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Kendal 44 Hull Ionians 12 (Half time: 16-9) On Saturday,Kendal and Hull Ionians fought out a game, which was dour for over 40 minutes, not helped by a fussy referee who seemed to blow every minute for an infringement. Fortunately, he eased off in the second period, and this allowed the game to flow.
The first half hour in particular was slow, with Mark Ireland kicking 3 excellent penalties, to two by the opposition full back, Ian Gordon. There was very little open play of note, and many stoppages. Then suddenly, the game burst into life: Gary Hodgson made a fine burst down the left wing, and a great offload saw Matt Charters continue the move. He linked with his backs, and good passing to the right saw Jamie Poslethwaite pulled down just short of the line, but Craig Wilson was there in support to crash over. Mark Ireland added the conversion, and Kendal thought they were on their way. But a stubborn Ionians tackled doggedly and reduced the lead when Ian Gordon chipped over two more penalties, either side of half-time. The game was still closely fought for the next quarter, and was only enlivened when Ian Voortman crash tackled Hull's right winger, Luke Thundercliff into the middle of next week, or so he thought! After a long delay, fortunately Luke managed to stagger off the field almost in one piece,but badly shaken. The Kendal forwards now started to turn the screw, winning more ball in all phases, and Craig Wilson picked up at a fifteen metre scrum to make deep inroads, Gary Hodgson followed and Richard Harriman finished off with a two metre sprint, to the joy of the club house crowd, Ireland again adding the extras. "Noodles" McKain finally entered the fray after 63 minutes, hungry for action, and was soon throwing his body around in every corner of the field, or so it seemed. Then Duncan Green made a superb peel, from his own throw, after a close in line-out, and Gareth Gore finished off the move , charging over near the posts for another seven pointer. Bully decided to unleash the rest of his replacements bench in the last quarter, and James Gough, Andrew Quarry and Brett Ashley in particular charged on, eager to make a point or two to the crowd. Noodles went haring down the middle soon after, chasing his own hack at a loose ball, and matching a desperate Hull defence stride for stride, much to the appreciation of the crowd, till Ionians finally scrambled the ball away. Soon after there was a fine move down the left touchline, with Goughy, Ben Robinson and Gary Hodgson combining, but the last pass was forward. Not to be outdone, a classic catch and drive by the forwards squeezed a small gap for Voorts to hammer his way over, again converted by Mark. In the last minute of the game, Goughy made a superb scrum break from halfway,eagerly supported by his halfback partner, Rob Aloe, and excellent interpassing from the two saw James stretch for the line and just make it, to another cheer from the faithful. Mark Ireland added a simple conversion to make it eight kicks out of eight, totalling nineteen points for the day, the second game at home where he has competed a full house. The second half was a fine performance from the whole side, but particularly the forwards, and shows also the value of having a strong replacements bench, probably the best in recent years. It must have been sickening for the opposition, when they were tiring, to see fresh legs join the fray, eager to make a point, as competition for places hots up. Hull were blown away in the last 20 minutes when Kendal scored 4 excellent tries, sending them crashing to the foot of the league table. There will be tougher tasks ahead, starting with Macclesfield next Saturday, but it is mighty encouraging for the town's loyal supporters to see their team only one of two unbeaten sides in the division after three games of the new season. As a result of Saturday's game Kendal have risen four places in the table, and are now second only to Huddersfield. |
