Old Crossleyans 33 Sheffield 0

Defeat away at a well fancied Old Crossleyans 2s bring Sheffield 2s back down to earth after an impressive win last week. The Crossleyans side bearing many players from the same side that defeated the Sheffield 1sts in a pre season friendly.

Initially, the pack dominated in the scrums but failed to turn this into points with a back line filled with forwards playing out of position. Injuries to Thomas Moss and Dan Smith within the first 20 minutes meaning many players were forced to play out of position in the back line. Shortly afterwards, a couple of soft tries were conceded taking the score to 12-0. Before half time a sin binning for captain Stewart Knights for 'obstructing' play, reduced Sheffield to fourteen men and a further try was scored by Old Crossleyans.

19-0 at half time which lead to some serious words by all and Sheffield 2s came back out with a fight. However they were still unable to turn possession and territory gained by the unwavering boot of Antony Carpenter into points.

The return of Knights saw him get unceremoniously 'shoed' by the opposition Loosehead prop, which earned him a mere ticking off from the referee and another example of inconsistent application of the laws of the game. The second half brought a dogged display by the forwards and some hard tackling by Rob Holland and Tom Womack, both playing out of position in the centres. This kept the score at 19-0 for the majority of the second half. A flowing move by the Crossleyans back line put their centre clean through and an almost certain try was stopped by Robert Atkinson and a stupendous tackle which halted the attack.

Alas, the hard graft could not last, and the introduction of numerous substitutions by Crossleyans, including a tank at inside centre who was able to break the line twice leading to two final scores in the last 10 minutes, which also brought the sin binning of Ali Womack for 'being offside and interfering with play' after making a tackle from an onside position from a tap penalty 2 yards from the Sheffield line.

Overall a disappointing day and result, however massive respect, thanks and appreciation due to every player who played and battled hard in the game. There was a great display of front row play by the debutant Simon Farmery and many players showing their versatility by playing out of their usual positions.

Next week brings the first Sheffield derby of the season as Sheffield Tigers 2nds make the short trip to Abbeydale, a good win is needed to gain local bragging rights and to put the 2nd team season back on track.

Team:

15. Dan Smith
14. Nick Snook
13. Robert Atkinson
12. Rob Holland
11. Ali Womack
10. Antony Carpenter
9. Tom Carpenter
8. Thomas Moss
7. Tom Womack
6. Jamie McNab
5. Gary Thursfield
4. Chris Stanney
3. Stewart Knights
2. Guy Titman
1. Simon Farmery

16. James Emblen (on for Thomas Moss, 10)
17. Alex Hughes (on for Dan Smith, 20)