Last Saturday was a very special day down at Park Lane. A charity day in aid of SicKids, a big crowd and lovely conditions for playing open, fast rugby. Our opposition were old Yorkshire rival Sheffield Tigers who were lying mid table with a number of good performances coming into the second half of the season.
We were looking for a big performance from the team after the frustrating win the previous week and the players did not disappoint. Eight tries, a penalty, no points against and a five point bonus point win. This 49-0 win had everything, a solid set piece platform which gave us great shape in attack and a defence that was impossible to penetrate.
We opened the score in the first ten minutes with a great line break 40 metres out from hooker Matt Gallagher who off loaded to scrum half Cam Crampton who touched down under the posts. Steve added the conversion and the Tigers were putting all kinds of pressure on Sheffield. A lovely catch and drive from the forwards gave us our second score for Matt Gallagher. This was backed up with a penalty from Steve Collins and we were now 15-0 up going into the last fifteen minutes.
Another line out deep in the Sheffield 22, a controlled catch and drive from the pack saw Matt score his second try of the game. This was followed eight minutes later with a third try for hooker Matt after a lovely handling move wide out on the right which put us 25-0 up at half time, the bonus point secured and our opponents looking shell shocked.
The second half started much the same as the first with momentum, pace and width and it was only 3 minutes into the half before number eight Will Lees crashed over in the right hand corner after good handling and support from all the players. This was followed three minutes later with our sixth try of the afternoon for man of the match Matt Gallagher who came into the line and scored in the right hand corner. 35-0 in the lead with the majority of the half still to go.
The game became a little disjointed at this point as the referee gave a number of penalties to Sheffield which gave them territory and possession. Despite this they were unable to break the Tigers defence down and really did not look like they were going to score. We finished the game off with a brace of tries for winger Jacob Tansey who took his opportunities well considering he was playing out of position. Steve added both of the conversions and the game finished 49-0 and a wonderful overall performance from the whole squad.
This was a great game to watch and a great advertisement for the game of rugby. Special mention must go to young hooker Matt Gallagher who is now the top try scorer in the league with 23 tries. What an achievement.
This Saturday we are away to Bournville who held unbeaten Rotherham to a draw two weeks ago so another top performance is needed from the Tigers and maintain top two place in the league.
Cheers, Hazz