Blues win on the Road!

Playing with the breeze on a damp day in Stoke, Shrewsbury received the kick off and cleared their lines, with some back and forth kicking before Andy Charlesworth received a pass from full back Will Beddoes to commence a mazey run up the middle of the park evading a number of would be tacklers before looping a pass out wide to returning centre Jai Crippin. Longton recovered well to stop Crippin who looked determined to make it to the line. A few phases within the Longton 22 and an infringement from the defending team left Shrewsbury with an advantage and they looked to find space out wide before a miss timed pass meant coming back for the off-side penalty. This was duly slotted by Dom Phillips. Score: 0 - 3

A deft restart into the wind from Longton resulted in a line out to them, however Shrewsbury managed to gather and once again look to exert pressure, but Longton were quick to force an error with their initial defence forcing a turnover and looking to play up in to the Shrewsbury half with a kick, however the chasers were in front allowing Shrewsbury to clear their lines once more. The wind assisted boot of Beddoes found Shrewsbury with a lineout in the Longton 22, however a “not straight” call led to the first scrum of the contest. Longton then cleared for a Shrewsbury lineout just outside the 22. A forced knock on resulting in another scrum to the home side and this time looking to play off the back of it, however the Shrewsbury back row combined well for a low tackle with Nathan Hardwick coming in to force a penalty for “holding on”. Once again Dom Phillips slotted the 3 points. Score: 0 – 6

Shrewsbury again cleared their lines from the restart, with Longton looking to play and moving the ball well but not making much ground until a Shrewsbury off-side gave them the opportunity to get into the visiting sides half. Windy conditions hampering any progress at the line out resulted in another Shrewsbury scrum, a solid platform allowed Shrewsbury to strike up the blindside with Liam Deery and Jamie Claire combining well to make good ground. Hard carrying by Ben Wintle then released some slick handling in the backs before a knock on at the ruck gave Longton some reprieve from the blue onslaught. They were able to play away from the scrum and find some space out wide before moving the ball back in side where some slick hands beat the Shrewsbury defensive line for Longton to go in under the sticks and convert the try to take the lead. Score: 7 – 6

From the restart Longton tried to break through Shrewsbury in the middle of the park playing in to the wind but had no such luck until a penalty was conceded on the half way line taking Longton up to the edge of the Shrewsbury “22”. Shrewsbury were able to put pressure on at the line out and move the ball once again to the wide channels for Tom Cookson to look for territory with the boot but only finding the pacey Longton full back who carried hard taking play once more up to the half way mark.

Longton again were unable to break through a solid Shrewsbury line, however a determined boot struck well against the wind found the Shrewsbury 22, where a 50-22 was given to the home side, despite the ball being passed back into to their half initially.
Being only 8 metres out from the Shrewsbury try line, they were able to execute a well set up maul, however the resolute Shrewsbury pack managed to slow progress before a bustling break from the back allowed Longton to cross the white wash close to the posts giving the kicker a straight forward conversion to slot. Score: 14 – 6

Following the restart conditions worsened as the rain started to fall, leading to short phases of play from either side and tactical kicking for territory coming in to play. A number of knock-ons led to increased scrums where Shrewsbury who had the initial upper hand seemed to come up against a Longton Pack looking to prove a point. After further phases with a solid Shrewsbury defence, another penalty enabled Longton to kick for territory into the Shrewsbury 22, however this time the pack drove them back a number of metres and the solid blue wall once again forced a Longton knock on for a scrum. This enabled Shrewsbury to relieve some pressure and force Longton to kick too long resulting in play returning for a Shrewsbury line out in their half.

Play remained around the half way line for a number of phases with Shrewsbury looking the more likely to score before the half time break. With space available on the wings the ball was moved wide, before Captain Liam Deery opted for the “full shin shank” (patent pending) to give Longton a line out on halfway line which was played out before a knock on resulted in the half time whistle.

HT: Longton 14 – 6 Shrewsbury

The second half saw Shrewsbury playing into the wind and Longton not yet used to the favourable breeze and wet conditions booted the kick off receipt long resulting in a scrum to Shrewsbury in the Longton half. A refreshed Longton pack came out to attack the set piece in the second half looking at scrums and line outs as their preferred option for breaking down the visiting Shrewsbury side.

A sustained period of attack for Longton brought no reward as the Shrewsbury pack drove back any lineout maul and the defensive line remained strong absorbing a number of big carries. A turnover from a ruck in the Shrewsbury half enabled some smart handling across the back line for Mike Venn to break through, and the accurate timing of the pass to winger Andy Charlesworth proving pivotal to give him the space to cut back inside to dot down for a try and provide a much more straight forward conversion for Dom Phillips to slot. Score: 14 – 13

A fumbled restart gave Longton an attacking scrum on the Shrewsbury 22, but once again the blue wall stopped any progression and forced the knock on for Shrewsbury to clear to touch taking play outside the 22. Longton built phase after phase to draw another penalty in the Shrewsbury 22 opting to kick for touch. Once again Shrewsbury nullified the maul and forced the knock on enabling them to clear their lines close to the try line, with a clearing boot taking play just into Longtons half as the rain and wind eased off.

A resulting scrum to Shrewsbury enabled the backs to run a quick strike move, finding width quickly for all the backs to help take Shrewsbury into the Longton 22, followed by a series of determined carries from the forwards leaving Shrewsbury just shy of the line before a penalty from Longton enabled some quick work from Jack Bevan to link with Mike Venn and Dom Phillips before Liam Deery crashed over with Phillips adding the extras. Score: 14 - 20

Longton now behind for the first time for a while looked to kick deep and put the pressure on Shrewsbury, but the defence worked for each other to shut down Longton as much as possible. The toll of the game starting to now show for both sides. From a scrum in the Shrewsbury 22, Longton looked to kick through with the chase looking good however, the bounce of the ball just beats the Longton No. 12 to go dead, despite many claims from the home side. A sigh of relief for Shrewsbury with around 15 minutes to go.

Further pressure from Longton ensued but again Shrewsbury defended solidly until an unfortunate penalty in the Shrewsbury half gave Longton an opportunity for a line out in the Shrewsbury 22. Shrewsbury once again defended the maul but were deemed to have infringed again, resulting in another penalty and another lineout, this time the maul stayed up and with the initial drive slowed, Jamie Claire and Craig Jones were able to get hold of the ball and hold it in for a scrum to Shrewsbury where they could once more clear their lines to the edge of their 22.

More resolute defence from Shrewsbury followed until a scrum penalty resulted in a kick to the corner again. Longton knowing their maul was starting to become ineffective, opted to switch up their line out and managed to charge up the blindside and crash over in the corner with 2 minutes remaining on the clock, a very fine conversion gave Longton a 1 point lead. Score: 21 – 20

Shrewsbury needed to act fast from the kick off with Longton looking to purely play for territory they looked to kick long, however this was well charged down by Full-Back Will Beddoes, enabling back row Jamie Claire to stoop low and scoop the ball whilst charging forward. A quick pass from the ruck by Jack Bevan to Beddoes stepping in at 10 released Jai Crippin who then passed to Dom Phillips looping round creating an overlap on the left wing. Andy Charlesworth supporting gave the Longton full back no option but to be confused by the No 10’s comb-over sidestep to take the inside shoulder and dive over to score. Dom was unable to convert, but the work was not yet done with the restart still to come. Score: 21 – 25

It seemed all Shrewsbury needed to do was gather the restart and with conditions still tricky it fell to club talisman Simon Evitts to gather the ball and set up the ruck with most of the pack securing it for the inevitable kick to touch and final whistle.

FINAL SCORE: Longton 21 - 25 Shrewsbury

An outstanding team performance from 1 to 18 in difficult conditions against a tough and determined Longton side. Thanks to Longton and the referee for a close game played in good spirit by both sides!

Next week Shrewsbury host league leaders Luctonian II’s at Sundorne Castle!