Match Report: Knutsford 21-14 Congleton

Try Scorers: Alex Baldwin (2), Tim Wetjen. Cons, Lloyd (3)

Knutsford 1XV were back looking to keep up their impressive winning streak after a well earned Christmas break. Knutsford hosted Congleton Bears, who last time round, came out on top in a wet physical game.

The conditions were as good as they will ever be in January and Knutsford kicked off following captain and centurion James Clempner into 80 minutes of Physical fast paced rugby. Knutsford showed some solid, hitting hitting defence for the first 15 minutes with possession being mostly in the Bears 22. Knutsford’s discipline early on was costing them vital possession as the Bears defence wasn’t giving up a try. It wasn’t long until Knutsford had the ball back after some super lineout steals from Jack Field and Dan Barnes, unleashing Lewis Davies through the break back into the familiar Bears 22. This time, some hard lines from the forwards pack created space for the backs where the ball found Alex Baldwin who beat the last two defenders to go under the posts for the first score of the game, Converted by Jack Lloyd.

After some frustrating calls, with Knutsford still in the bears 22 after some pressuring kicks from Lloyd, a break from Matt Dutton saw him burst through towards the line and just coming up short. Bears held on well in defence after strong carries from Chris Edmond’s and Harry Beasley, however Knutsford were once again denied under the posts.

A strong Bears forward pack saw them gain yards from an attacking penalty, putting Knutsford on the back foot in their 22. One too many avoidable mistakes saw Field enter the sin bin with the bears on Knutsfords 5 metre line. Some superb grit and defence from Knutsford saw them stop the Bears short winning an attacking scrum. Knutsfords scrummaging pack had been dominant from the off, giving the backs a chance to move the ball. A pinpoint crossfield kick in Knutsfords 22 from Lloyd found Dutton in open space with Baldwin supporting to send Knutsford into the Bears’ 5 metre line. After some scrambled defence and couple of phases later, swift hands sees Baldwin get clean through a distorted Bears backline to score and finally put some more well deserved points on sheet with another conversion from Lloyd. 14-0

With Knutsford still being a man short before the end of the half. Knutsford had some calls go against them, giving the bears an attacking scrum in Knutsfords 22. The bears scrummaged well however the ball found the feet of the Bears 8 who slips through for a score before the end of the half. 14-7

The Second Half started strong with Knutsford applying some great pressure, from a kick from Lloyd and pressure from Cammy smith. Resulting in another “disallowed try”. Some weak discipline saw Bears take an extra 20 metres before gaining some territory from a penalty kick. However some more superb lineout pressure from the pack saw Knutsford regain possession. An attacking scrum for Knutsford gives them an opportunity to use the space that had been puncturing the bears backline. However it wasn’t meant to be as loose ball was gathered by the bears who found themselves open and over the line. 14-12

Knutsford didn’t let this get to them after a costly and silly mistake, and the pressure was re-applied after a huge hit from Beasley and Lockett from the kick off. It was clear the bears were struggling to attack and Knutsford had the ball won back at the breakdown, still in the Bears half. A few kicks to the corner from penalties and carries from Jones and Southall saw Knutsford with some attacking space out wide. Hard lines were run off Tim Wetjen who found himself a gap and went all the way through in the corner to score in the second half. Lloyd continued a strong knocking display, with a tight conversion from the corner. 21-12

Knutsford had a couple more opportunities which were denied by the whistle, with territory being completely in the Bears half till the final whistle.

A competitive and close scoring game with thanks to Congleton Bears for being great opposition. Man Of The Match was awarded to Alex Baldwin for his super breaks and runs throughout. That makes it Five in a row for Knutsford and a win on James Clempners 100th game for the club. We look forward to an intense rematch away against East Manchester in two weeks.