I set about my task manfully and as a pastime it is quite enjoyable, giving one time to muse on lifes little anomalies and taking in the wildlife,i never realised how many earthworms you would come across on such a mundane mission as marking out a pitch, but to my astonishment they ran into the hundreds,now i dont claim to be a oligochaetologist but apparently earth worms taste like cheese, a fact that wont be lost on Anne Diamond when she enters the jungle in Celebrity get me out of here.Della welcomed back a number of players returning to fitness following the recent coach crash,which the powers that be have now exonerated Della of any blame for the incident and Lancs and Twickers will take no action against the club in this instance but will warn them about future trips?.In the build up to the game the players were taken on an orienteering event in the ancient oak woods surrounding the principality of Salford,such is the denseness of these ancient lands alas some lads did not return we can only hope that the lucky ones are raised by wolves,Oh yes The game
From the start Fleetwood put down a marker of how they would approach this game,putting the ball through the hands as quickly as possible and mixing up the attacks between forwards and backs,and in the opening minutes had Della on the back foot, and defending deep in their own half,as Fleetwood built the pressure and pushed into the Della twenty two Della stand off Lee McCormick deliberately knocked on and was shown a yellow card, with only five minutes gone ? Ok so you think right this ref is not going to stand any nonsense and thats not a bad thing so long as he is consistent! Fleetwood kicked the penalty to open the scoring 0-3. Now with a man down it is usual for a team to ship an average of eight points ,however Fleetwood did not make their advantage tell and Della ran in two tries, the first from great approach work form the pack and second row Chris Petrou touching down and adding the extras 7-3.Then shortly there after with Della back on the attack the ball moved wide for winger Alex Dixon to touch down and again Petrou added the extras 14-3 and this with only fourteen men,now with McCormick back on the pitch came the try of the half when the ball ended up in full back Nick Petrou`s hands he stepped the Fleetwood defence twice to score a superb try which brother Chris converted 21-3. At this point you would think Fleetwood would be reeling and Della would romp this game,but Fleetwood game storming back and their tactic of taking the ball against the Della wingers who were head and shoulders smaller than their counterparts bore fruit, running in two tries on the flanks which were not converted but closed the gap 21-15.and although this tactic produced the goods it would ultimately be their undoing.
The second half got off to an appalling start for Della with Fleetwood pressing into the Della twenty two first center Mike Halsall was shown a yellow and from the following line out Chris Petrou followed him into the bin .Now with a two man advantage Fleetwood should have put the game to bed but as any chiropterologist will tell you, all bats turn left when exiting a cave !and Fleetwood like the bats kept doing the same thing, going to the flanks and allowing Della to defend, and while two men down Della were awarded two penalties which were dispatched by Nick Petrou to extend the Della lead 27-15.Now restored to full strength Della had to withstand an onslaught from the visitors, pouring forward through forwards and backs, and were forced to concede a try from a five metre scrum swiftly followed by a breakaway try which was converted to tie the scores 27-27.Now the game could go anyway, Fleetwood were in the acendency but now it was Della`s time to fight back and with the clock ticking down Della pushed deep into the visitors twenty two and when it looked as though they must score the Fleetwood scrum half deliberately knocked on and Della were awarded a penalty and no yellow card! and no consistency ,the home crowd went mad with arms waving like windmills,its a little known fact there are four windmills in meath,but the emotion of the crowd had no effect on the official or on Chris Petrou who slotted the penalty to give Della back the lead 30-27.Now with only minutes left on the clock Fleetwood came storming back for one last hurrah but Della turned the ball over in the tackle and put it to touch to end this enthralling game.
This was the best game so far this season with two differing styles of play and two totally committed teams well done to both sides and i for one am looking forward to the return fixture. The man of the match for Della was Nick Petrou followed very closely by Steve Brooks for Fleetwood their stand out player was the fullback who had a great game.
From the start Fleetwood put down a marker of how they would approach this game,putting the ball through the hands as quickly as possible and mixing up the attacks between forwards and backs,and in the opening minutes had Della on the back foot, and defending deep in their own half,as Fleetwood built the pressure and pushed into the Della twenty two Della stand off Lee McCormick deliberately knocked on and was shown a yellow card, with only five minutes gone ? Ok so you think right this ref is not going to stand any nonsense and thats not a bad thing so long as he is consistent! Fleetwood kicked the penalty to open the scoring 0-3. Now with a man down it is usual for a team to ship an average of eight points ,however Fleetwood did not make their advantage tell and Della ran in two tries, the first from great approach work form the pack and second row Chris Petrou touching down and adding the extras 7-3.Then shortly there after with Della back on the attack the ball moved wide for winger Alex Dixon to touch down and again Petrou added the extras 14-3 and this with only fourteen men,now with McCormick back on the pitch came the try of the half when the ball ended up in full back Nick Petrou`s hands he stepped the Fleetwood defence twice to score a superb try which brother Chris converted 21-3. At this point you would think Fleetwood would be reeling and Della would romp this game,but Fleetwood game storming back and their tactic of taking the ball against the Della wingers who were head and shoulders smaller than their counterparts bore fruit, running in two tries on the flanks which were not converted but closed the gap 21-15.and although this tactic produced the goods it would ultimately be their undoing.
The second half got off to an appalling start for Della with Fleetwood pressing into the Della twenty two first center Mike Halsall was shown a yellow and from the following line out Chris Petrou followed him into the bin .Now with a two man advantage Fleetwood should have put the game to bed but as any chiropterologist will tell you, all bats turn left when exiting a cave !and Fleetwood like the bats kept doing the same thing, going to the flanks and allowing Della to defend, and while two men down Della were awarded two penalties which were dispatched by Nick Petrou to extend the Della lead 27-15.Now restored to full strength Della had to withstand an onslaught from the visitors, pouring forward through forwards and backs, and were forced to concede a try from a five metre scrum swiftly followed by a breakaway try which was converted to tie the scores 27-27.Now the game could go anyway, Fleetwood were in the acendency but now it was Della`s time to fight back and with the clock ticking down Della pushed deep into the visitors twenty two and when it looked as though they must score the Fleetwood scrum half deliberately knocked on and Della were awarded a penalty and no yellow card! and no consistency ,the home crowd went mad with arms waving like windmills,its a little known fact there are four windmills in meath,but the emotion of the crowd had no effect on the official or on Chris Petrou who slotted the penalty to give Della back the lead 30-27.Now with only minutes left on the clock Fleetwood came storming back for one last hurrah but Della turned the ball over in the tackle and put it to touch to end this enthralling game.
This was the best game so far this season with two differing styles of play and two totally committed teams well done to both sides and i for one am looking forward to the return fixture. The man of the match for Della was Nick Petrou followed very closely by Steve Brooks for Fleetwood their stand out player was the fullback who had a great game.
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