Pershore 14 - Earlsdon 12
DEC
It was testament to Pershore and what goes on behind the scenes by
volunteers at any amatuer sports club that Saturdays game went ahead.
Due to the snow and freezing conditions the only game of league Rugby,
including the premiership, to go ahead in the whole of the midlands was
at Piddle Park. However, if people travelled from far and wide to
witness this game they would have probably have wished they'd stayed
indoors instead of braving the elements.
The visitors to Piddle Park were bottom of the table Earlsdon RFC from
Coventry. A young side who were bouyed by a victory against fellow
relegation battlers Droitwich, two weeks ago certainly started with
intent. Unfortunately for them the Pershore pack took them to pieces in
the scrum, meaning they would have to spread the ball wide to get any
impetus. The cold, and wet conditions, made this difficult and both
teams struggled to string phases together as passes were mis-timed,
knocked on or simply went to nobody at all. Pershores big forwards made
in roads with the ball in hand, particularly Marcus Whyte and Martin
Hope. Flanker Chris Copson,making his first start of the season and
captain Alex Peel also shared the workload, but brave defence from
Earlsdon meant they never really got close to the line. Earlsdon opened
the scoring after twenty minutes. Awarded a penalty just outside the
Pershore 22 the Piddle Parkers were expecting the Earlsdon Fly Half to
go for posts and make amends for an earlier miss. However with the
Pershore defenders lazily retreating they ran the ball wide for the left
winger to score in the corner. The extras were added to give the
visitors a 7-0 lead. Pershores only chance of scoring was a penalty
attempt. Fly half Lewis Dolphin could be heard apologising to his team
mates almost as soon as he struck the ball as his kick went woefully
wide. Pershore had a tough five minutes before half time, Chris Copson's
ever problematic knees forced him off to be replaced by Jamie Mellelio.
A reshuffle in the pack saw captain Peel move from the front to the back
row to make way for Mellalio at Prop. Soon after Earlsdon attacked in
broken play and were starting to look dangerous in Pershore territory
when Martin Hope halted the attack with a late tackle. He was duly sent
to the sin bin and the half time whistle blew.
The second half started slightly brighter for Pershore. They were given
a penalty underneath the posts but instead of taking the 3 points on
offer they decided to run. Scrum half James Bishop popped to Alex Peel
who attacked at Earlsdons forwards. He was isolated and was penalised
for holding on giving the visitors the chance to clear their lines. Just
before Hope made his return Pershore were further behind. They were
trying to run the ball from their own try line. Centre Matt Cyphus gave
a poor pass to Will Woodhouse who in turn shipped a pass which did not
even reach winger Matt Harwood. The first to react was the Earlsdon
centre who collected the ball and scored in the corner. The conversion
was missed and the score was 12-0. With 20 minutes left Pershore finally
started to string some phases together and the pack really made their
mark on game. After a lineout and a series of pick and drives from the
base of the ruck, prolific scoring second row Marcus Whyte crashed over.
Dolphin added the extras and Pershore were certainly back in the game at
12-7. Pershore continued to control the game and almost drew level when
Martin Hope crashed over after another series of pick and drives.
However the referee said that he was held up so the home side were
awarded a scrum 5 metres out. Pershore drove the scrum forward, number 8
hope picked the ball up broke the first tackle from the flanker and
dived over the white wash. Dolphin knew the pressure was on with the
kick but he kept his nerve and kicked the ball straight between the
posts. The home side showed grit and determination to snatch the win and
to be fair the tension in the final 15 minutes probably made up for the
overall lack of quality. Pershore have a tough away trip next week when
they visit Spartans. Kick off 2.15pm
