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Westoe were undoubtedly below-par but take nothing away from West who unquestionably deserved the victory. The team spirit must have impressed the watching Colin Charvis even if he would have preferred to have been at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in a Welsh jersey.
The game went as scripted for the opening minutes. The league-leaders got off to a flying start threatening the West line immediately. England prospect David Wilson crashed over from 5 meters out but couldn’t ground the ball. A knock on from the resulting scrum allowed West to clear and from then on the script was thrown away.
After a penalty clearance from Davy Tighe gained the visitors a lineout inside the Westoe 22, Darren Thomas grabbed a loose ball and darted down the blind side. The scrum-half left the defence for dead to go over for the opening try. Tighe missed a tough conversion but the score gave West self-belief and they continued to look dangerous.
The forwards were once again outstanding as was the defence, constantly forcing knock-ons and loose passes. With 17 minutes gone the visitors were threatening the try line again with a powerful rolling maul. The chance seemed to go begging when the ball went to ground in the backs and Westoe hacked clear, but referee Dave Sawyer awarded West a penalty and Tighe was successful with a kick from 40 metres out. Just 3 minutes later he was extending the lead with another penalty from almost the same spot after some great defensive work from a lively Thomas. At 11-0 down with 20 minutes gone Westoe looked shell-shocked.
The hosts did get back on the attack after a good kick and chase from try-machine JJ Boske but the attack came to an end when referee Sawyer penalised home flanker Dave Bowyer for failing to stay on his feet when entering a ruck. Mr Sawyer had several times been unhappy with this element of the Westoe game and sent Bowyer to the sin-bin.
The man disadvantage didn’t seem to hurt the home team too much and they were starting to cause some problems in the scrum and getting their hands on some more ball. However, the West defence allowed nothing through and Tighe almost sneaked in for a try himself after chasing his own kick and seeing first David Haswell then Paul Hagan fumble but Boske was eventually able to clear.
As the first half drew Tighe stepped up for another shot at goal from virtually the same mark as his first attempt. This time he was unsuccessful and a long drop out by Haswell pushed play into the visitors 22. In need of a score before the break Westoe looked to spread the ball wide but the move was disrupted and the ball hacked clear bringing the half time whistle.
Not many could argue that West were not good for their half time lead but with the capability of the Westoe side the game was far from won and much more of the hard work seen in the first half would have to be repeated.
Westoe started the second period much like they did the first with some good attacking play. A break down the left wing looked to be setting up a try but the last pass went forward. The home side were starting to get on the wrong side of the official as the referee became frustrated with men going to ground at ruck time. Couple this with regular handling errors and turnovers 11 points was looking a big deficit. On 53 minutes Tighe extended the lead to 14 with another long penalty after a charging maul was pulled down.
The lead would be relatively short lived though as on the hour mark Westoe got their first score. After advancing play inside the West 22, fly-half Haswell made a half break and as he struggled to get over the line the ball came loose and Bowyer was on hand to touch down under the posts. Hagan made no mistake with the simple conversion. Once again it was looking like this West side would be involved in another close finish, something that has been an all too often occurrence this season.
The chances of a comeback were to take a blow just 5 minutes later when player-coach Richard Arnold was sin-binned following a nasty high tackle on Allan Milne. Milne bravely played on but was forced to retire a few minutes later. By this time the home fans and players had lost patience with the referee as a flurry of penalties went against them. This allowed West to keep play in the Westoe half and when the home side did manager to move the ball mistakes were far too frequent.
The clock was moving agonisingly slowly but the West fans and players could relax a little when with 5 minutes left Tighe struck another penalty from 20 metres to stretch the lead to two scores. Westoe pressed to the end but could not break down a solid defence and the final whistle brought much celebration from the players and travelling support.
A fantastic result for all involved and come April West may well be looking back at this win as key. However nothing can be taken for granted yet with plenty of tough games remaining but it will take a good side to beat West Hartlepool playing with the spirit shown today.
Unfortunately the final quarter and aftermath of the game was marred by some distasteful abuse of referee Sawyer from some home spectators. Whilst maybe on the wrong end of a few marginal calls they would have done better to look at the performance of their own team rather than that of the official.
Westoe: Bell, Hagan, G Haswell, Wilson, Boske, D Haswell, Judson, Nesbit (capt), Tennet, Wilson, Bird, Holland, Walton, Bowyer, Arnold
Subs: Shabilla, Younghusband, Olugbode
Tries: Bowyer
Con: Hagan
West: Todd, P Miller, Hodgson, Milne (Wallis), Hare, Tighe (capt), Thomas, Cullinane, Carr, Cholmondeley (Geritz), Miller, Davies, Rudd, Tones, J Boatman
Sub not used: Barker
Tries: Thomas
Pens: Tighe 4
Referee: Dave Sawyer (Durham)
Related Links:
Team for Westoe
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NEXT FIXTURE
Penrith
VENUE
Away 2.15
DATE
February 13th
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