Saturday 2 September 2006

 

Pennine League 1

 

Crigglestone All Blacks 54   Thornhill Trojans ‘A’ 6

 

Last season’s Division 2 champions Crigglestone, made light work of their first opponents back in Division 1.  A nervy start by the home side saw them knock-on from the kick-off, but great scrambling defence held Thornhill at bay for the first set of six and saw the ball go harmlessly dead in goal.  In the 2^nd minute fullback Kev Marson broke the defensive line and should have passed to Tom Malyan in support.  However a quick play the ball saw Malyan go over for the try, which he converted for 6-0.

 

Crigg were back on the attack form the kick-off and on the fourth tackle Dale Tilford powered over from dummy-half and Malyan goaled to make it 12-0.  Thornhill found touch with the restart, but could make no headway despite the field position.  Further pressure was mounted by Crigg and on 15 minutes Mick Wood went over for 16-0.  Five minutes later Wood was over again, supporting as skipper Ryan Horsley broke.

 

For the third time Crigg failed to deal with the kick-off and needlessly put themselves under pressure.  Good defence kept the Trojans out and Crigg were soon back on the attack.  The fifth try of the half came as Sam Ellam pushed three defenders off to score.  Malyan’s conversion making it 26-0 at half-time.

 

The good work continued in the second half and with the wind now behind them, Crigg started to move the ball about.  Fine passing and support saw Horlsey score out wide on 52 minutes.  Malyan used the wind to perfection to curve in the difficult conversion for 32-0.  The next try was a fine set piece.  From the scrum, Mick Wood passed to Horsley, back to Wood and then a long pass to put Malyan over for his second.

 

A short kick-off saw Thornhill gather the ball and run through the static Crigg defence for their only try and goal of the day to make it 36-6.  The message soon came out, that the home side must not relax until the final whistle.  This time it was the Trojans who were not switched on at the restart, allowing the ball to bounce over the goal line.  From the drop-out Mick Wood received the ball and beat the defence to grab his hat-trick.  Malyan again converted, 42-6.

 

A penalty for a high shot on Ellam on 70 minutes enabled Crigg to kick for touch, and three quick drives from Tim Owens, Dale Tilford and Ellam produced space for Luke Hyman to score.  Malyan again converted.  The final try came on 74 minutes, when Horsley fed winger Danny Lockwood from the scrum.  Lockwood bounced two defenders out of the way before scoring by the touchline.  Malyan completed his fine display of goal kicking by converting and bringing the final score to 54-6.