Bradford Salem 2nds 10 v Old Otliensians
11
On a
day with no League fixture, ‘Ensians arranged a friendly and travelled to
Bradford to face Salem 2nds. With Salem 1st XV currently riding high in
Yorkshire League 2 and with their 2nd string having only lost one match
this season, a tough encounter was expected. In the end, it was a close
and lively match with the visitors coming out on top by the narrowest of
margins.
On a muddy pitch with patches of lying snow, the visiting pack set about
their opposite numbers with some strong drives from the front row of Peter
Bonner, Alan Harker and Tony Myers. With the Salem defence taken aback,
good attacking positions were established and quick ball along the line
saw full back Josh Howarth link up and go over in the corner to give
Ensians a 5 – 0 lead on 10 minutes. The hosts responded five minutes later
when they broke away up the left wing to level the scores at 5 – 5 on 20
minutes
Despite the conditions, the visiting backs produced some enterprising
moves with centres Nathan Rogers and Lee O’Donnell making ground up the
middle. Salem ended up defending desperately and gave away a penalty on 35
minutes which fly half Kristian Keinhost to give ‘Ensians an 8 – 5 lead at
the break.
In the second period, half backs Rob Lofthouse and Kristian Keinhorst
continued to spread the ball wide and again the Bradford side infringed to
give Keinhorst his second penalty on 45 minutes, stretching the lead to
11-5.
At this stage, Salem realised that they could be heading for rare defeat
and started to rough things up a bit. Visiting centre O’Donnell cut though
with a weaving run and wingers Josh Hebditch and Ieaun Cranswick were a
constant threat. When Keinhorst put a long kick through into the home 22,
chasing centre Rogers was violently obstructed and this resulted in a
skirmish before the referee at last took control. Keinhorst struck the
resultant penalty wide and both sides then settled down to try and play
some rugby.
The big home pack was now beginning to gain ground with some driving mauls
and the improved supply of ball gave the Salem backs some running
opportunities. The visiting back row of Toby Barltrop, Sam Featherstone
and Dom Birkin defended fearlessly with locks Michael Wilson and Michael
Moore providing solid support.
With five minutes remaining, the hosts used their pack to batter away at
the ‘Ensians line and, after being held up three times, they eventually
crashed over in the corner for a try. The conversion shaded the outside of
the posts and the visitors came away with the narrow victory of 11 points
to 10.
This was a well deserved result with a fine all round performance from the
forwards and ‘Ensians young backs. The side came out on top through
enterprising play, resolute defence and their ability not to respond to
provocation.
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