SS Westoe 19 West 24

By Dave Picken - September 9 2018
SS Westoe 19 West 24
The lads battled their way through a tense last ten minutes to record an excellent five point victory at the home of one of the fancied promotion sides in North One East. We had a  little bit of extra quality throughout the game, and deserved the win against a big South Shields Westoe side who battered away at our line in vain as the clock ticked down.

We had already weathered an eight minute spell when we were down to just 13 men and managed to keep the 24-19 scoreline intact.

With the slope in our favour we began the game brightly moving the ball around to stretch the home defence - only to see Westoe go ahead in their first attack with winger Jamie Preston going in at the right hand corner.

Peter Youll led the response crashing through the midfield to send fellow centre Will Hilditch into space only for the final pass to go to ground.
We kept up the pressure with Zac Southern’s pass almost sending winger Adam Peacock in. It finally told when the forwards bustled their way to the line with Joe Rafferty given the easiest of tasks to touch down - the desperate defenders actually hauled him over the line to make it 5-5.

The visitor’s continued to press, but it was from a rare Westoe foray into the West half that the next score came.

The home midfield made a mess of things as they passed the ball along the line and Hilditch was the first to pounce. He drilled ball deep into the home half where Peacock was first to the loose ball.  He hacked on judging the kick to perfection as he followed up for the simplest of touchdown with Waites converting.


The lead wasn’t to last as some poor tackling in midfield allowed the home back row to make progress - flanker Sam Gaff racing away from the cover to bring his side level at the break.

We did make a concerted effort to restore the lead before half time with Westoe lock Younghusband sin-binned just before the break for persistent offside.

Westoe had the advantage of the slope in the second half, but despite their considerable weight advantage ,were consistently coming off second best in the scrums.
That pressure told in the 47th minute when a West shove sent the ball careering out of the scrum and an alert Adam Peacock set off on an 80 metre run up the right touchline. He almost made it and when he was stopped just short the supporting Ryan Painter was bundled into touch.

However, we now had the ball firmly in enemy territory and continued to press. Quick hands in the backs eventually setting up the the chance for Peter Youll to go over in the corner from short range to restore the lead.

Five minutes later came the score which gave us the breathing space we needed. Fly half Stu Waites pulled the strings with centre Hilditch running an excellent line to collect a perfectly timed pass.  The centre still had plenty to do as he raced in from 30 metres evading two tackles as he made his way under the posts. We were now 12 points clear with the try bonus point in the bag.

Westoe’s response was to hammer their way down hill forcing several penalties which were invariably kicked to the corner. It paid off when No 8 Martin Bengston crashed over with Luke Moffett converting to bring his side within five points.

The pressure continued withAlex Barker sin-binned followed two minutes later by prop Craig Hadwen.

For a time the game went to uncontested scrums with the unlikely sight of Zac packing down at No 8 to maintain the law that eight players have to be in the scrum at all times.

The home forwards looked to have crossed again only for referee Les Cash to rule they had been held up, and there was similar heroics as Westoe time and again resorted to catch and drives from line-outs.

But a combination of intelligent play and sheer hard work kept the Shieldsmen at bay with a frustrated Westoe knocking on just two metres short of the line in the final play of the game.

We will be looking to maintain the work-rate, discipline and team spirit in next week’s big local derby when Rovers visit Brinkburn for the first time in the league for a number of years.


South Shields Westoe: Jake Arnold, Jamie Preston, Sam Hughes, Derek Worthington, Paul Evans, Luke Moffett, Michael Booth, Ryan Lamb, Raymie Elliott, Louis Kellett, John Younghusband, Anthony Rumis, Jamie Hughes, Sam Gaff, Martin Bengston.
Reps (all used): Clayton Fox, Chris Judson, Matthew Bengston.
Tries: Preston, M.Bengston, Gaff.
Cons: Moffett (2).
Yellow: Younghusband (39)


West: Zac Southern, Matt Siddle, Will Hilditch, Peter Youll, Adam Peacock, Stu Waites, Ryan Painter (capt), Adam Brown, Andrew Rollins, Craig Hadwen, Chris Atkins, Joe Rafferty, Alex Barker, Isaac Robinson, Jay Corbett.
Reps (all used): Adam Coates,, Connor McLurg, Ben Armstrong.
Tries: Rafferty, Peacock, Youll, Hilditch.
Cons: Waites (2)
Yellow: Barker (60), Hadwen (62).
Referee: Les Cash (Durham)

 
SS Westoe 19 West 24
Posted by: Official West Hartlepool RFC (IP Logged)
Date: 09/09/2018 11:23


Re: SS Westoe 19 West 24
Posted by: Hardwick Man (IP Logged)
Date: 09/09/2018 13:12

The energy of success.....really positive vibe in the club after the match.
Well done

Re: SS Westoe 19 West 24
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 09/09/2018 16:44

Sounded like a cracker - well done everyone. Great to read about how we were able to close the game out, especially with 13, and once again achieving dominance at Scrum time; great stuff.

Looking forward to next week now that I am back on my feet.

Well done to all players & coaches.

Re: SS Westoe 19 West 24
Posted by: Giraffe (IP Logged)
Date: 10/09/2018 15:57

Cracking stuff by all accounts. Well done to all, excellent start to season. Platform established.

Re: SS Westoe 19 West 24
Posted by: Stan the Camel (IP Logged)
Date: 11/09/2018 13:00

Thank you for the excellent report, DP. Sounded like a brilliant win with lots of positives for the Rovers game.

Re: SS Westoe 19 West 24
Posted by: chris.harrison (IP Logged)
Date: 11/09/2018 20:28

Westoe's Match Report

Westoe's slip to wiley West Hartlepool
By dave barnes
Entertaining encounter by two strong sides

South Shields Westoe welcomed new league members West Hartlepool to Wood Terrace on Saturday. With both sides winning comfortably last week it was destined to be a close fought match.

The teams traded attacks from the off with dangerous runs from Westoe’s Jake Arnold and Pool’s Peter Youll, both stopped short by solid defences.

With the scrum being a close affair, Westoe turned to their driving maul and forward efforts, to edge their way slowly up the Westoe slope. A fifteen metre drive was collapsed close to the line and quick ball sent left along the line and then spun the other way to winger Paul Evans who touched down for the first score on ten minutes. 5-0

Westoe retained the majority of possession, but struggled to make much headway as the visitors tackled well and continuously slowed down ball at the ruck.

Reverting to the kicking game to gain ground, Westoe fielded some poor efforts allowing Pool to kick long and chase down the ball, finding Arnold isolated at the back and with no support. Pool stole the ball and Rafferty crossed to equalise the score on nineteen minutes. 5-5

With Westoe attacking again, Pool pounced on a loose pass, kicking through and chasing down a bobbling ball. Another grubber kick caught Jamie Preston off guard and Pool’s Peacock touched down for an easy score, taking the lead after 25 minutes. 5-12

Westoe fought back immediately with strong carries from John Younghusband and Raymie Elliott, working their way up-field. A dynamite burst from Derek Worthington split the visitors’ defence passing to Evans on the supporting run. Taking the final defenders, Evans offloaded to Sam Gaff who crossed to tie the score with ten to play in the half. 12-12

The half ended with Westoe defending the line, Sam Gaff receiving a yellow card for offside at the ruck.

Pool’s third try came after yet another silly mistake from Westoe. Poorly fielded ball was stolen and Pool’s Peacock sprinted 80m up the slope to with a couple of feet of the line. The ensuing scrum setting up Pool for an easy run-in with simple ball transfer along the line for Youll to score. 12-17

Within minutes Pool increased their lead after a solid defensive shift managed to strip the ball, with centre, Hilditch taking a great inside line to score close to the posts. 12-24

With a quarter of the match left to play, Westoe kept the game alive with John Younghusband taking clean line-out ball, the pack drove over the line for Martin Bengston to cross. 19-24

The final quarter was a frustrating time for Westoe, as attack after attack were either snubbed out by great defensive work or broke down by a barrage of players killing any quick ball on offer.

Westoe crossed the line on four occasions, only to have the ball held up by a determined defence. Pool were penalised on eleven occasions in the last quarter, also receiving two yellow cards, the second of which bizarrely helped their cause. Stating they had no available front-row, meant that scrums went uncontested, nullifying Westoe’s ascendancy in this area and allowing Pool to quickly line up in defence.

Pool showed some huge defensive prowess and more than a little guile and gamesmanship in keeping a rampant Westoe from touching down. On one occasion they committed four penalties in less than five minutes within the red zone and were extremely lucky not to receive further cards.

With Westoe passing up over half a dozen kickable penalties in favour of pushing for the try, they may look back at this match as one they should have taken. With the score within two penalty kicks for twenty minutes of the game, the sensible option would have been to take the points on offer, as Pool’s defence became stronger with every attack deflected.

Despite generally defending well, Westoe were punished for the second week by silly mistakes, leading to turnover ball, which they were slow to react to, allowing the opposition to capitalise.

On a positive note, Westoe looked dangerous in attack and will be in contention for the top spots again this season. Against a powerful opposition, they gradually gained ascendancy in the scrum and looked treacherous in their driving play.

Winning both territory and possession, they need only to stick to the simple stuff, cut out the loose passes and kicks, and speedily react to turnover ball.

Pool showed their experience throughout the second half, closing down the game; made easy by Westoe not taking the points available. Several times the ball was intentionally killed knowing that Westoe would reset and start again, eating down the clock and believing in a powerful goal-line defence.

Westoe travel away to Stockton next Saturday when they will need to put in a convincing performance to get back on track in the promotion race

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