TECH 19 - 3 ACKLAM
WINTERY WEATHER FAILS TO SPOIL TECH's VICTORY

The home side kicked off playing into the strong gusting wind anxious to impose themselves on their already relegated visitors. They won an early penalty which they opted to run but over anxiousness then saw them transgress at the ruck allowing the visitors to clear. A good run by FOSTER then took TECH forward again. The pack then took up the drive but this was halted when referee Paul CANDLISH blew for accidental offside.

After 8 minutes against the run of play  the visitors opened the scoring as the TECH backs were penalised for offside. Dan ASHTON put his kick over with ease from 15 metres.

 After 12 minutes TECH ran a penalty from 15 metres out as the forwards drove over the line the ball somehow emerged on the Acklam side and they hacked clear. Despite playing into the wind and driving snow TECH were well on top but despite all their efforts they could not make the final breakthrough.

On 18 minutes it again looked as though the home side must score. Flanker Stephen SMART broke through the cover and was tackled just short. As he hit the floor he stretched to place the ball over the line only for  it to slip from his grasp. The home side were not to be foiled for long though and they opened their account with a try from number eight Anthony CAMERON. The forwards drove the ball forward before the scorer broke off and used the wet conditions to slide home under the ACKLAM cover. Gavin ROBINSON saw his attempted conversion go wide of the target.

TECH continued to dominate but couldn't increase their score. After 32 minutes the visitors were reduced to 14 men when second row PHOENIX was shown a yellow card for pulling down yet another TECH driving maul. Shortly afterwards a break by Adam HOWARD saw him drive through would be tacklers but as he crossed the line the 'bar of soap' like ball slipped from his grasp and another chance was lost.

 Acklam knew that they needed to score first to have any chance of getting back into the game and they applied some early pressure from the kick off. TECH though stood firm and gradually got themselves into the game again. As would be expected there were of handling errors but both sides kept trying to play positive rugby despite the conditions.

After 14 minutes TECH stretched their lead with a splendid individual try from FOSTER. The winger got possession in his own half and set off on a mazy run that took him from one side of the pitch to the other. Having broken through a number of tackles he outpaced what was left of the defence to cross for the try. Jon COLE again converted to take the score to 19-3.

Despite having the wind at their backs TECH often opted not to kick for position but ran the ball from all over the field. This though was not always the best option with the handling conditions being as they were.

Adam HOWARD then took play forward with a powerful run down the line. He broke through two tackles before eventually being brought to a halt. With 20 minutes gone TECH got another opportunity to stretch their lead as the visitors were penalised. Jon COLE saw his kick go wide of it's target. Just a few minutes later he was replaced by Carl BROWN as the home side looked to freshen things up. On the half hour they were forced into another change as scrum half Chris WILLIAMSON suffered an injury. Ritchie ROBSON came on and went in to the back row as Anthony CAMERON moved to scrum half.

TECH continued to be well on top but a mixture of over anxiousness and the atrocious conditions saw real scoring opportunities being kept to a minimum. As the game entered its latter stages a good run by second row Jim WRAY saw Alex BEST gain possession he drove over the line but he too saw the ball escape from his grasp before he could score.

In the terrible conditions both sides deserved credit for their efforts but TECH ran out deserved winners.