The squad showed a number of enforced changes; the only change in the pack was at Hooker where last weeks replacement James Watson replaced Ali Woods who was unavailable for selection. In the backs both centres Jono Storey and Craig Deakin were unavailable and were replaced by Ben Millar at 12 with Tim Elliot moving up from full back to outside centre, his place at fullback taken by Chris Conway. On the wing Adam Burton replaced top scorer Tom Elliot who is awaiting the arrival of his 1st child.
The match started well for Phoenix as for the opening 15 minutes they dominated possession and territory. With their 1st visit into the Pocklington 22 Phoenix thought they’d taken the lead; Dan Storey rifled out a wide pass to centre Tim Elliot who distributed to Greenslade via his fullback Chris Conway. Greenslade cut back inside to beat the covering wing and full back and seemingly score out wide on the left. Unfortunately for Phoenix the match official was unable to award the try as his view of the grounding was obscured by Pocklington defenders lying over the ball, his decision was that the ball had been held up.
Not to be deterred by this early disappointment Phoenix were soon on the score board courtesy of a near identical ‘score’ to their earlier effort. This time Greenslade picked a great line off Conway to go between winger and centre to score. The try was converted to give Phoenix a 7-0 lead.
Phoenix added to their lead soon after when Dan Storey slotted a penalty 25 metres out to increase the margin to 10 points.
At this point in the game the omens looked good for the home side, they were enjoying plenty of possession and looked threatening out wide. However, Pocklington had other plans. Led by their astute scrum half they began to create a foothold in the game, a number of well judged box kicks, which Phoenix failed to deal with, allowed Pocklington to gain the territory they required. From this platform Pocklington were able to close the gap with two converted penalties arising from infringements at the ruck.
The remainder of the half saw both sides competing well, trying to assert their contrasting styles of play on the game. The score remained 10-6 going into the half time break.
The second half was a different story for Phoenix; Pocklington came out from half time in a determined mood. The kick off aside Phoenix spent the next 30 minutes defending their line from a continuous flow of driving mauls and close quarter carries from the abrasive Pocklington Pack. For long periods they held them out but it seemed only a matter of time before the try line would be breached. Pocklington’s cause was helped when Phoenix number 8 Nick Byrne was yellow carded for failing to roll away at the ruck. Minutes later from a lineout 5 metres out Pocklington’s pack drove for the line, stopped inches short they moved the ball to the right where their centre managed to beat a midfield defender on the outside and score to the right of the posts. The try was converted to take Pocklington into a 10 – 13 lead.
Having been dragged into an arm wrestle they were never likely to win Phoenix found yards hard to make against a near faultless Pocklington defence. On numerous occasions Phoenix recycled the ball for extended period of play, but often for very little territorial reward.
Entering the final 10 minutes Phoenix seemed to find the territory and go forward they had missed for much of the second half and set up camp in the Pocklington half. The best chance coming as Dan Storey found his right wing Burton with a flat pass, missing out both centres in the process, Burton was denied at the corner by an excellent cover tackle from the Pocklington number 7.
With the final seconds elapsing Phoenix made a final push for the win, going through phases and phases in the attacking 22. Again they attempted to go wide however this time the pass was picked off by the Pocklington winger who ran 80 metres to cement his side’s victory and deny Phoenix the losing bonus point. The conversion was missed and the game ended 10-18.
On reflection Pocklington were good value for their win with a performance built around a powerful maul and a solid defence, they now sit top of the table albeit having played a game more the close rivals Huddersfield YMCA. Phoenix for their part in the game will feel hard done by not to have claimed the losing bonus point.
Looking for positives from the game Phoenix again were more then capable out wide and caused problems for the opposition with the little front foot ball they received. This is a relatively young squad, with an average age on the day being marginally under 25 years old. A debut from the bench again went to promising youngster Adam Tamanis who at 17 is unable to turn out in his preferred position of prop but got a sample of 1st team rugby in the back row for 15 minutes.
Next week Phoenix travel away to West Leeds looking to bounce back to winning ways.