Plenty of Ability

Debut boy shines

Whitchurch 3rd XV 37-29 Northwich 3rdXV

Northwich snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, in a game where they were much the better team but left too many points out there and gifted Whitchurch too many.

The game started with Whitchurch on top but Northwich stuck to their guns tackling for all they were worth until eventually, they managed to get a bit of ball in hand and worked their way up the pitch and eventually were awarded a scrum on the 5 metre line which number 8 Gareth Tait picked up from the back and forced his way over the line. Northwich remained on top and moved the ball across the line, running out of space and players, Andy Lawler cleverly cut against the grain to score. 12-0. Northwich then completely lost their heads with poor decision making, bad tackling and positioning gifting Whitchurch 3 run in tries, making the score 17-12. Northwich then lost their line out option when Dan Harper went off injured, but replacement Gaz Lewis’ kick pinned Whitchurch on the 5 metre line, from the line out, Whitchurch passed the ball off the top and the 9 was quickly surrounded forming a maul. As the ball crossed the line, Gareth Tait stripped the ball and dotted down, levelling the scores. From the kick off, Northwich collected the ball and moved it quickly after a couple breaks and fed it out wide for Tom Williams to score an excellent try.

HT Whitchurch 17-24 Northwich

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Northwich for the most part defending excellently, but gifting Whitchurch two tries through clumsy kicks and missed tackles. Northwich made levelled the scores again, as Gareth Tait completed his hat-trick, but this proved to be the final try for the team. A couple opportunities were missed to score and after Whitchurch took the lead with a penalty, Northwich began to panic going for the try to win the game, but clumsily conceded possession for Whitchurch to go the length and see off the game.

FT: Whitchurch 37-29 Northwich

A frustrating afternoon for Northwich, a winnable game thrown a way, but many positives to take from the game. An excellent debut for TJ at full back, a great game by Gaz Lewis on his return, Dan Harper making the move up to hooker and playing excellently until injury, Tim Bridgwater playing in forwards for first time and having a massive tackle count, a hat-trick from Gareth Tait (which he escaped a dirty pint for by driving) and all 16 men playing excellently for 70 minutes, but for 3 or 4 brain explosions this game would’ve been out of sight. As captain George Goodfellow said after the game, with a few more players from recruitment and a bit more training this squad has the ability, but are finding it difficult with the numbers.

1. Stefan Ward
2. Dan Harper
3. George Goodfellow
4. Kirk Naylor
5. Chris Eyres
6. Pete Gibbon
7. Tim Bridgwater
8. Gareth Tait
9. Will Magowan
10. Steve Taylor
11. TJ
12. Tom Boardman
13. Tom Williams
14. Oscar Bradley
15. Andy Lawler
16. Gaz Lewis

Tries:
Gareth Tait x3
Andy Lawler
Tom Williams

Conversions:
Steve Taylor x2