West played well enough to win this game but for a while it looked like being a similar story to previous games against Morpeth and Huddersfield. Thankfully we managed to grind out the result and give the squad a big boost after a few disappointing performances.

West started as expected with Anth Carr at hooker and Chummers and Ryan Phillips alongside him in the front row. The only surprise was Phil Wallis starting at full-back, Martin Todd having to be content with a place on the bench. Tim Sawyer made his comeback from injury at flanker.

The home side started brightly and strong running from Sawyer, Tighe and Ryan Phillips earned a penalty on the Sandal 22. Davy slotted the first of his 4 penalties with only 5 minutes on the watch.

The lead was to be short lived though as Sandal broke upfield immediately from the kick-off and flanker Gareth Burns, who broke tackles for fun all day, made a powerful break before being brought down inside the 22. The ball was quickly recycled and some quick passing allowed full back Ben Brindley to dive over in the left corner for an unconverted try.

West looked like regaining the lead on 12 minutes when Sandal allowed Sawyer to break free from a maul on half way. With Jon Boatman in support and only the full-back to beat it looked like a certain try but the pass went to ground. Further disappointment was to follow as a long pass from Tighe was intercepted on half way and Sandal centre Louis Breed jogged in to score under the posts. The conversion made it 12-3 to the visitors.

West did manage to get back on the attack and Davy kicked another penalty on 20 minutes after Sandal were caught offside. Sandal thought they had added to their lead shortly after with a penalty from winger Peter Terblanche but even though both touch judges raised their flags the referee from Manchester said the ball went over the post and ordered a 22 drop out!

Tighe was playing well at 10 using Sandals rush up defence to his advantage making regular breaks and good use of his forwards with the inside pass. It was one of these breaks that got West into the Sandal 22 on the half hour. This time it was Hodgson’s turn to break the Sandal back line but he was stopped just short. However a penalty for offside allowed Davy to close the gap to three points.

Sandal’s 43 year old fly-half Angus Maran added a drop goal but the end of the first half was to belong to West. Following a poor clearance kick Paul Rudd, on as a replacement for an injured Henry Tones, made a surging run but was held up just short. Good support play set up a maul and Tim Sawyer managed to spin over just to the right of the posts. Davy added the conversion and also another penalty shortly afterwards to send West in on a positive note leading 19-15.

Sandal began the second half on top and West struggled to clear their lines. But errors were costing them points. Finally, after 10 minutes, Sandal did manage to retake the lead. Once again it was Burns with the initial break and this time the try was finished off by Terblanche. The touchline conversion was missed. With a one point lead and at least 25 minutes still to go Sandal were passing the message around to waste as much time as possible and took an age over two speculative penalty attempts from all of 40 metres both of which missed by a long way.

Maran was now kicking everything and after a Sandal 5 metre scrum he scored another drop goal to leave West 4 points down with 15 minutes to go. In contrast his opposite number Tighe was running at every opportunity and after another great break he fed Panda who dived over in the corner but the referee deemed it held up and awarded a scrum. West were not to be denied though and after a good number 8 pickup by substitute Bennett, on for Chocky, Garse capped a great return by crashing over. Davy went wide with the conversion but West had regained the lead, albeit a slim one and it was clear that another tight finish was looming.

West were kept pinned in their own half but some desperate defence and costly Sandal errors denied any points. As full-time approached Maran positioned himself for a third drop goal but a wayward pass and a charging Garse prevented him. Terblanche missed a 35 metre penalty and Maran had to back out of another drop goal attempt after good West defence. Finally a penalty allowed West to clear into the Brinkburn trees and earn a much needed 2 points.

The difference for West today was the ability to turn pressure into points. Every time they left the Sandal 22 there were points on the board and even when behind it always kept us in the game. Garse had a storming return and both the scrum and lineout worked well all day but credit must go to Tighe whose 14 points and all-round play were a big factor in this result. There’s still work to be done as this was far from a convincing win and the tackling in particular could have been much better but getting two valuable league points should make all the difference and can hopefully spur us on for the games to come.


West: Wallis, Abrahams (Todd), Gamwell, Hodgson, Hare, Tighe, Thomas, Cholmondeley, Carr, Phillips, Davies (Bennett), Miller, Sawyer, Tones (Rudd), Boatman

Tries: Sawyer, Rudd Cons: Tighe Pens: Tighe 4
Sinbin: None
Penalties: 10

Sandal: Brindley, Terblanche, Breed, Thompson, Ell, Maran, Wheeler, Johnson, Swift, Whybrow, Riley, Willett, Burns, Whittingham, Wild
Reps: Dix, Norris, Thorn

Tries: Brindley, Breed, Terblanche Cons: Terblanche DG: Maran 2
Sinbin: None
Penalties: 10