Match Reports
Mud bath glory
Sunday 30th March 2008 11:34AM
Morley RFC 5 Harrogate 3
IT was no classic feast of flowing rugby, but Morley supporters did not care as they saw their team produce another tremendous effort to claim four points against Yorkshire rivals Harrogate on Saturday.
In monsoon-like conditions it was very much a forwards battle and it was the Maroons pack who came out on top. With the back row of Matt Challinor, Steve Hewetson and Ian Spence outstanding, the home side held territorial advantage for much of the game and could and should have won by a bigger margin than the eventual two points.
The Scatcherd Lane pitch looked in good condition before kick-off, but resembled a mud bath at the end after the torrential rain that made handling and running rugby so difficult. It was soon apparent that this was going to be a day for brave hearts and a test of who wanted to win this Yorkshire derby the most.
An early flare-up showed that both sets of players were fired up, but it was advantage Morley on 10 minutes when Harrogate lock forward Chris Wilson was sin-binned for what referee Trevor Fisher saw as a reckless piece of defending.
The Maroons poured forward with pack men Leon Treco and Paul Gabriel tackled within five metres of the try line. They then won a scrum against the head 30 metres out and spun the ball left only for centre Mark Pease to be unable to get a pass away to the unmarked winger Jon Hampsey.
However, on 19 minutes the pack did their job by winning big turnover possession in the visitors' 22, scrum half Scott Benton quickly seized the chance to get the ball away and Craig Rika's perfectly timed pass sent Hampsey galloping over on the right wing for his 17th league try of the season. This one could well be his most crucial.
Pease was unable to add the conversion from wide out and remarkably Morley did not manage any further points, although they battered away at their opponents for the rest of the first half. Harrogate were simply unable to break out of their own half, but they defended their line superbly against tremendous forward pressure, holding out to successive five-metre scrums with some solid tackling.
Spence went closest to scoring when his pick up and drive from the back of one of the close range scrums ended with an unlucky knock on inches short. Captain Pete Murphy was also tackled within a couple of metres of the line and all the pressure came to nothing as the visitors were relieved to reach the shelter of the half-time dressing room only five points down.
Harrogate now had the advantage of the wind in the second half and came back out to force some pressure of their own. It had taken them all of 46 minutes to put together their first attack of the game, but they created an overlap on the right wing only for a poor pass to allow the Maroons cover to get across and end the danger.A jinking run from fly half Nick Wainwright threatened more danger until he was well tackled 10 metres out.
Morley were able to clear their lines as fly half Dave Evans kicked intelligently into space, but they were unable to secure much line-out possession without the injured Craig Field and hooker Leon Treco who left the field after suffering a foot injury in the first half and were under their first real pressure of the game round the hour mark as their opponents went for a catch and drive from a line-out after declining to have a kick at goal when awarded a penalty. It was the home side's turn now to defend their line with bravery and they held on, although Harrogate did finally get some points on the board on 67 minutes when they opted to go for goal this time from another penalty and Wainwright kicked the ball between the uprights from 15 metres out.
The Maroons looked to hit straight back, but they suffered a blow as a result of a controversial referee decision on 69 minutes. Wainwright called for the mark after catching the ball in his own 22 only to make a mess of the tap with the ball going to ground. He was promptly tackled, but Mr Fisher awarded a penalty, much to the anger of the home contingent, especially Hewetson who spoke out of turn and was sent to the sin-bin.
It was going to be a hard slog, having to play 10 minutes at this stage without one of their hardest grafters, but far from having to hang on, the Maroons actually took the game to their opponents in this spell. With the old "Morley, Morley" chant ringing out from the supporters, they raised their game and it was Harrogate lucky not to concede further points as a Challinor surge took some stopping and an attempted drop goal by Dave Evans came to nothing. Even in five minutes of injury time it was Morley doing the pressing with Rika tackled five metres out and the visitors could have no complains about the result when the final whistle went.
Morley: S Evans; Ash, Pease, Murphy, Hampsey; D Evans, Benton; Gabriel, Treco, Benn, Chippendale, Rika, Challinor, Hewetson, Spence. Replacements: Wilson, Gray (used), Dodgson, Emmerson (unused).
Harrogate: Smithies; Venn, Bramble, Bottomley, Harris; Wainwright, A Brown; Dobson, Plevey, S Davies, Corner, Wilson, Heaton, Peacey, Boyle. Replacements: Gay, J Brown, Harland, R Davies.
Referee: Trevor Fisher
Scorers: Morley: Try, Hampsey. Harrogate: Penalty, Wainwright.
Penalties against: Morley 9, Harrogate 7
Morley man of the match: Matt Challinor
IT was no classic feast of flowing rugby, but Morley supporters did not care as they saw their team produce another tremendous effort to claim four points against Yorkshire rivals Harrogate on Saturday.
In monsoon-like conditions it was very much a forwards battle and it was the Maroons pack who came out on top. With the back row of Matt Challinor, Steve Hewetson and Ian Spence outstanding, the home side held territorial advantage for much of the game and could and should have won by a bigger margin than the eventual two points.
The Scatcherd Lane pitch looked in good condition before kick-off, but resembled a mud bath at the end after the torrential rain that made handling and running rugby so difficult. It was soon apparent that this was going to be a day for brave hearts and a test of who wanted to win this Yorkshire derby the most.
An early flare-up showed that both sets of players were fired up, but it was advantage Morley on 10 minutes when Harrogate lock forward Chris Wilson was sin-binned for what referee Trevor Fisher saw as a reckless piece of defending.
The Maroons poured forward with pack men Leon Treco and Paul Gabriel tackled within five metres of the try line. They then won a scrum against the head 30 metres out and spun the ball left only for centre Mark Pease to be unable to get a pass away to the unmarked winger Jon Hampsey.
However, on 19 minutes the pack did their job by winning big turnover possession in the visitors' 22, scrum half Scott Benton quickly seized the chance to get the ball away and Craig Rika's perfectly timed pass sent Hampsey galloping over on the right wing for his 17th league try of the season. This one could well be his most crucial.
Pease was unable to add the conversion from wide out and remarkably Morley did not manage any further points, although they battered away at their opponents for the rest of the first half. Harrogate were simply unable to break out of their own half, but they defended their line superbly against tremendous forward pressure, holding out to successive five-metre scrums with some solid tackling.
Spence went closest to scoring when his pick up and drive from the back of one of the close range scrums ended with an unlucky knock on inches short. Captain Pete Murphy was also tackled within a couple of metres of the line and all the pressure came to nothing as the visitors were relieved to reach the shelter of the half-time dressing room only five points down.
Harrogate now had the advantage of the wind in the second half and came back out to force some pressure of their own. It had taken them all of 46 minutes to put together their first attack of the game, but they created an overlap on the right wing only for a poor pass to allow the Maroons cover to get across and end the danger.A jinking run from fly half Nick Wainwright threatened more danger until he was well tackled 10 metres out.
Morley were able to clear their lines as fly half Dave Evans kicked intelligently into space, but they were unable to secure much line-out possession without the injured Craig Field and hooker Leon Treco who left the field after suffering a foot injury in the first half and were under their first real pressure of the game round the hour mark as their opponents went for a catch and drive from a line-out after declining to have a kick at goal when awarded a penalty. It was the home side's turn now to defend their line with bravery and they held on, although Harrogate did finally get some points on the board on 67 minutes when they opted to go for goal this time from another penalty and Wainwright kicked the ball between the uprights from 15 metres out.
The Maroons looked to hit straight back, but they suffered a blow as a result of a controversial referee decision on 69 minutes. Wainwright called for the mark after catching the ball in his own 22 only to make a mess of the tap with the ball going to ground. He was promptly tackled, but Mr Fisher awarded a penalty, much to the anger of the home contingent, especially Hewetson who spoke out of turn and was sent to the sin-bin.
It was going to be a hard slog, having to play 10 minutes at this stage without one of their hardest grafters, but far from having to hang on, the Maroons actually took the game to their opponents in this spell. With the old "Morley, Morley" chant ringing out from the supporters, they raised their game and it was Harrogate lucky not to concede further points as a Challinor surge took some stopping and an attempted drop goal by Dave Evans came to nothing. Even in five minutes of injury time it was Morley doing the pressing with Rika tackled five metres out and the visitors could have no complains about the result when the final whistle went.
Morley: S Evans; Ash, Pease, Murphy, Hampsey; D Evans, Benton; Gabriel, Treco, Benn, Chippendale, Rika, Challinor, Hewetson, Spence. Replacements: Wilson, Gray (used), Dodgson, Emmerson (unused).
Harrogate: Smithies; Venn, Bramble, Bottomley, Harris; Wainwright, A Brown; Dobson, Plevey, S Davies, Corner, Wilson, Heaton, Peacey, Boyle. Replacements: Gay, J Brown, Harland, R Davies.
Referee: Trevor Fisher
Scorers: Morley: Try, Hampsey. Harrogate: Penalty, Wainwright.
Penalties against: Morley 9, Harrogate 7
Morley man of the match: Matt Challinor
Tony Harber Morley Advertiser & Observer
