BBOB 5 – Heughers 24

TEAM: K.LAWSON, S.BUTTERY, M.TUCKER, A.HANLEY, D.HOGG, S.McGUIRE, L.ARMSTRONG, C.TAYLOR, M.STEPHENSON, D.FAWCETT, I.GALLAGHER, D.GREGORY, I.MULVILL, A.SMITH, L.AUSTWICK, M.SAUNDERS, L.SAUNDERS, D.CHARTERS, N.HARRISON, T.PELTZER.

Rovers fielded a strong side despite not having captain Danny Baxter, Ben Cushlow, Dave Carroll, Monty and congratulations to Steve Railton who was busy at the birth of his daughter. Anth Hanley and Liam Austwick, both returning from injury were included for match fitness and will hopefully be pushing for a return to the 1st team league campaign.

The captaincy went to Mick Tucker and he led by example throughout, straight from the kick off he drove a maul for 20 metres and then a long kick to the corner by Daz put them into a good position. BBOB managed to win the ball back but whenever Rovers had the ball Daz used the wind to his advantage pinning BBOB in their own 22.

Hoggy was continuing his supremacy in the line taking any amount of ball from the home team and after one such steal a crash ball from Greggs then hard work by the impressive Kev Lawson gave Muller the chance to smash over for a score after 10 minutes with Daz converting, 0 – 7.

Rovers continued with the same tactics and scored a second try from a similar position on the opposite side of the pitch, this time a good drive by Tucker was finished by Hoggy, Daz missed the kick, 0 – 12, 14 mins.

Rovers sat back and allowed BBOB to get back into the game with the forwards winning good ruck ball and man of the match Andrew Arnell as always looking dangerous around the base of the scrum and from quick penalties.

The ball was being moved from the rucks at speed and the visitors were slow to react allowing BBOB to score a well-worked unconverted try after 20 minutes, 5 – 12.

Kev Lawson came off to give Matty Saunders a run out but Rovers struggled to find the form of the first 10 minutes giving the ball away too easily through ineffective kicks and forcing passes in the midfield rather than the simpler game plan of earlier in the game.

At half time Danny Charters came on for Chris Taylor and the first 10 minutes of the second half saw an improvement with the pack hitting rucks allowing quicker ball. Good work by Tucker and Hoggy saw Squid held up over the line then Daz missed a drop goal. Liam Austwick was looking dangerous all game and crossed for a try after a solid scrum and simple, fast passing along the back line, no dummy runs or switches needed. Daz hit a good conversion to take the score to 5 – 19, 50 mins.

Again BBOB hit back and had a spell camped on Rover’s try line but good defence from Liam Armstrong and Daz got them out of trouble and the home side unluckily left empty handed.

Kev Lawson came back on for Matty and had an immediate affect forcing a penalty at the scrum. Daz started to work the line again with Hoggy in great form and another strong drive from Tucker saw him rewarded with a try on 70 minutes with Daz missing the kick to give a score of 5 – 24.

Nathan and Taz came on the wings for Bubbles and Adam but saw little ball with the game going scrappy again. B BOB tried in vain to get a score but the visiting defence held well until the final whistle.

A final score of 5 – 24 allowed Rovers Heughers to be the first rugby team to win the George Henderson trophy. A shame that BBOB were not at full strength on this occasion but I’m sure they will be up for getting a return match next year. A big thank you for such a hospitable day despite the weather it was important for both sides to clear the festive cobwebs before returning to league rugby.

Kev Lawson, Muller and Tucker impressed but Rovers stand out performance was again Dash Hogg. Hopefully this game finally proved to the players that things don’t have to be complicated to score tries, hard work and simple rugby win games.