Midlands West2 S
Newbold RFC 11 -22 Sillhillians
Early pressure from the home side resulted in a well taken penalty from Captain Rich Allen 3-0. Sills immediately reply pinning the home side back inside their 22 and Sills first attack was snuffed out with a well timed tackle from Jamie Ferriss who fed Stand off Ben Harrison, whose long searching kick advanced Newbold into the opposition 22. Gurjit Rupal leading the way won the lineout and the ball was passed along the threes, a high tackle by Sills gave Newbold the chance to secure a further lineout 5yds from the visitor's goal line. Another well taken ball by Rupal was spoilt by a wayward pass which was intercepted, luckily for Newbold it was deemed forward. The well taken ball from the scrum was quickly undone as the passing between the three quarter line was knocked forward and the resultant scrum allowed Sills the opportunity to clear their line as far as the half way. The visitors were awarded a penalty, catching Newbold offside and a well placed kick into the home sides 22 gave them a good platform for the Sills fly half to ghost past 2 Newbold players before feeding the forwards whose drive to the line was hardly interrupted, and the back row came through the middle scoring easily wide out, unconverted. 3-5 Newbold were awarded a penalty from the kick off and a quality kick from Ben Harrison advanced the home side deep into Sills half. Good lineout ball again from Rupal sent Harrison forward with a weaving run, offloading to Paulo Calverhal who continued the march towards the opposition goal line and off loading to the back line only to drop the ball yet again with Sills pouncing on the ball and kicking for touch but Dave Barclay well placed caught the ball and advanced a good 30 yards and neatly chipped over the advancing defenders into touch just inside the visitors 22. A hasty clearance from Sills found their winger offside and Anthony Millar duly dispatched a long range penalty restoring the lead to 6-5. and the half time whistle. From the kick off Sills won the chase for the ball, keeping it tight amongst the forwards and trundled to the goal line scoring a soft try again missing the conversion. 6-10. Newbold in complete disarray suffered another penalty and the touchline kick into the home sides 22 was quickly taken, completely catching Newbold off guard and taking another unconverted try increasing the score to 6-15. Finally realizing there was a game to be won Newbold attacked the opposition 22, finally retaining the ball forming a ruck where Millar delivered quick ball to Harrison who jinked forward evading a couple of defenders setting Danny Facer free for an easy run in wide out unconverted. 11-15 The home side continued the offensive forcing the visitors to defend vigorously, it appeared a mere formality for Newbold to add the winning score when yet another wayward pass gifted the opposition the ball and the interception gifted him a 50 yd dash before feeding his support to score close to the posts.11-22 Again Newbold valiantly fought back, but with time running out the home side's efforts had become futile with the full time whistle ending the game. A game that was there for the taking, littered with their own mistakes, an inability to find touch, when under pressure, way ward passes, dropped and knocks ons has to be curtailed. This is a team with 15 outstanding individuals who need to train, play and bond together as a team, and when they do this will be a hard team to beat.
