Saturday 21st October

Crigglestone All Blacks 66 Victoria Rangers 8

Crigg got back on the winning trail as they outclassed a plucky Rangers side in a rare home outing.  Rangers knocked on in the first set of six, but Crigg failed to take advantage and indeed it was the home side who had to withstand the early pressure, defending repeat sets for Vic.  Crigg's line held out and eventually forced a knock-on.  Tom Malyan broke from the scrum, but was hauled down and won a penalty as Vic held on to try and slow the game down.  From the penalty, first Stuart Springett drove in, before Dale Tilford hit the line and cleverly off-loaded for Haydn Luke to cross.  Malyan's goal made it 6-0.

Next it was Crigg who were penalised for holding down, and soft defence on their own line, allowed Vic to score an unconverted try.  The home side looked flat and when player coach Ryan Horsley had the ball stolen, two quick passes saw Vic take the lead with another unconverted try.

Rangers failed to reclaim the ball from the kick-off and compounded the error by conceding a penalty for ball stealing.  From the quick tap, Kev Marson brushed off three tacklers to dive over for the try.  Malyan's goal drew Crigg level and with 27 minutes gone, Vic's lead had lasted just two minutes.  It was Crigg to score next in a fine move that saw them bring the ball the length of the field.  On the fifth tackle Malyan's kick rebounded into the hands of Andy Hall, who fed Horsley to score under the posts.  Malyan made it 18-8 with the kick.

Crigg were still not firing on all cylinders, but extended the lead just before half-time as great hands saw the ball moved across the field and Andy Webber go over in the corner too far out for Malyan's kick.

It was a much more focussed Crigg who returned for the second half.  Mick Wood threw a superb pass that cut out two players to send Webber in for his second try.  Malyan again unable to convert.  The hat-trick was completed just three minutes later.  Crigg won a scrum on halfway, and Webber timed his run to perfection bursting through the defensive line to score under the posts.  Malyan's goal made it 32-8.

Victoria rallied for a ten minute spell, but Wood broke their resistance to score a fine individual try with two dummies.  Malyan again converted.  Minutes later Danny Lockwood broke the line and raced 50 metres before being hauled down.  From the play the ball, Wood swerved his way through a static defence for his second and yet another goal for Malyan.

There was no stopping Crigg now as first Martin Brookes crossed in the corner and then Malyan went over for one he converted himself.  The new halfback pairing of Craig Sykes and Nick Emeneton were now in full control for Crigg and provided the spark for an array of flowing football.  Vintage stuff saw Martyn Tilford break and allow the supporting Sykes to add his name to the scoring list.  Malyan's goal took Crigg to the 60 mark, and there was still time for one more try, as the ever-improving Lockwood crossed for another try as a minor fracas broke out in back play.  The ref soon brought the game back to order and allowed Malyan to score his ninth goal to make the final score 66-8.

Man of the match * 1 Ryan Horsley, sponsored by the Golden Girls, 2 Stuart Springett, 3 Andy Webber