Another game of two halves

After a convincing win last week against Moortown IIs where we did all the hard work in the first half, then dropped off in the second, the Cavaliers entertained Sandal IIIs in a league fixture which was notable for the different conditions in each half.
The reverse fixture at Sandal early in the season saw us defeat the home side 89 -5, a victory notable for the nine tries scored by Charles Hough, and the resolution of the under-strength Sandal XV to keep on sticking at it. This time around the Sandal side looked completely different with some large forwards and a much closer game was expected. On winning the toss, Tom Richmond chose to play into the very strong wind in the first half and Morley struggled to get out of their 22 as kicking proved difficult. However resolute defence held Sandal out until the stroke of half-time when a turnover allowed the Sandal overlap to score. At the interval, Morley 0 – Sandal 5.
The wind then died to a faint breeze so the expectation of pinning Sandal in their 22 in the same way wasn’t guaranteed to happen. However strong running and good kicking kept Sandal pinned in their half and only one or two breaks saw them breach our half. Two well worked tries with pace and good hands were scored by centre Reza Dehaghani and full-back Conor Beardow, with the first converted by Alex Seymour. A couple of late injuries to Nick Costello and Conor Beardow might have proved costly but both were prepared to come back on if necessary to keep us at full strength.
Full-time Morley 12 – Sandal 5.

There were lots of positive aspects to the win from a young side, the average age dragged up considerably by Vic, Johnno and Phil, and we are still on course for a high finish in the league although we would be reliant on other results helping us to win it. Numbers are also good and we aren’t struggling quite so badly to put players in their preferred positions.

15 CONOR BEARDOW
14 LEE
13 NICK COSTELLO (REP: JOSH HOLMES)
12 REZA DEHAGHANI
11 PHIL GREENHAIGH
10 ALEX SEYMOUR
9 CHRIS JOHNSON
1 JAMES DINSDALE
2 VIC McARDLE
3 JAKE
4 DANNY DUTSON
5 JASON PROCTOR
6 PAUL TURTON
7 TOM RICHMOND
8 DAVE GREEN