TECH 3 - 45 HORDEN
TECH entertained Horden on Saturday in a game that was always going to be difficult for the home side when considering the relevant strengths of the two squads. As it turned out the promotion favourites ran out clear winners but the spirit of the TECH side was clear for all to see as they tackled themselves to a standstill.
The game started with the visitors almost scoring from the kick off. With TECH losing possession the visitors quickly recycled the ball before moving it to the left wing. It seemed he had scored but play was pulled back by the Horden touch judge for a foot in touch.
The Collierymen threw everything at their hosts but some excellent defensive cover kept them out over and over again before TECH moved play into visiting territory. The pressure came to nothing as full back Foreman cleared upfield. Horden opened their account after 15 minutes when scrum half Watson broke from an attacking scrum before feeding Paul BRUCE who went over for an unconverted try.
TECH tried to hit back immediately as they moved the ball through the three quarters. Just as it seemed there was an overlap the final pass went to ground before being forced into touch. Another similar move 5 minutes later again came to an end as the final pass was too far in front of winger Cole and it bounced harmlessly into touch.
Despite their efforts the visitors were being thwarted by a mixture of the dogged defence and a number of unforced handling errors. More pressure on the half hour was repelled by TECH with their forwards knocking their opponents backwards several times. The ball was then turned over but just when it seemed the clearing kick would relieve the pressure it went straight to winger Purvis who carved his way through several attempted tackles to score under the posts. The easy conversion made the score 12-0. Five minutes later a Horden line out on the home 22 led to a series of powerful drives before the ball was recycled for a good try. The conversion attempt missed it’s target. Horden added to their total minutes later when Turner added three points after Tech were penalised for offside. To make matters worse in injury time the visitors added another unconverted try to take the score to 25-0
During the half time period TECH suffered further problems as a knee injury to WILLIAMSON saw him have to leave the field. The resultant reshuffle saw PARKER join the action with David CHESHIRE moving from stand-off to scrum half.
With only 5 minutes of the half gone Horden were reduced to 14 men as flanked Pink received a yellow card after a minor skirmish. TECH then had a chance to open their account but COLE’s penalty was wide of the mark. TECH were again committing people forward but once more some unforced errors did not help their cause. Horden then were dealt another blow as prop Thompson received a yellow card for deliberately killing the ball at a ruck. The home side pressed forward but lost their momentum as Horden won possession after a TECH line out.
Despite being short handed the visitors continued to show their mettle as they took play into home territory. Again a mixture of good tackling and poor handling kept them at bay. After 25 minutes TECH eventually opened their account when good forward play by their pack took them deep into Horden territory before the visitors were penalised for killing the ruck. COLE this time made no mistake. Although trailing the home side were giving a good account of themselves with flanker SMART being continually to the forefront of their best efforts.
Despite this Horden always looked dangerous in attack and after 36 minutes they added to their total as Watson made a break from a line out on half way. He evaded several would be tacklers before passing to a colleague who crossed for an unconverted try. This was a signal for the visitors to raise their efforts against the tiring hosts and in the final 8 minutes of play they added another two tries from TURNER one of which he converted. He then closed the scoring with a penalty right on the final whistle.
Despite being well beaten there were a number of pluses for the home side who impressed everyone with their spirit throughout. At the breakdowns they won regular good quick possession as their pack recycled the ball efficiently despite the size of the opposition. They also did well in the scrummages against the well drilled Horden eight until late in the game when the pressure started to tell. Despite the final total the cover defence was in the main sound with the scores mainly resulting from good Horden play coupled with a number of missed first up tackles during periods of broken play.