Bishop Auckland 9 v Acklam 22

Bishop Auckland 9 v Acklam 22

• Acklam played their first away league game of the season and they found themselves playing into a strong wind for the first half. Immediately they were under pressure, giving away three penalties in the first six minutes, fortunately Bishop’s did not get on the score sheet. After 15 minutes with Bishop’s forcing the play, their full back came into the line but was held up short of the Acklam line, however shortly afterwards Bishop’s were awarded a penalty and they took the three points. From the Acklam kick off on the restart, Acklam had a 5 meter lineout but in a good attacking position they wasted the opportunity by going for a drop goal.
• After 20 minutes the game had not settled down and with both the referee and both teams finding it hard it was obvious that the game was not going to be a classic. It was at this stage when Acklam went down to 14 men when one of the forwards was sin binned; Bishop’s accepted the three points. On the 25 minute Acklam’s poor discipline gave Bishop’s their third penalty and they went into a 9-0 lead.
• At last Acklam played some good rugby with some crisp interchange of play, Chris Walker burst through the home defence and scored an excellent try, Danny Ashton converted. Shortly after the restart, Acklam were awarded a penalty on the half way, Chris Walker kicked into the 22m and from the resultant lineout and some good play, Acklam were awarded a penalty. Half-time score Bishop Auckland 9- Acklam 10.
• The wind dropped for the second half, but Acklam started to exert some pressure on the home defence. The referee was failing to pick up the home side for the offside line and players going into the contact area and not staying on their feet, added to the fact that the pitch was only 60 meters wide, Acklam’s attacking options were limited. As the second half progressed Acklam took more control of the game, with Bishop now being more on the back foot. Craig Moffat came on for Andrew Dunn and the winger soon notched up two tries.
• Dan Burns had an excellent game, showing maturity in his play at No. 7 and he got my ‘man of the match award’.
• Acklam did not play well on the day and had to dig deep for the win, but showed plenty of grit and character which you need to succeed in the league.