Saturday 23 September 2006

Illingworth 24 Crigglestone All Blacks 28

A depleted Crigg team maintained their 100% record holding on to chalk up their fourth straight win of the season at Illingworth.  The home side were caught cold early in the game as Crigg drove them into touch.  From the resulting scrum, captain Ryan Horsley kicked through on the sixth tackle for Haydn Luke to gather and touch down.  Tom Malyan converted to give Crigg a 6-0 lead.

Horsley was again the instigator on 20 minutes as he broke the line and put the supporting Tom Andrews in for the next try.  Malyan again converted.  Illingworth then put Crigg under immense pressure, but fantastic defence kept them at bay.  Indeed it was Crigg who scored next.  Craig Sykes put in a cross-field kick that Sean Long would have been proud of, and Martin Tilford safely gathered to score.  Immediately after, Mick Wood sold four dummies to a bemused 'Worth defence to score a wonderful solo try and put Crigg 20-0 ahead.  Horsley was taken out in back play minutes later and Malyan kicked the goal, but 'Worth hit back just before half-time with a try of their own, to make it 22-6.  Crigg were awarded a scrum as 'Worth knocked on from the restart, but were unable to take advantage and there was no further score before the break.

Crigg started the second half on fire, with a try in the first set of six.  Wood kicked early in the tackle count, Malyan chased the ball and ripped it from the fullback one-on-one, before feeding Tilford who went in under the posts.  Malyan's goal made it 28-6 and Crigg looked home and hosed.

Indiscipline by Crigg however let the home side back into the game.  Two penalties got them close to the Crigg line and the defence was unable to prevent the inevitable try.  'Worth were now on a roll and scored shortly after, with a wonderful touchline conversion bringing the score to 28-18.  Continuous pressure from the home side kept Crigg pegged back for 15 minutes and as Crigg gradually lost control of the game, Illingworth scored an unopposed try under the posts to make it 28-24.

It was the defence of giant prop Steff Haslam that caught the eye in the closing stages despite the fact that he played most of the game in his jock-strap, having had his shorts ripped off after just five minutes.  His effort and that of the whole pack helped Crigg withstand constant pressure for the final ten minutes.  'Worth were held up on the line three times as Crigg scrambled in defence to hold onto the points, winning 28-24.