That try by Rudd and two from Peter Hodgson completed the home scoring both Davy Tighe and James Masshedar having a wayward day with the boot. The game could and probably should have been sewn up by half time, Sandal offering little in way of attacking rugby choosing instead to kick for territory. But all too often West lacked support at the breakdown and the visitors rush-up defence proved hard for the backs to break through. However the result was the most important thing today and with that achieved better performances will surely come.
While West started brighter it was Sandal who opened the scoring after 10 minutes. They turned over West ball inside the 22 and some swift hands took advantage of an overlap on the left, winger Adrian Marshall beating the cover tackle of debutant Masshedar to score in the corner. Rob Thorn nailed a tough conversion and with it brought the curtain down on any Sandal scoring chances in the opening period!
The line-out was proving a good source of possession for West and the visitors were struggling to cope with the heavier home pack’s rolling maul. Tighe pushed a 13 minute penalty wide and it was starting to look like another one of those days! But after some more powerful maul work from the forwards and a nice link-up between Tighe and Tim Sawyer, West got within five meters of the Sandal line. The ball was turned over but Tom Smith’s clearance was charged down and as the ball ricocheted across the in-goal area Hodgson managed to touch down just before the ball went out of play. Tighe missed the conversion and a penalty a minute later to leave West still trailing by two points mid-way through the first half.
The half continued in a similar fashion with West mostly on the front foot but losing far too many turnovers and missing scoring opportunities. Just when it looked like going into the break still trailing Hodgson burst through the defence to score from 20 meters out. Masshedar took over the kicking duties but was also unsuccessful.
Now with the lead at the break it was looking more positive for West. With the visitors not looking like scoring a lot of points one or two more scores would surely kill the game off. And when Sandal lost influential fly-half Smith early in the second half it looked even tougher for the Yorkshire outfit. But the interval did nothing to change the flow of the game with West continuing to press but struggling to come away with points. After a long, and serious-looking, injury break for a Sandal player play resumed with a Masshedar shot at goal, but once again it drifted wide.
The nerves were starting to build on the sidelines as with only a three point lead the game was never over. The best scoring chance of the half came on 65 minutes when Chocky Davies burst up to the line and looked for a simple offload to Jon Boatman for the score but somehow the ball went to ground and the chance went begging.
As time ticked away Sandal started to mount a bit more pressure, sensing that the win was still there for the taking. The West defence held up well though, as it had under so much pressure at Penrith last week, and it was from a defensive position that the winning try finally came. Scrum half ‘Tinker’ Williamson made an opportunistic break from the base of a ruck and handed on to Rudd on half way. He set off with intent and brushed aside full back Thorn, racing away for a remarkable score. Another conversion attempt from Tighe went wide but with only injury time to play the gam e was finally won.
Sandal finally mounted their best pressure of the game in the closing minutes, several times getting close to the line but when the ball was dropped on a final lunge and Anth Carr hacked away the game was effectively over and West could finally mark down those first two points in the North Two East table. This was far from a polished performance but a win is a win and at Stockton next week West must look to take the opportunities when the come and continue the excellent defence of the previous two games and hopefully get rid of those away game demons.
West: Masshedar (Cheslin), Weegram, Edwards, Hodgson, Thomas, Tighe (c), Williamson, Robinson, Carr, Cholmondeley, Rudd, Davies, Sawyer (D Boatman), Tones, J Boatman
Sub not used: Henderson
Tries: Hodgson 2, Rudd
Sandal: Thorn, Marshall, Thompson, Lindley, Ell, T Smith, Wheeler, Dix, Swift, Norbury, Riley, Kaimau, Wild, J Smith, Wade
Subs: Moran, Wicks, Wood
Try: Marshall
Con: Thorn
Referee: Peter Ashman (Durham) [Quite a quiet game, nothing particularly contentious springs to mind and a penalty count of 10-4 to the home side probably a fair reflection of the amount of pressure throughout the game].
Related Links:
Edwards In At Centre
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