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ACKLAM 26 - 16 TECH |
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| TECH travelled to
face Acklam in good heart after last weeks victory over Redcar. After
making a bright start they let their hosts back into the game and ended up
losing 26-16 The TECH cause wasn't helped when, in the warm up winger FOSTER aggravated a leg injury sustained last Saturday. This resulted in him having to drop out to be replaced by Nigel BULMER. Alex BEST who was originally unavailable stepped up on to the bench. In very heavy conditions TECH started promisingly with the pack putting together some good early drives. After 5 minutes their pressure paid off when they gained a penalty. Winger COLE's kick was on target but dropped onto the bar and rebounded away. Chris KNIGHT had followed up quickly and caught the defender with the ball. TECH recycled it quickly and moved it out to Ian WILSON who crossed for the try. The attempted conversion by COLE went wide of it's target. Both sides were making a number of handling mistakes in the wet conditions and they weren't being helped by some fussy refereeing. The combination of these factors meant most of the play was restricted to mid-field. After 18 minutes the hosts took the lead. With the TECH defence up flat a kick over the top caught them napping and centre Luke CASEY outstripped the defence to score a try that was converted by ASHTON. After 27 minutes Acklam stretched their lead when Nick CORRIGAN was penalised for a trip and then on 32 minutes another penalty saw them open the gap to 13-5. Things got worse for the visitors on 35 minutes when forward pressure led to another converted try by Acklam. To their credit TECH drove back upfield and their pressure resulted in a penalty which COLE converted to take the half time score to 20 - 8. |
The second period
saw TECH having the wind in their favour. They immediately drove at the
home defence but despite having lots of possession they were unable to
break through. This was due to a mixture of good defence, poor handling
and being on the wrong end of a high penalty count around the tackle/ruck
area. Having survived the pressure the home side added to their tally when ASHTON added another penalty. From the restart though COLE was given another chance from which he added the three points. TECH continued to have plenty of possession but although Stockdale and BEST especially made inroads into the home defence they still could not break through. At times TECH were guilty of rushing things and they were in need of a calm head who could have dictated their play. Again having soaked up the pressure the home side took play into the visitors half and when yet another penalty was awarded at the ruck ASHTON again added three points. No one could fault the TECH effort and after 72 minutes this paid off when more forward pressure resulted in SMART going over for a try. Unfortunately again the kick was missed leaving the score at 26-16. Looking to get something out of the match TECH threw everything at their opponents in the final few minutes but the home defence managed to hold firm up until the final whistle. With half the season now gone TECH find themselves in a very difficult position being 4 points behind the three teams above them. Despite this if they can couple the undoubted effort with a more calm execution they are capable of starting to pick up vital points. Next week sees them at home to North Shields and it is vital all the players work hard in training on BOTH Tuesday & Thursday in an effort to get things back on track for Saturday. |
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