Sileby 39 - 44 Grimsby

An apology/disclaimer from the outset. Those who attended the match on Saturday will be aware that I had to go off injured after 25 minutes. There was a considerable period of the first half that I missed whilst having my injury assessed and being mardy that I could not go back on. That coupled with the action packed try fest means that this match report is a little less detailed than usual.
How was I injured you ask? Well, I respond, I landed on Chris Wright’s head from a lineout and lacerated my chin. Brilliant.

Stop the clock at about 10 minutes in. Sileby lead visitors Grimsby 5-0, number 8 Ash Rideout having crashed over from close range after some excellent build up play from across the board. This coming on the back of a bonus point victory at last season’s top four finishing Buxton and confidence throughout the Sileby team was high. 10 minutes later Sileby were 24-5 down.

Grimsby handed the Vikings the severest of lessons during that period. Three times their forwards broke through weak tackles in the midfield, offloading when eventually bought down to support who found clear air to score. The clinical nature of Grimsby’s play was matched only by the flaccidness of Sileby’s defence. The stern warning that the lack of physicality demonstrated in periods last week was not heeded by the unchanged starting 15. Throughout the whole preseason the coaching team had preached core principles of effective defence: getting off the line and closing down space, tackling low and hard and if possible doubling up on tackles to prevent the offload. None of these were a reality on Saturday. Combined with Grimby’s metronomic kicker and the Vikings were in trouble. Only a vital turnover in the Vikings 22 would prevent a further score during Grimby’s dominance.

The tempo of the comeback was established by Ben Smith. Coming off the bench Ben aided flanker James Lewis in turning over the kick off by stripping the opposing catcher. Smith then followed up by sitting down a would-be tackler through typically powerful running. Through Ben and others Sileby began to raise the quality of their play, though there were still issues throughout the half (and indeed the fixture) at the set piece. Grimby’s pack consistently were putting pressure on the Sileby scrum, whilst the line out was not a slick as would be expected from last season’s Midlands 4 champions. Despite this Sileby were able to establish possession in the opposition 22; with consistent offending resulting in a Grimsby yellow card (as I was informed 10 minutes into the second half). I was also told in this period that Michael Weston-Webb scored. I can only presume it was from approximately 1 yard out with a better option outside. The half would end 24-10.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the coaching team prescribed. Up the intensity, up the physicality, up the desire.

The second half started well for the Vikings. With the lineout functioning the opposition found themselves pinned in their own 22. From what I gather this would result in either Dan’s first try or the Penalty try. Either way I am sure it was masterful play. With the score at 24-17 Sileby were right back into a game that could have been taken away from them after 25 minutes.

The final 35 minutes saw the game fluxuate back and forth in what must have been pulsating for all in the crowd (expect the anxiety laden coaching staff and match day squad). Punch and counter punch was the name of the game. When the Buxton fly half stepped through the Sileby defence to feed their Outside Centre to score under the posts; Sileby responded through a score of their own. Kieran Plant, finding himself playing his third position in three games, took a piercing line through the Grimsby midfield and powered over two defenders to score. When Buxton found space on the short side to score in the corner; Ash Rideout exploited weakness around the ruck area to replicate his scoring feat from the first half.

Grimsby’s lead was maintained through their kicker whom not only slotted conversions from all over the pitch but also punished Sileby’s infringements from the tee. With less than 10 minutes left the score stood at 44-34. Outside of losing bonus point range the Vikings were in a dangerous position of only accumulating one point from the match (for scoring 4 or more tries). It is fortunate that the resolve shown throughout the season thus far was not absent. Once again it was Dan Riley who would unlock the opposition through a powerful breach of the midfield. With less than 7 minutes on the clock Sileby still had time to seal what seemed an unlikely win. Brutal pressure upon the opposition resulted in their second yellow card of the game for consistent infringements. Line out after line out, phase after phase Sileby turned the screw. However it was not meant to be as the opposition turned over messy ball at a ruck to win a penalty. The final score 44-39.

There were clear positives and negatives. On the one hand Sileby have scored 10 tries in the opening two games of the season, the strength in depth from the bench resulting in 4 of the 6 tries against Grimsby. Furthermore the squad showed considerable heart to put themselves in a winning position. On the other hand defence throughout the match was soft, 44 points conceded at home simply not at the standard expected from the coaches, fans and indeed the players. The set piece struggled throughout, something that must be rectified in order to provide greater ammunition for what is clearly a dangerous attacking unit. Lastly Sileby had a chance to win, but a lack of composure at the most crucial moment was costly.

Next week’s fixture sees the Vikings travel to Kesteven, last year relegated from Midlands 2. With a combative session promised at training on Tuesday the Vikings must put in a better performance to compete with what is likely to be a strong outfit.

Try Scorers:
Ash Rideout x 2
Dan Riley x 2
Michael Joseph Weston-Webb
Kieran Plant
Penalty

Conversions:
Will Clancy