Slow Start Leaves Baildon a Mountain to Climb

A work in progress

Despite winning the early kicking exchange Baildon were unable to take advantage of early penalties through imprecision at the line out.

When Skipton moved a maul 20 metres alarm bells rang for the visitors who conceded consecutive penalties, lost a scrum and missed a tackle in the narrow channel to concede the first try. (7-0)

Further soft penalties allowed Skipton to extend their lead (10-0)

Nathan King somehow defended a five on three overlap and took the last player into touch. A further Skipton score looked inevitable but was brought back for a forward pass. With a scrum on their own 5m line, Matt Withers stood behind his own try line to receive the ball but fumbled.

Although Baildon initially defended well, a subsequent Skipton scrummage yielded a score from first phase possession. (15-0)

Baildon came back through nice interplay and a Dan Cookson try (15-5), the conversion attempt was wayward and a further switch off led to another Skipton penalty (18-5) before the half time whistle.

(18-5 HT)

Despite a yellow card for a high Luke Strauss tackle, Baildon won the second half scoring the only points through a Adam Hewitt try after Alex Teasedale had hacked through on a loose ball. (18-10 FT)

It was a shame to miss even the losing bonus point, but the score was a fair reflection of the balance of play. Well played Skipton and thanks for the excellent hospitality after the match.

Thanks also to the whistler, match officials, our patient coaches and a great number of travelling Baildon supporters who certainly lifted the team.

I know I am hopelessly biased, but I’d still back this Baildon team against any other in our league on our day.

We have players who turn anger into passion, who dare to be creative, who are positive not negative and who play for each other. We are learning and developing leadership on the pitch. We just need this from the start.

Some lessons learnt: creating movement in the line out, getting up off the floor quickly after tackles, chopping lower, competing in all areas of the park.

I prescribe more work on the set piece at training, it’s a difficult game to play without the ball.