A Team Maintain 100% Record
The wind had thankfully dropped when Leigh Miners ‘A’ took on Ince Rose Bridge in the National Conference North West Alliance League on a very damp and drizzly Tuesday night at Twist Lane.
The conditions would always play a part for both teams considering the weather and from the kick off this was evident when Darryl Appleby’s collision on an Ince forward dislodged the ball giving Miners their first set on the oppositions 20 meter line. From the resultant scrum half back Aaron Reeve went right feeding centre Sam Shepherd who put away winger Darryl Flannery who’s try was disallowed for an alleged forward pass. The Miners regained possession and again cut through the left hand side Ince defence only for the try to be disallowed for another forward pass. Ince where finding it hard to get out of their own half and when full back Sean Pendlebury collected a clearing kick by Ince he returned the ball at pace and stepped through the on-coming defence before superbly pulling the full back towards the side line then giving a sublime inside ball to the supporting Aaron Reeve to score to the right of the sticks. Shepherd converting. 6-0.
Ince struggled to make any ground against a Miners defence unwilling to be breached only venturing into Leigh Miners half on the back of penalties. On 18 minutes after break down the left hand edge, Scott Travis seemed to going in for a try before he fed the supporting full back, Sean Pendlebury who popped up on the left wing for a great try out wide. 10-0.
Possession was exchanged as both teams couldn’t hold the ball and complete sets in the slippery conditions. A scrum on Ince 40m line saw Dave Rowland pick the ball from the base of the scrum before feeding scrum half Aaron Reeve who showed real pace in evading the Ince defenders before finishing off under the sticks. Shepherd converting 16-0 to Leigh Miners Rangers at half time.
As the pitch and weather conditions worsened Ince had the better of the early exchanges in the second half as they pinned Miners to the corners and made it difficult for them to get out, often forcing a error and gaining possession. Only impressive and ruthless line defence by the Miners forwards led by Dave Rowlands, Darryl Appleby, Danny Galvin and Luke Warburton kept them at bay. The second introduction of Chris Barlow and Gregg Walker kept the Miners defence intact as they fended off repeat sets , three times managing to hold them up over the line.
Miners where at times guilty of not getting to complete their sets and finishing on a kick and in turn placed too much pressure on themselves. They eventually got the breakthrough to kill off the game on 61 minutes when a loose ball was hacked on by Darryl Flannery and then played through to his supporting centre, Sam Shepherd who managed to scoop the ball up before passing inside to the tireless supporting scrum half Aaron Reeve who completed his hat trick under the sticks. Shepherd converting 22-0.
As time counted down it became a scrappy affair with penalties, which disrupted the flow of the game, against the Miners team now amounting to 17 to 5, they had to dig in and work really hard to keep a never say die Ince team out. A defensive effort to be immensely proud of the Miners held the opposition to nil and with some patience in attack they should of really had more on the scoreboard. But it’s back to business this Saturday when they take on Wigan St Jude’s at home (Junior Section) hoping to keep their 100% win record intact.
Final Score: Leigh Miners Rangers A 22 – 0 Ince Rose Bridge
MOM 1 : Arron Reeve
MOM 2 : Sean Pendlebury
MOM 3 : Darryl Appleby
1. S. Pendlebury T
2. D. Flannery
3. S. Shepherd CCC
4. M. Lewis
5. D. Hayes
6. S. Travis
7. A. Reeve TTT
8. D. Galvin
9. L. Warburton
10. K. Howells
11. D. Appleby
12. S. Marsh
13. D. Rowlands (c)
14. G. Walker
15. L. Sproston
16. D. Trimble
17. C. Barlow
