Valuable Away Win For Firsts

Cold, wet and windy conditions resulting in a heavy pitch were not conducive to Goole’s style of play but against those odds, and with the early loss of captain and stand off Moore as early as the 25th minute, Goole prevailed against a strong and determined Bridlington side. Bridlington were in the game throughout but ultimately fell victim to a mature hard fought display by the whole Goole squad.

From the kick-off it was early Goole pressure in Brid's half but exchanges of play flowed one way and the other as both sides found it difficult to retain possession of the slippery ball, with Brid often regaining possession to relieve pressure with long kicks out of their territory. One such kick deep into the Goole half saw fullback Holt mount a counterattack, with accurate inter passing finishing with Holt crossing for a try on 8 minutes. In response Brid began to gain territory and on the 13th min were level following a lineout and drive to Goole’s try line. So, 5 all and both sides fancying their chances.
The game ebbed and flowed until the 26th minute when the game had to be stopped due to Moore’s injury, from which he left the field to take no further part. With no backs replacement Barrass had to move from the wing into the number 10 slot, whilst back rower Almond took his place on the wing.
3 minutes later and Goole went ahead for the second time with their second try, courtesy of Sam Smith. Strong forward play in midfield, interpassing in the backs and Smith diving in, Barrass converted for Goole to lead 5-12. Play now saw Bridlington forcing Goole back deep into their 22 and producing a lineout on Goole’s 5m line. The pressure was on Goole to win the line out and execute their escape. Lineout won and the ball cleared but not finding touch. However, for some reason Brid didn’t challenge the ball in the air. Instead letting it bounce, only to be picked up by Goole’s advancing forwards, followed by the backs and ending with a length of the field touch down, to increase their lead to 5-17.
The final act of the half saw good home pressure producing a penalty, which they kicked to reduce the lead to 9 points.

HALF TIME 8-17

With the strong breeze now in their favour all watching expected Goole to camp in Bridlington territory, which they did to a degree. The game in fact never changed, with both sides showing strong defending throughout the match.
Goole’s bad luck continued on 48th minute when Jack Smith, who had been prominent in all phases, had to leave the field with a lower back problem to take no further part in the proceedings. His replacement, James Chantry carried on where Smith had left off and the team forced their way into Brid's half on several occasions. All seemed comfortable for the visitors until the 64th minute when a strong attack ended with a score out wide for the home 15. An excellent kick from the touch line just scraped over to reduce the deficit to 15-17
It was now all Bridlington as they bombarded the Goole line and a try to take the lead and probably the game seemed inevitable, but Goole had other ideas and their try line defence was absolutely fantastic, brave and deflating for the home side. Try and try they did but to no avail, and eventually Goole worked their way to safety following a penalty against Bridlington. Possession gained, and Goole again pushed into home territory, with surging runs from the pack taking them down the centre of the pitch, eventually resulting in a penalty award against the home side. 40m out and pressure on the kicker but Barrass found no difficulty in adding 3 more points to the Goole score as they entered the last 10 minutes of the game.
Bridlington, now with no choice tried to open the game up but ended up back where they started as a result of great Goole defence, coupled with poor Bridlington kicks. The final whistle saw a deserved and hard fought, valuable away win for Goole as they look to consolidate in this new Division.
In summing up, this to me was a fine squad performance, coupled with good support from the coaching team. The back 5 of the scrum were everywhere, both in defence and attack. Holt had a superb game at full back, tricky high balls dealt with comfortably, counter attacks and support play in attack always on show. The front row weathered a tricky storm, both in the set piece as well as having to change things due to injury to hooker Wood and the general rigours of play in the front row. Last but not least the back division who didn’t have a lot of ball to play with but played their part in support. Particularly when defending in their own 22.
The only concerns of the day being knocks to Jack Smith, Chris Wood, Rhys Moore, and George Marwood, which we hope are treatable, as Goole look to catch up on postponed games, when they entertain Pontefract at home next Saturday. 2.15pm KO. If you fancy a day out in the fresh air of Westfield Banks, please come along. You won’t be disappointed in watching 18 local lads give their all.