The Hills Were Alive But PL Climb the Mountain and Come Out on Top

Hills kicked off on a bright but cold day at Hughenden and for the first 10 minutes of the game it seemed that no-one had told most of the PL side that the game had started.
In the second minute, Jonny Clipstone appeared to be clean through for the home side and only a perfect cover tackle on the line by Greig Walker prevented what seemed to be a certain try. Five minutes later, the Hills attacking line drifted past PL's sleeping defence and this time it was winger Paddy Cooney to the rescue with the last gasp tackle. Home stand-off, AJ MacFarlane was going to prove difficult to tackle throughout the game and he created the third golden opportunity for a home try when he neatly stepped inside the on-rushing PL defence before offloading to Richie Graham who was nearly over before once again Greig Walker was on hand to stop the move.
It took until the 16th minute before PL even got the ball into the home 22 with a penalty to 15 metres but the attack came to nothing and it was Hills who ended up with more sustained pressure on the PL line and they looked to have done enough to get over at last but the final, scoring pass was well forward.
With 25 minutes gone, the opening try was well overdue but with the way things had gone so far, no-one in the ground expected that PL would score it. Hills had cleared the ball with a good kick to touch on halfway but a kind bounce from off the pitch sent the ball back into Jonathan Brash's arms. Quick thinking from the full back allowed him to throw in to Walker who then passed on to Cooney and the speedy winger ran through the heart of the defence to score near the posts. Thomas McMann knocked over the conversion and PL were unlikely leaders at 0-7.
That lead didn't last long though because almost direct from the restart, Hills were back on the attack inside PL's 22 and a good drive by the pack got the ball close to the line before Thomson dived over from short range. MacFarlane got the conversion to level the scores at 7-7 after 27 minutes.
Despite this setback, PL were starting to play a bit better and creating more chances. Runciman and Neil Whittingham were disrupting the Hills line-out and along with Andy Horne, they looked good when it was PL's throw from Nick Hart. Tis was giving the backs more ball to play with and Cooney had a half chance to score his second after Hills had dropped the ball in the 22 but it went just too far after he had hacked it on for the second time. Hills continued with their style of running rugby but it cost them dear in the 35th minute when a loose pass as they came out of their own 22 was quickly grabbed by Paul Glynn and he was too fast to be caught by the back tracking defence. McMann was on target again to make the score 7-14.
Hills would have the final word as the half drew to a close though when PL's line out failed for the first time allowing the attackers to build up pressure on the try line. The defence couldn't hold out this time and the try was scored midway between the corner and the posts. The conversion seemed straightforward enough but significantly, the kick came back off the right hand post allowing PL to go into the break 12-14 ahead.

PL introduced some changes early in the second half with John Burns coming on at scrum half and Dale Gordon moving out to centre. Scott Rodgers and Matt Sanderson came into the pack and Nathan Ross on the wing and this seemed to give them the boost they needed because things looked better early on as Jason Reilly led an early foray into the home 22. The move came to nothing and despite looking livelier they came under severe pressure in the 49th minute. The ball was lost in the loose allowing Hills to set up a move in the 22. PL were then caught offside but MacFarlane chose not to take the 3 points, opting to go for touch instead. This looked to be a mistake because PL came away with the ball but the clearance only sent the ball 30 metres upfield. This shouldn't have been a problem but several missed tackles allowed Hills to carry the ball down the left and score in the corner. Once again the conversion was missed but the home side were ahead for the first time at 17-14.
With half an hour still to play, PL needed to up their game and Pete Johnstone was catching the eye as he worked hard to win ball in the loose. The back line also looked far more confident going forward with the ball as Burns and Walker created space for Alan Whittingham and Gordon in midfield. Chris Dixon stole the ball in the 57th minute and carried it into the 22 but not for the first time in the game, it was lost forward in the tackle.
A charge down by Johnstone in the in-goal area nearly led to PL's third try but as the game moved into the final quarter, it was Hills who were enjoying much of the possession, largely due to PL's poor ball retention and also the number of times PL were being caught offside as they tried to win the ball. Inexplicably, Hills continued to kick to touch rather than taking valuable points that would extend their lead – decisions that would prove their downfall in the end. After 10 minutes of great defence, PL finally realised that the game was there to be won if they could do all the basics better. That's exactly what happened as time moved into the final 5 minutes. Better kicking achieved good field position and then the pack had their best spell of the game. They protected the ball well as they slowly moved forward towards the try line with several pick and go phases that Hills could do nothing about. Once the move had come to a halt, the ball was released to the backs who had a clear overlap but it wasn't needed because there was plenty of space in the stretched defensive line and Greig Walker picked his spot to drift through for an excellent try to make the score 17-19.
There was still time to restart and PL were soon back on the attack near the try line and on the hunt for the vital, bonus point try. The Hills defence managed to hold out though and there would be no further scoring with most of the travelling support happy enough to have come away with the four points for the hard fought win.

Good sides play badly and win and so it was on this occasion but rugby isn't all about exciting breaks and running rugby. Sometimes good decision making and good defence can be enough to take the spoils. However, a better all round performance wouldn't go amiss when PL are on the road again next week – this time to play second placed
Falkirk. Kick off 2pm.

Preston Lodge Team:
J Brash, P Glynn, G Walker, A Whittingham, P Cooney, T McMann, D Gordon
C Arthur, P Johnstone, N Hart, R Runciman, N Whittingham, A Horne, C Dixon, J Riley
Replacements:
J Burns, S Rodgers, M Sanderson, N Ross