Oldershaw 1st XV took to the field at Belvidere for what was expected to be a tough test against a strong Linley side that had beaten Oldershaw in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. 3 changes to the pack saw Sweetcheeks return to the front row, allowing skipper Tom Stead to slide back into the 2nd row to replace Leigh Lewis, who unfortunately returned to work duties following a good performance in the previous game. Both flankers were also switched, with Mark Lally unavailable and Si Wickham returning to captain the 2s. Chris “Irish” Hayes returned to his usual position at 6, after a run out in the centres last week, and Mark “Monkey” Roberts made a return to the back row at 7 after spending several seasons lost in the backs. One change in the backs saw Mark Hallam move to his preferred position of 12 to replace Irish, with John Jones returning at 10. Robbie Potter, Mark Sopp and Liam Dodd made up the bench, and were swiftly joined by Si Wickham and Neil Cross following the late cry off of the 2nd team game.

Oldershaw started this game off in the same vain as the week before, with several early penalties given away. However dubious some decisions may have been, this is something that Oldershaw will need to solve in the coming weeks. The Linley kicker slotted one of these penalties from the 22, giving Linley an early 3-0 lead.

From the kick off, after the tactical instruction not to compete for the ball at rucks, Oldershaw drove Linley back with some superb tackling, Chris Hayes in particular making a huge hit from the kick off. Oldershaw kept up the pressure, but were initially not able to capitalise after some poor handling in admittedly difficult conditions. One player who did not seem to be suffering with his hands was Sweetcheeks, who after making an earlier break, linked up with his front row partner Brad Robertson to burst through the Linley defence and touch down under the posts. These two seem to be auditioning for a role in the centres with the hands on display the past 2 weeks. Sparky duly converted the try to make the score 7-3 to Oldershaw.

Linley then reversed the pressure on Oldershaw, in particular at scrum time; with Linley’s tight head prop making inroads into Oldershaw’s front row and causing problems. From one scrum in the Oldershaw 22, the scrum wheeled, giving the Linley back line a large openside to exploit. Some quick hands followed, with Linley’s winger touching down in the corner. The try was converted to restore Linley’s lead to 10-7.

In what was becoming an end to end game, Oldershaw upped their game once more, and were rewarded when some good running off JJ’s shoulder allowed him to dummy and step through a hole in the Linley defence to touch down. The kick was again converted to make the score 14-10.

Unfortunately, Oldershaw lost a man just before half time. With the Linley tight head still causing problems despite the introduction of Robbie Potter in the front row, the pressure got to Oldershaw. Despite questioning the referee several times about the positioning of Linley’s front row, the props continued to bore in. Once too many times as it turned out, as Potter showed the prop exactly what he thought of his scrummaging technique, resulting in a red card.

Half time Oldershaw 14-10 Linley

Following the half time team talk, rather than letting the red card disrupt them, it seemed to pull the Oldershaw lads together and galvanise them. Sparky kicked a penalty and then, following the introduction of the wise old head Neil Cross at scrum half, a kick over the top saw the Linley winger smashed back in the tackle by a chasing Sweetcheeks. The ball squirted out the resulting ruck, and Monkey was quickest to react to scoop up the ball and finish in the corner.

Oldershaw 22- 10 Linley

Sadly, after playing superbly for 55 minutes, Sweetcheeks then showed the negative side of his game. After giving a penalty away at a ruck for entering from the side, he voiced his displeasure at the decision resulting in a yellow card. In a moment of madness, rather than leaving the field, he decided to make his opinion known on the yellow card, which was promptly switched to a red card. Oldershaw were now up against it with 25 minutes to hold on with on with only 13 men. Fortunately, as two props had been sent from the field of play, Linley’s greatest weapon had been blunted and scrums went uncontested.

Amazingly, the loss of a second player lead to Oldershaw raising their game even further, with resolute defence stopping Linley gaining any sort of momentum, and a combination of hard running and kicking allowing Oldershaw to advance up the field. Pressure on the Linley back line saw a knock on, which Sparky kicked through and chased. Realising he was about to be caught by the full back, he played an inch perfect through ball to the supporting Monkey, a move more often seen on Match of the Day than a windy afternoon on Belvidere. Monkey gathered the ball and was just caught by the recovering winger. The breakdown lead to a scrum to Oldershaw, 5 metres from the Linley try line. Number 8 Adam Meyerhoff, who has been excelling in his new role, picked up from the base a drove over the line to touch down, securing a bonus point for Oldershaw.

Oldershaw 27-10 Linley

Oldershaw weren’t done there; as yet more strong defence and accurate kicking kept Linley pinned in their half. The Linley discipline had started to crack and Oldershaw elected to kick their penalties to run down the time on the clock. Mark Hallam slotted one, before striking the post with his next. Fortunately the ball bounced off the post into the middle of Linley’s defenders. Richy Jones was more alert than the surrounding players who seemed to have fallen asleep and gathered the loose ball to score under the posts.

Oldershaw 37-10 Linley

Still Oldershaw kept up the pressure and after Sparky missed a further kick at goal, Oldershaw were awarded a penalty 22 yards out in front of the posts. Sparky graciously stepped aside to allow Crossy the final kick to cap off an excellent second half cameo.

Final Score Oldershaw 40-10 Linley

An outstanding result for Oldershaw in the circumstances. Despite scoring 40 points, the victory was built on a resolute defence causing Linley to make multiple errors and give away penalty after penalty in the second half. The effort and commitment from all players, especially the lads who played 25 minutes with 13 men was second to none. A prime example of what the club can do when everyone pulls together as a team. Special thanks goes out to all the lads who helped out including the players who unfortunately didn’t make it off the bench, and the 2nd team lads who stuck around to help following their game being called off.

Man of the match could have gone to any one of the players on the field at the end of the game. However one man stood out in particular, Monkey, who capped off his return to the back row with a try and the man of the match award.

Oldershaw now need to carry this form on to next week, where they face Eagle at home in their first pool game of the RFU Junior Vase.