Earthblog

Kendal 2nd XV 5 Broughton Park 2nd XV 12

28th November 2009

Getting 2 games on at Mint Bridge after the recent weather was the first success of the day this weekend and credit must be given to those who look after them and have prepared them.

The Millennium pitch remained remarkably firm and allowed both teams the opportunity to play rugby, which was sadly not always taken up.

Prior to the game the mood in the Kendal dressing room was positive, the largest squad to assemble on a Saturday in recent weeks was boosted by the returns from injury of Liam Hayton, Andrew Quarry and Matt Gracie, and the opposition were certainly not a side that was felt to be unbeatable.

The chance to give plenty of players a game was sadly halted by Broughton Park’s refusal to allow more than three subs, a decision felt to be very negative at this level of the game particularly with the amount of youngsters who would benefit hugely from the exposure.

Despite this however, Kendal began the game strongly. Runners around the breakdown made good yards early on with Liam Hayton and Andrew Quarry particularly to the fore and the defence around the fringes and in midfield was strong. An early Matt Gracie pass to Nathan Woof also showed that there was penetration to be found wide as was hoped prior to kick off. Varying their patterns well, Kendal quickly found themselves worked up field into the Park 22 where a series of drives around the breakdown eventually created space for Graham Coulter to find a gap and power through the defence for the first score which went unconverted.

Kendal remained on top for the rest of the half, Park never looked able to penetrate with Ashley Forrest putting in some particularly impressive hits in field. Close to the end of the first half, however, a blind side move saw Park break the defence for the first time, which coupled with a missed tackle took them into Kendal territory. They were not quickly turned over and moved out as they had been early in the game, and a well worked move bringing their blindside winger in from first phase play took the game to 7-5. Almost immediately from the kick off, with 2 minutes to half time, a series of missed tackles saw Park advance to the Kendal 22 almost immediately, then work through some questionably wide defence to score in the corner and make the half time score 12-5.

This was not disastrous for Kendal who had shown good signs in the first half and turned around confident that the slope and wind would bring rewards in the second half. The second half also saw the introduction of Stuart Rowley at number eight who recently ended a long and intimate affair with the physio couch.

However, the second half became scrappier. Park slowed the game down, putting large numbers into the breakdown and letting their larger players, who had been run around a bit in the first half, take their time to get into the game. Kendal’s efforts to turn ball over at the fringes were halted by decisions being made in favour of the ball carrier, though sometimes questionable, they were fairly consistent. Park spent a long time in Kendal territory, but some heroic defence around their own try line kept Kendal in the game. When Kendal were able to gain territory and sustained possession, they looked dangerous, with Joel Howse carrying strongly as one would expect, and Ben Craghill starting to find a few gaps. A knee injury to Graham Coulter saw Craghill moved to 9, and Kendal scrummaging with seven thanks to the 3 subs rule being enforced. The long boot of Ryan Wilson, the fly half was also lost as he strained an Achilles injury, but remained in play to keep the numbers up to at least 14 with Gracie moving into 10 and Ashley Forrest in to 12 to finish the half. Unfortunately some late enterprising play failed to bring any reward and the game finished 12-5 to Park.

The Kendal boys can feel frustrated, as a result could easily have come their way in a tight game. However, there were many positives to take out of the game. This was a much improved performance, particularly with the strength of some of the defence shown. Some senior players showed their fitness and will hope to be knocking on the door of the first team before too long. If the improvement continues, expect this team’s fortunes to start changing fairly rapidly.

Matt Gracie (Your Roving Reporter)