Sefton RUFC

Sat 15 Oct 2022

Sefton 2nd XV

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West Park (St Helens) 2nd XV

Sefton 2nd XV

West Park (St Helens) 2nd XV

A challenging day was how it could be described, with West Park 2's at Sefton. The third team probably didn’t help the Sefton's cause, when they thrashed their third team a couple of weeks before, with the help of retiring Tom Fletcher.

We had fifteen, the minimum, anymore and the first team would have prised another player off us. This left Campo and the third team with ten players.

Fifteen was soon reduced to fourteen, as the rain started to come down on Saturday lunchtime. New player and teacher Tom Founds, relayed his disappointment at not being able to play due to still being a bit ill after his Covid. Someone should remind Tom that rugby isn’t like teaching, and you can’t just call in sick and expect the team to get to supply player from the rugby player supply agency.

With this dilemma I was faced with a conundrum. Play with fourteen or take the first player that turns up from the third team, after all the opposition can only play with one more, so playing with nine is no worse than playing with ten, I was hoping the Aussie would see it that way.

 Luckily it was Daniel Craig that turned up first, not Chris McTeary, and I coerced our secret agent to play for us. If Chris had turned up first, I would have had to balance out his contributions, against just playing with fourteen*.

At hearing this news Campo walked away muttering some Aussie curse.

*I neglected to factor in that it was Chris McTeary’s Birthday, the only day that Chris ever performs like a real rugby player. A missed opportunity.

- The game -

As whenever you play a team from the rugby league corridor, what you can expect is massively pumped up, top heavy players, that have no idea what a high tackle is. Despite advising the ref that this is what we expected, we had no great hope in him enforcing the laws of the game.

Imagine our surprise when the first high tackle comes in and he adheres to the laws, giving Sefton an immediate penalty. Even more surprisingly was being awarded a scrum penalty when the opposition pack disintegrated after being driven back. This ref was on the ball. Sadly, that was the last high tackle he perceived to see over the rest of the match, my expectations where lowered to the usual standard.

West Park started strong and used their backs to good effect, getting two tries before Sefton realised they were in the game. However Sefton relied on their scrum to disrupt their forwards momentum and after the initial siege, Sefton managed to stem the flow. With a slippery ball the front row had plenty of time to practise their dark art, and disrupt any clean ball West park wished for.

 West Parks lineout’s were also going astray, and they struggled to get any clean ball. Despite this, West Park defence was solid with no gaps through, even though Anthony Hawksford on a number of occasions was determined to sneak through non-existent cracks in their brick wall defence with no success. Kicking wasn't an option either, with the wind howling into Sefton's faces. Due to this, I don’t think Sefton ventured out of their half during the first forty minutes. Sefton would be glad when they turned around in the second half and had the wind on their backs.

In the second-half the wind dropped.

Despite this Sefton enjoyed large periods inside West Parks half. Using the advantage in the scrums and line out to good effect. A number of scrums within ten metres of the opposition try line were wasted with the ball coming out too soon. This period of play sadly came to an end with West Park having to go uncontested in the scrums, neutralising Sefton’s advantage and giving West Park quick, tidy ball at the base of the scrums. This was ideal for West Parks rugby league contingent, passing the ball out wide, and beating Sefton on the wings.

- The unscheduled toilet break -

I am increasingly aware that the average age of Sefton’s second team is going up, not down. With Paul Walker, Steve Teale and myself raising that average. This dilemma came apparent when Pete Johnson disappeared into the changing rooms for a toilet break mid-way through the second half, a common disadvantage for many of our vetran players, with the increase lack of bladder retention. Perhaps we could request these stops from now on, just like the water breaks they have introduced. These old guys might have to release water, instead of taking it on board, either that, or they could adopt Campo’s strategy. He may look like he is on his knee’s praying for a quick defeat, but those dead grass patches on the pitch are not from the foxes.

A tough contested game, until Sefton lost their scrum advantage. Jonathan Tebbs did well to marshal the backs at stand off, and was doing well until his unfortunate fumble when taking a quick penalty. This left the forwards shaking their heads in disbelief, and he scurried back to the safety of his backs. The game wasn’t a crowd pleaser, with the wings getting very little ball, and an excessive amount of scrums. As a spectacle, it was probably one for the purists. This reflected in the man of the match which went to the front row partnership of Paddy Arnold and Matt Faulkner, who kept the pressure on till West Park ruined their fun.

- Campo and maths –

It’s great to see the third team get a win, even though several of the opposition would benefit from a zimmer frame, and would no doubt be in favour of my proposal for a mid-game toilet break.

However, I have to question Campo’s counting skills. Having only ten players on Friday night, of which I took one, and then taking another two players on Saturday, he still had eleven players. Something doesn’t add up, I suspect some misdirection and skulduggery.

Lanky