Sublime at Times

For fifty minutes, the Wolves played some of the best rugby they’re ever likely to do and then in the next thirty minutes they got dragged down to something coarse and unsatisfactory as an abrasive Sandbach side set about destroying their rhythm by ‘getting in amongst them’ with increasingly robust play. It didn’t help that during this latter period referee Barclay saw fit to penalise the Wolves five times as often as their opponents, issued two Yellow Cards against them for technical offences as opposed to foul play and then had to frequently halt the game to deal with the kind of heavy clashes that can occur in any game of rugby.

Yet the game had started so brightly. From the kick off, Sandbach forced a charge down of Wilmslow full back Matthew King’s clearing kick, took a strike against the head in an ensuing scrum before forcing a penalty in front of the posts for off side which their No. 10 Will Cargill slotted with the minimum of fuss.

Josh Longmore soon responded for the Wolves and for the rest of the first period, they played with verve, skill and enterprise that deserved more than the two tries they achieved. The first came when they moved the ball right in the Sandbach twenty two and then quickly recycled it left for scrum half Stuart Lindsey to put the flyer Jordan Kennedy in. Several other promising looking forays followed but it was not until close to half time that a searing run from Matthew King ended with the Wolves second try. In between, Will Cargill had landed his second penalty to keep his side in touch. Longmore then started the second half with an exquisite kick to the corner which Kennedy very nearly finished off but from the ensuing lineout, against the throw, his brother, the other Longmore, scored from a catch and drive. At this stage a fourth try and bonus point looked a definite possibility. It is also fair to mention that at this stage of the game the penalty count had been heavily in the Wolves favour.

Now it was Sandbach’s turn but for all their possession, territory and pressure, they couldn’t create a clear cut scoring opportunity. The Wolves tackled as though their lives depended upon it, there were powerful runs out of defence from Ollie Longmore, Lewis MacKay and Ryan Parkinson and only in the final moments did the former Sale player, Simon Verbickas, get the space to set up Sandbach full back, Woody Barlow, for a late score.

Wolves coach Giles Heagerty never gives much away but he was pleased with the overall improvement since the previous week against Northwich. ‘It was like chalk and cheese, he said, and for fifty minutes I was delighted with the side’s play. We had studied the video from last week and had worked in training on those areas where we needed to improve and it showed. Clearly, we’re not the finished article, we missed a chance of a bonus point and we have to learn how to handle the kind of tactics used by Sandbach to neutralise our strengths. But it was a win away from home against a decent side and we should be pleased with that’.

You can’t ask for better than two wins on the trot to start the season and on Saturday this exciting young Wolves side will be taking on West Park St. Helens at home.