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Sat 27 Aug 2011
Newton le Willows
1st XV
17
25
Bedians win, but at a cost
Paul Makinen30 Aug 2011 - 19:20
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Bedians fought a hard earned win away at Newton le Willows, but lost Captain Steve Bannell and number 8 Kilo to knee injuries in the process.
Old Bedians 1st XV travelled to Newton le Willows for the first game of the season on Saturday hoping to progress into the 2nd round of the cup for the first time in 3 years.
The home side, sporting their new training kit and new 1st XV kit, were clearly a bigger side and Bedians knew that the defensive work done in pre season would be tested.
Having won the toss and deciding to kick however, Bedians spent the first few minutes camped in the hosts 22. After a couple of penalty infringements Jack Johnson slotted home an early penalty.
Continued Bedians pressure led to Jinner Dave, receiving a clever reverse pass from Swifty, running through a hole to score the first try of the same shortly afterwards.
The early Bedians scores seemed to spur Newton into life and their physicality began to take its toll on the Bedes defence. A flowing move, after a series of punches through the middle, led to a sliding finish from the Newton wing in the far corner. A very well taken conversion from the hosts kicker pulled them straight back into contention.
Bedes continued to attack in the second half and Captain Steve Bannell found himself in the right place at the right time after a speculative kick forward from Jack Johnson. A lucky bounce taking the ball straight into the skippers hands who dived between the posts, with the score converted by Johnson, Bedians led the match.
Whilst kicking the ball behind the home team's defence had led to a score for Bedes, it had also provided Newton a base for counter attacking rugby.
On one such counter attack the Newton 15 ran the ball back superbly before kicking it deep into the Bedians try area. To most spectators and players alike the ball seemed to have crossed the dead ball line, but without TV replays available the referee's decision to award a try was upheld and Newton drew level.
With about 15 minutes of the match remaining captain Steve Bannell was forced to come off having suffered a knee injury at the breakdown, and was replaced by Bedians answer to James Haskell, Kilo.
The opportunity to try Kilo in the back row was cruelly cut short however as he himself suffered a knee injury and had to be replaced by Jay, who despite normally playing on the wing, slotted into the forwards without complaint.
The shuffled Bedians pack began to pressure their counterparts, and after a series of competitive rucks the hosts eventually conceded a penalty 30 yards out, in front of the sticks. Johnson, showing the ice coolness that can be seen on posters around Eastlands, stood up and slotted the penalty through the sticks.
Whilst this may have been enough to win the match, JB (on for Swifty at half time) made sure by powering through the Newton defence to score from 22 yards out.
Whilst JB was awarded man of the match special mention goes to Ben, whose tackling throughout was superb, often punching above his weight. To Mark for slotting into 15 and showing that no matter where he plays he can read the game, and Jack O’Shea for once more taking the burden of captaincy and leading from the front.
Bedians will be pleased to have progressed through to the second round of the plate and look forward to playing Newton again who were tough on the field and fantastic hosts off it.
The home side, sporting their new training kit and new 1st XV kit, were clearly a bigger side and Bedians knew that the defensive work done in pre season would be tested.
Having won the toss and deciding to kick however, Bedians spent the first few minutes camped in the hosts 22. After a couple of penalty infringements Jack Johnson slotted home an early penalty.
Continued Bedians pressure led to Jinner Dave, receiving a clever reverse pass from Swifty, running through a hole to score the first try of the same shortly afterwards.
The early Bedians scores seemed to spur Newton into life and their physicality began to take its toll on the Bedes defence. A flowing move, after a series of punches through the middle, led to a sliding finish from the Newton wing in the far corner. A very well taken conversion from the hosts kicker pulled them straight back into contention.
Bedes continued to attack in the second half and Captain Steve Bannell found himself in the right place at the right time after a speculative kick forward from Jack Johnson. A lucky bounce taking the ball straight into the skippers hands who dived between the posts, with the score converted by Johnson, Bedians led the match.
Whilst kicking the ball behind the home team's defence had led to a score for Bedes, it had also provided Newton a base for counter attacking rugby.
On one such counter attack the Newton 15 ran the ball back superbly before kicking it deep into the Bedians try area. To most spectators and players alike the ball seemed to have crossed the dead ball line, but without TV replays available the referee's decision to award a try was upheld and Newton drew level.
With about 15 minutes of the match remaining captain Steve Bannell was forced to come off having suffered a knee injury at the breakdown, and was replaced by Bedians answer to James Haskell, Kilo.
The opportunity to try Kilo in the back row was cruelly cut short however as he himself suffered a knee injury and had to be replaced by Jay, who despite normally playing on the wing, slotted into the forwards without complaint.
The shuffled Bedians pack began to pressure their counterparts, and after a series of competitive rucks the hosts eventually conceded a penalty 30 yards out, in front of the sticks. Johnson, showing the ice coolness that can be seen on posters around Eastlands, stood up and slotted the penalty through the sticks.
Whilst this may have been enough to win the match, JB (on for Swifty at half time) made sure by powering through the Newton defence to score from 22 yards out.
Whilst JB was awarded man of the match special mention goes to Ben, whose tackling throughout was superb, often punching above his weight. To Mark for slotting into 15 and showing that no matter where he plays he can read the game, and Jack O’Shea for once more taking the burden of captaincy and leading from the front.
Bedians will be pleased to have progressed through to the second round of the plate and look forward to playing Newton again who were tough on the field and fantastic hosts off it.
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