Della travelled to take on a resurgegent Tarleton on Saturday in perfect conditions for rugby, the home side were the whipping boys of the division until recntly but the appointment of a new coach has seen them put together two wins and a narrow defeat in their last three outings so this game had an air of uncertainty about it.As both teams were warming up it was obvious that this was a very young Tarleton side,you could be forgiven for thinking that the club had been busy on the growing on line baby market. But when the game started the Tarleton side belied their youth and took the game game straight to Della,with open running rugby that put Della on the back foot in the opening exchanges,with confident handling and running out of defence.The game was into the fifth minute before Della got their hands on the ball and started to build up momentum with strong running from the pack and superb handling from the backs,and setting a tempo and intensity that would be the hallmark of this game,the strong running from the Della ball carriers was causing the Tarleton defence problems in the early exchanges and they were forced to give away a penalty that second row Chris Petrou dispatched to get Della on the score board 0-3.Tarleton struck back almost immediately,following a scrum in the Della twenty two they created enough room to drive over for the first try of the game and duly added the extras to take the lead 7-3.Della stung by this score came roaring back into the game with a super mix of forward and back play,and a period of ball domination that led to pressure on the home try line and eventually the Della left winger Kieran Cooper took a pass on the inside and made room with some neat footwork to score Della`s first try of the afternoon Chris Petou added the extras to give Della the lead 7-10.Now with Della building up a head of steam the hiome defence was being forced to scramble to contain the Della forwards in the loose ,although the Tarleton pack had the advantage in the scrum continually puttng the Della ball under pressure, this was a great feat from such a young side,and this area of their game was giving the home side confidence to apply their attacking brand of rugby.However Tarleton were having to try and contain the open running of the Della side who were as always ultra confident when in possession of the ball,and following great approach work centre Jimmy Evans made a super break with prop Ian Nichol on his shoulder then with a lovelly inside pass to nullify the defence Nichol accepted the ball to run in unapposed th stretch the lead, Petrou again adding the extras 7-17. Now with the first half coming to its conclusion Della were awarded a penalty which the accurate Petrou again dispatched to give Della a lead of 7-20.Tarleton to their great credit were not phased by the scoreline and at every opportunityyu were running the ball back at Della and with the half time approaching they made room on the wide right to score to close the gap 14-20.Della again were stung into action any thoughts of an easy afternoon had well gone, then with one of the best tries for a long time firstly stand off Lee McCormick and then centre Jimmy Evans cut a gap in the Tarleton defence with a move as delicate as fallopian tube surgery for McCormick to stride in and score and with Petrou adding the conversion giving Della a half time lead of 14-27.
During thr break break coaches Steve Whittle and Mike Hulmes who is also known as Winston Churchill gave a rousing speech, for us on the touch line only snippets were heard, but i will swear that i heard (finest hour and beaches ) mentioned although i could be mistaken.
From the start of the second half Tarletons dominance in the scrum was giving the home side a solid platform to work of and for the first ten minutes Della were forced to defend in their own half,and the home side were growing in confidence,coach Whittle decided to freshen up the pack and half backs with Daniel Smyth coming on in the back row and Lee Halsall at scrum half this enabled Steve Brooks to move into the front row and help to stabilise the scrum.both players had an almost immediate impact with Halsall having a more stable platform to play behind he was able to give the backs cleaner ball and so make the breakout and relieve the pressure, now deep into the Tarleton half Smuger Smyth broke free with ball in hand and fed the on rushing Della number eight Sam Pitt who scored close to the posts and to give Della a bonus point Petrou again was on target 14-34.From the restart Della were once again on the front foot and were awarded a penalty that the accurate Petrou put away with ease to extend the lead 14-37.You could be forgiven for thinking that Tarleton would collapse at this point but no,they came back with their brand of free running rugby to score once more the conversion was missed 19-37.This was to be the final score of the game the scores could have been much closer had Tarleton been able to put their kicks away,this was a superb advert for open running rugby and this resurgent Tarleton side will cause teams problems in the run in to the end of the season,and i for one wish them well in their fight for league survival this year, what ever happens i am sure this young side will grow into a formddable force in the future.Will both teams meet next year we dont know, with leagues being reorganised and some teams having to travel as far as the Ilse of Man,this is a trip i would dearly like to make as i have fond memories of the island,many years ago myself and the present Mrs Tyson were taking a weekend break in Douglas with our faithful Neapolitan Mastiff Mussolini,when as we were taking a stroll along the prom we bumped into the legendary Norman Wisdon who was coming out of a chippy with his supper wrapped up in a copy of the Douglas Herald,now Norman stood stock still at the sight of Mussolini a fearsome sight,the dog not Norman i was dunbfounded as to what happened next my wife ever the diplomat looked at the dog who was salivating at the smell of the chips and then she said to Norman and i quote (if you want to escape with your fingers you had better give the dog your chips) now as we men know,women are to blame for most divorces and in my discomfort i could feel one coming on.I apologised profusely to the star who as yet had not uttered a word such was the depth of his terror at the size of the Italian beomoth,then gathering as much composure as he could he opened the chip paper and laid his supper on the pavement, much to the glee of Mussolini so i can say to this day that Norman Wisdom fed chips to my dog.However i digress as i have said this was a great game, a credit to both sides, ,the man of the match for Della was back row Ryan Worthington and for Tarleton their numbers nine and eight both had great games but for me their stand out player was number thirteen.