November
25/11/23 Tigers 47 - 35 Lymm
On a glorious sunny day at Dore Moor – okay it was rather cool, or as one of our visitors remarked “bloody cold” – Tigers welcomed back Lymm for the first time since 2016. Although they have had a tough start it has been noticed that they have lost a number of games by just the odd score and actually been scoring quite a few points. In a number of games, they have been ahead and then lost in the last quarter. Saturday was no exception!
The visitors got off to a perfect start when their number 6 Callander went over from close in and scored after just 6 minutes. The conversion was kicked by the flyhalf - Tom Shard – who had an outstanding game converting all of Lymm’s 5 tries as well as showing that he had a rugby brain with a superb cross field kick for the inside centre to catch and score midway through the second half.
Tigers replied to the score within 3 minutes with Will Archer going over for the first of his 2 tries. Will Baker converted and it was game on. Just 7 minutes later Josh Redfern made a break from the Lymm 25m and crossed for a try. Contrary to the view of just about everyone else at Tigers he did put the ball down – the referee said so! Baker made sure of the conversion and Tigers had moved ahead 14-7 after absorbing a lot of pressure from the visitors. Lymm began to put more pressure and Tigers started to look a little disjointed with moves breaking down and allowing the opposition to run at them. This was reflected on the scoreboard as first the fullback Rowley cut through to touch down followed 10 minutes later by Shard doing the same and at half-time Tigers found themselves 14-21 down.
After what one suspects was a severe talking to during the interval the second half got underway and almost immediately Lymm increased their lead as backrow Harry Martin went in for a try to make the score 14-28. Tigers weren’t playing badly but there was no real sense of urgency about their play. Thankfully that was about to change. From a very good rolling maul Tigers went over with Archer getting his second try in the corner but the conversion went just wide. This was followed just 5 minutes later with a great run by Jamie Broadley and a converted try that made it 26-28 with Tigers pack beginning to take control of the set pieces and the backs breaking the line and advancing down the pitch. The pressure was paying off as replacement 2nd-row Harry Cartwright crossed the whitewash for another converted try that allowed Tigers to take the lead 33-28. All credit to Lymm they were not going to take it lying down and from the restart they won some loose ball which allowed the inside centre, James Kimber, to cross the line and put them ahead 33-35. Tigers came straight back with another converted try by Broadley restoring the lead to 40-35. Tigers sensibly played keep ball with Baker attempting a penalty kick from halfway and even though it dropped agonisingly short it meant that Lymm had to attack from deep. In their efforts to get down the pitch they gave away a penalty which the ever-resourceful Ryan Holmes - making his return after his injury at Preston – took quickly catching Lymm off guard and allowing him to cross over to score the final converted try making the final score 47-35. A win is a win and Lymm departed with 1 point whilst Tigers took 5. Lymm deserved more but deserving and achieving are two different things.
We now move on to take on Rotherham next week.
Scorers:
Tries: Archer (2), Redfern (1), Broadley (2), Cartwright (1), Holmes (1)
Conversions: Baker (6)
Penalties:
Cards: Yellow -
Team: Bennett (Bingham 60), Archer, Simmons, Fitzsimons, McLaughlin (Cartwright 40), Scott (Leiper 40), Anderson, Redfern, Holmes, Baker, Taylor (Butterworth 60), Goatley, Broadley, Wilson, Wager
Replacements: Bingham, Leiper, Cartwright, Butterworth, Talbot (S)
Match Report by: Graham Cockshutt
This was the round of 32 in this national competition with the final to be played a Twickenham. Tigers showed how much they have come on and what a force they are becoming by ruthlessly taking apart the visitors by 68-5, scoring 10 tries and 9 conversions. There were some outstanding players in the game and I am not going to pick any individual to highlight. There was a decent crowd to watch the game in very cold conditions. Their next cup match will be on the 4th February – opponents unknown – and they will be playing at Scunthorpe next Sunday in the league. Make the effort to support them they are doing the club proud.
18/11/23 Tigers 17 - 31 Wharfedale
No match report.
Scorers:
Tries: Archer (1), Bingham (1)
Conversions: Ireland (2)
Penalties: Ireland (1)
Cards: Yellow - Bingham (32)
Team: Clark (Bennett 27), Archer, Bingham (Santamaria 40), Hawksworth (Simmons 37 (Bingham 76)), Fitzsimons, Scott (Leiper 67), Cartwright, Redfern, Talbot(G), Ireland, Butterworth, Wager (Taylor 40), Wilson (Wager 55), Broadley, Baker
Replacements: Bennett, Simmons, Leiper, Santamaria, Taylor
Match Report by:
11/11/23 Tigers 35 - 25 Billingham
No match report.
Scorers:
Tries: Redfern (1), Leiper (1), Baker (2)
Conversions: Ireland (3)
Penalties: Ireland (3)
Cards: Yellow -
Team: Simmons, Leiper (Archer 40), Bingham (Clark 56), Fitzsimons, Hawksworth (Santamaria 56), Scott, Cartwright, Redfern, Talbot(S) (Talbot(G) 63), Ireland, Butterworth, Wager (Taylor 74), Goatley (Wager 76), Broadley, Baker
Replacements: Clark, Archer, Santamaria, Taylor, Talbot(G)
Match Report by:
04/11/23 Tigers 41 - 39 Preston Grasshoppers
No match report.
Scorers:
Tries: Goatley (3), Redfern (1), Archer (1)
Conversions: Ireland (5)
Penalties: Ireland (2)
Cards: Yellow - Chapman (44)
Team: Simmons, Archer, Bingham (Clark 56), Fitzsimons, Hawksworth, Redfern, Wallace (Leiper 75), Calladine (Scott 20), Baker, Ireland, Redfern-Brown (Taylor 39), Goatley, Broadley, Butterworth, Chapman (Wager 56)
Replacements: Clark, Leiper, Scott, Taylor, Wager
Match Report by: