Match Reports
Simon can't stop scoring
Saturday 6th March 2010
Morley 40 Rochdale 17
MORLEY returned to winning ways with a six-try victory over Rochdale at Scatcherd Lane last Saturday.
The bonus point Morley collected from the game helped them close the gap on National Three North to just four points with a game in hand.
Simon Bradshaw inspired the victory with a scintillating display, which saw him score four tries and land five conversions for a personal haul of 30 points.
Bradshaw's pace enabled him to finish off four breaks and his kicking was top notch with five out of six conversions and he is now the division's leading points scorer.
The early stages were error strewn, with both sides making many unforced mistakes.
Morley had the majority of possession but mistakes and a lack of precision at critical moments, kept it scoreless until the 20th minute.
Following a line-out, Jon Stannard and Danny Chamberlain battered their way out of defence. A long kick by stand-off Mark Chester and good pressure from the new centre pairing of Michael Ash and Charles Spon-Smith forced a panicking Rochdale defence to knock-on.
Scrum-half Sean Dadswell quickly reversed play to the right and No8 Craig Field danced his way through a group of non-tackling defenders to score the first points. Bradshaw added the difficult conversion.
Morley continued their domination and after 25 minutes Spon-Smith, making his debut, forced his way out of a tackle.
Ash made ground down the left before releasing Bradshaw who, with a little bit of magic cut inside and raced between the posts for the first of his four tries. The conversion was a formality to put the home side 14-0 ahead.
Rochdale's best player, stand-off Steve Collins, was involved in his side's best moves, while his long passing and kicking from hand prevented Morley from having things all their own way.
After 35 minutes, Collins showed a touch of class when he produced a crossfield kick to send right wing Roben Blackburn free.
There were sufficient defenders to stop Blackburn but they were unable to prevent Collins collecting the ball on the outside to score an unlikely try. Collins added the conversion from near the touchline to narrow the score to 14-7.
Stung by this reverse, Morley hit straight back. A fine kick by Chester and good following up by Ash and Spon-Smith caused a turn over. Paul Gabriel and Alan Benn moved the ball forward before Chester found space to waltz his way over from 15 metres.
Bradshaw added the goal from in front of the posts to restore the 14-point advantage.
Morley conceded a penalty for holding and Collins landed the goal with the last kick of the first half.
Straight from the re-start, Morley showed their determination to go for that all important fourth try.
Spon-Smith made a clever break. Craig Field was in support and nearly sneaked over down the right before being forced into touch. Rochdale won the line-out but a poor kick out of defence was returned with impressive passing skills. Peter Dadswell, Darbyshire, Ash and Spon-Smith were all involved in getting the ball to Field.
He broke through the defensive line and with the Rochdale full-back left stranded, Bradshaw took the pass to go round him and run behind the posts. Bradshaw added the goal to extend their lead to 28-7 after 44 minutes.
Another poor Rochdale kick was run back with pace and Field sent Bradshaw over to complete his hat-trick, although his conversion attempt from wide out fell just short.
Rochdale replied with their best spell of the match and Morley had to use their defensive skills to prevent them from scoring.
Another touch of class from Collins, with a short crossfield kick, caught Morley napping and James Flitcroft plucked the ball out of the air to score. Collins converted to reduce the arrears to 33-17.
The game was drifting to its conclusion when Morley broke clear once more. Field and Bradshaw once again combined to set the latter free and he raced 50 metres and beat two defenders on his way to the line. He also added to conversion with the last kick of the match to round off an impressive display by the Maroons.
Morley: Evans; Marshall, Ash, Spon-Smith, Bradshaw; Chester, Dadswell; Grabriel, Darbyshire, Benn, Stannard, Chamberlain, Nutbeen, Dadswell, Field. Replacements: Brocklehurst, Burke, Smyth.
Rochdale: Wellings; Flitcroft, Van Zyl, Mair, Blackburn; Collins, James; Birtwell, Greenhalgh, Sunderland, Foster, Healy, Adams, Helliwell, Bradwell.
Replacements: Redman, Campbell, Neave.
Referee: Karl Kirkpatrick.
Simon Bradshaw inspired the victory with a scintillating display, which saw him score four tries and land five conversions for a personal haul of 30 points.
Bradshaw's pace enabled him to finish off four breaks and his kicking was top notch with five out of six conversions and he is now the division's leading points scorer.
The early stages were error strewn, with both sides making many unforced mistakes.
Morley had the majority of possession but mistakes and a lack of precision at critical moments, kept it scoreless until the 20th minute.
Following a line-out, Jon Stannard and Danny Chamberlain battered their way out of defence. A long kick by stand-off Mark Chester and good pressure from the new centre pairing of Michael Ash and Charles Spon-Smith forced a panicking Rochdale defence to knock-on.
Scrum-half Sean Dadswell quickly reversed play to the right and No8 Craig Field danced his way through a group of non-tackling defenders to score the first points. Bradshaw added the difficult conversion.
Morley continued their domination and after 25 minutes Spon-Smith, making his debut, forced his way out of a tackle.
Ash made ground down the left before releasing Bradshaw who, with a little bit of magic cut inside and raced between the posts for the first of his four tries. The conversion was a formality to put the home side 14-0 ahead.
Rochdale's best player, stand-off Steve Collins, was involved in his side's best moves, while his long passing and kicking from hand prevented Morley from having things all their own way.
After 35 minutes, Collins showed a touch of class when he produced a crossfield kick to send right wing Roben Blackburn free.
There were sufficient defenders to stop Blackburn but they were unable to prevent Collins collecting the ball on the outside to score an unlikely try. Collins added the conversion from near the touchline to narrow the score to 14-7.
Stung by this reverse, Morley hit straight back. A fine kick by Chester and good following up by Ash and Spon-Smith caused a turn over. Paul Gabriel and Alan Benn moved the ball forward before Chester found space to waltz his way over from 15 metres.
Bradshaw added the goal from in front of the posts to restore the 14-point advantage.
Morley conceded a penalty for holding and Collins landed the goal with the last kick of the first half.
Straight from the re-start, Morley showed their determination to go for that all important fourth try.
Spon-Smith made a clever break. Craig Field was in support and nearly sneaked over down the right before being forced into touch. Rochdale won the line-out but a poor kick out of defence was returned with impressive passing skills. Peter Dadswell, Darbyshire, Ash and Spon-Smith were all involved in getting the ball to Field.
He broke through the defensive line and with the Rochdale full-back left stranded, Bradshaw took the pass to go round him and run behind the posts. Bradshaw added the goal to extend their lead to 28-7 after 44 minutes.
Another poor Rochdale kick was run back with pace and Field sent Bradshaw over to complete his hat-trick, although his conversion attempt from wide out fell just short.
Rochdale replied with their best spell of the match and Morley had to use their defensive skills to prevent them from scoring.
Another touch of class from Collins, with a short crossfield kick, caught Morley napping and James Flitcroft plucked the ball out of the air to score. Collins converted to reduce the arrears to 33-17.
The game was drifting to its conclusion when Morley broke clear once more. Field and Bradshaw once again combined to set the latter free and he raced 50 metres and beat two defenders on his way to the line. He also added to conversion with the last kick of the match to round off an impressive display by the Maroons.
Morley: Evans; Marshall, Ash, Spon-Smith, Bradshaw; Chester, Dadswell; Grabriel, Darbyshire, Benn, Stannard, Chamberlain, Nutbeen, Dadswell, Field. Replacements: Brocklehurst, Burke, Smyth.
Rochdale: Wellings; Flitcroft, Van Zyl, Mair, Blackburn; Collins, James; Birtwell, Greenhalgh, Sunderland, Foster, Healy, Adams, Helliwell, Bradwell.
Replacements: Redman, Campbell, Neave.
Referee: Karl Kirkpatrick.
