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Rovers had the better of the opening exchanges with Gareth Foreman always looking dangerous and a couple of good runs from Andrew Lilley. Foreman was stopped just short and a forward pass denied another scoring chance but in the end the hosts had no points to show for their sustained possession and territory.
West got the first try through Colin Cheslin on the half hour. After a line-out close to the Rovers line Craig Lee's cross-field clearance kick only reached the 22 where Cheslin was a grateful recipient and raced towards the line. He was tackled short but forced his way over to touchdown for his second try in as many matches. Wallis added the conversion.
The winger was crossing the line again just before the break, finishing off a nice move by the West backs. A delayed pass from Wallis put Neil Howe steaming through a gap and his pass released Gav Painter and he in turn fed Cheslin who scored in the corner. Wallis failed with the conversion but it gave West a half-time lead of 12-0.
West rang the changes at half time bringing on Dan Boatman, Phil Henderson, Andrew Cheslin and Chris Lambert. With the exception of Gav Painter the backline now had a pretty unfamiliar look to that which has regularly appeared for the first team this season.
Rovers again has the better of the opening part of the half, but once again failed to convert several close lineouts into any points. After that the West line was barely threatened again and the match developed into a fairly drab affair. Wallis missed a couple of shots at goal before a last minute score by Greg Edwards, going over after a scrum won against the head and a good break from Jon Boatman. It was well deserved for the centre who'd had a good game and with Henry Tones also performing well Davy Tighe and Tim Sawyer will have some selection headaches ahead of the trip to York on 5 January.
A big crowd was in attendance but the atmosphere never really built up and a large number left before the final whistle. Nevertheless it was an encouraging afternoon for West as playing the second half with essentially half a Stags line-up they more than competed – never really letting Rovers have a sniff of getting back into the game.
A successful end to the year then for West, and they will no doubt be raring to get going in 2008, hoping to continue their unbeaten run. Rovers on the other hand need some big results to get them out of the a relegation dogfight and unless they improve their line-out in particular, where possession was regularly lost or not won cleanly, those wins will be hard to come by.
West: Painter, Thorn (Lambert), Edwards, Howe (A Cheslin), Edwards, C Cheslin, Wallis, Williamson (Thomas), Cullinane, A Dixon, Robinson, Rudd (Henderson), T Dixon, J Boatman, Tones, D Garside (D Boatman).
Tries: Cheslin 2, Edwards
Cons: Wallis 2
Referee: Brendan Fitzmaurice
Related Links:
West 51 Aldwinians 0
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Author: West Park Allotment
Date: 27-12-07 14:24
Fair report from El Pedro. This was a big bonus for West as we kept another clean sheet despite bringing in a whole lot of new faces.
I must give credit to whoever is doing the fitness training as well as to the lads themselves who are obviously putting the effort in on dark winter nights. They are now reaping the benefit.
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Author: Andy Quinn
Date: 28-12-07 06:45
My only gripe is that the lights were not up to it and it should have been an earlier kick off
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Author: Front Row Leg-end
Date: 28-12-07 09:39
Stop whining about the lights Quinny, they were fine. To be honest I wished that someone would have turned them off at half time though. The only bonus for me personally was getting to see Nicky Howe and Eggy have a run out.
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Author: One of them
Date: 28-12-07 09:42
Jimmy - they were bright enough but i honestly don't think that they were pointed at the pitch or at the right angle. It was very hard to decipher players. They probably need a tweak - just like you Jim Bob!
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Author: Dave Picken
Date: 28-12-07 10:04
Rovers are aware that some of the lights point into the stands instead of the pitch and are sorting it out.
Didn't hear any of the players complaining about the lights. In any case it was a good experience for us as we are playing under lights at Aspatria on Jan 19th.
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Author: Front Row Leg-end
Date: 28-12-07 15:39
The lights do need a slight change of angle. For players they aren't too bad, if you're aging a bit like Quinny and struggling with your eyesight a little the angle may cause you not to be able to identify players as easily but you could still see the action (or lack of).
I need more than a tweak.
Does anyone know why Aspatria wanted to play all their games under lights?
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Author: Front Row Leg-end
Date: 28-12-07 20:12
No, they got special dispensation from the RFU to have all their games in the normal 2.15pm KO months to be played at 3pm under floodlights.
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NEXT FIXTURE
Rochdale
VENUE
Friendly - Away kick off 3.00
DATE
Saturday August 30th
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