Match Date: 26th October 2013
Competition: Pennine League Division Seven
Result: Odsal Sedbergh A 34-12 Queensbury B
Tries: Jonny Ward (3), Andy Gabriel (2), Danny Terry
Match Report: Jonny Ward
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Head-ing in the right direction

B-low par visitors easily dispatched

A disciplined defensive show all round set the platform for a solid derby win in Division 7 as Odsal A claimed a first win since the opening day of the season. Unlike in recent weeks the seconds had almost a full squad to choose from, but this didn’t stop Meaty being the 80-minute man yet again – I think he’s starting to enjoy not getting a bit of mid-match R&R...

This match also included the single most bizarre thing rugby league has ever seen, but we’ll come back to that.

Queeny B were a mix of one extreme to the other – with some under 16’s turning out alongside their ultimate lad of a number 15, pulling on a jersey at 56 years of age! So big respect to all their lads for having the bottle to play open age rugby and get smashed about for over an hour.

It became obvious early doors Queeny didn’t have any significant players in their side and played very simple one-up rugby with a decent kick and chase at the end of it. But it was the first Sedge kick and chase up the hill that saw the first piece of action. Their scrawny ginger winger was targeted all game and from this first hoof upfield the returning Chris Lawrence chased it and smashed him into touch with a cracking one-on-one tackle.

The first try of the game was a pretty simple one. Queeny were sending the ball down the line and one pass went a bit too deep, with the ball loose it popped up nicely for Jonny Ward to scoop up and sprint unchallenged up the slope for the opener. Decent yardage was made throughout by numerous players, with Duncan Chapman in particular impressing going forward – making up for his poor display last week against Selby.

Try number two came from another punt up the park, this time the Queeny lad failed to collect it properly inside the in-goal and the pursuing Danny Terry was first to the loose ball, crashing against the post protectors in the process.

Then things got sloppy. We thought we had it in the bag and lost our shape in defence, allowing the sub-standard visitors an easy score down the middle to half the deficit. However Sedge’s 12 point lead was restored before the break thanks to THAT moment.

I’m pretty sure you’d have to trawl through a few decades of RL archives to find the last time a player attempted to HEADER the ball, but that’s what exactly happened at Sedge on Saturday. Another hefty hoof up the slope straight at their young red-haired wingman was chased by centre Jonny Ward and as the ball bounced in front of this lad - instead of attempting to catch the ball - he jumped in the air and actually headed the ball backwards towards his own try line - it was the kind of nut Andy Carroll or James Hanson would be proud of – and that meant another easy score for the Sedbergh number 3, simply flopping on the ball over the tryline.

Down the slope Sedge took control and really the only negative is that more points should have been posted. Andy Gabriel made light of his recent niggles to post two solid scores, the first of which the Queeny players didn’t stop whinging about for some reason, with the other try of the second half seeing Ward finish hands down the line in the corner to claim his hat-trick.

Chez and Teeth kept making good metres up the middle and late on Tiffa almost capped his return with a breakaway interception try from our own line, but the referee deemed him to have been offside from the play the ball.

Queeny’s thirds did grab another late on, but only after Sedge had defended three sets in a row on our own line. Perform like this week in week out and it could be a very good season indeed.

D. Clough, C.Lawrence, J.Ward, S.Hall, D.Burch, P.Bottomley, K.Read, D.Chapman, A.Kilduff, K.Terry, A.Lovett, D.Messenger, K.Fawthrop
SUBS- A.Gabriel, D.Terry, L.Grima

Tries: Ward(3), D.Terry, Gabriel(2)
Goals: Bottomley(4)
HT: 18-6

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