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James Gough had an outstanding game RELEGATION-threatened Bradford and Bingley clung to slender hopes of avoiding the drop by beating Kendal 18-17 in National League 2 North.
On a sunny day and on a firm surface made for running rugby, but it was more combative than creative, and the visitors' urgency showed in a brisk start that was rewarded with a fifth-minute try. Scrum-half James Gough, who had an outstanding game for Kendal, looked to have tied up a loose end in defence only to unwittingly take the ball back into his own 22 before getting away a clearance kick. From the line-out that followed, the Bees fashioned an opening across the line for centre Steve Brimacombe to race on to a lovely inside pass and score wide out. A badly mis-hit conversion attempt by the fly-half left only the five points on the board, and Kendal full back Chris Park had to get back to make a last-ditch tackle on the scrum-half to prevent further damage. Kendal came back with a 25th-minute try and it was livewire Gough, who got it, a sniping run off the side of a ruck taking him over, before Mike Scott added the conversion to give Kendal a 7-5 lead. The Bees hit back straight away, charging downfield through the middle channel for lock-forward Rick Hughes to bluster and cajole his way past the tacklers to touch down by the side of the posts. Brimacombe put over the simple conversion and added a penalty for offside five minutes later to restore the Bees' advantage at 15-7 on the half-hour. Scott pulled a penalty back for Kendal five minutes later to trim the score again. When Kendal wing Jamie Postlethwaite hared out of his own 22 on a counter-attack following turnover ball, a try looked likely. Gough was in support and made a lovely cut-back, but spilled the ball just when the space seemed to be opening for him. A try at that stage might have made all the difference but, Kendal turned round 15-10 down. Another penetrating run by Gough early in the second half set up a good attack but a knock-on in the support play that followed prevented any chance of a finish. The Bees were left vulnerable, however, when they had a player sinbinned and Kendal were awarded a 47th-minute penalty try after they pulled down a maul on the tryline. Scott converted to give Kendal back the lead at 17-15. Errors were creeping in on both sides, but a loss of concentration saw Gary Hodgson make a high tackle in kicking distance and Brimaconbe's penalty just had the legs to snatch a one-point lead. Scott had one more penalty chance from 26 metres out, but his kick slid just the wrong side of the woodwork and that about summed up the hosts' day ..thereabouts, without really hitting the bullseye |
